Lesson 20:
The F and V Sounds
f (four, lift, graph, tough)
v ( love, knives, grave, vine)
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In
English, the F and V sounds are often studied together because
they are produced in the same part of the mouth. They both are consonant
fricatives too. What does that mean? Read on to find out.
Consonant Fricatives
A
consonant is any
letter in the alphabet that is not a vowel (vowels = a, e, i, o, u). Fricatives
are consonants that are formed by stopping the air flow somewhere in the vocal
tract, and then forcing the air through to produce a friction sound. With
the F and V sounds, the air is stopped by pushing the bottom lip
and top teeth together. The air is then pushed through to create the sound.
There are 9 fricatives in the English language: v sound, f sound,
voiced th sound, unvoiced th
sound, z sound, s sound, zh sound, sh
sound, and h sound.
The voiceless F sound is produced by stopping and releasing air between
the bottom lip and the front side of the top teeth.
This sound can be found in English words such as friend, for, laugh,
after, life, phone, and stuff.
Pronunciation Tip: Do not curl your lip
too far under your top teeth to make this sound. This is a common error
many language students make. This makes it difficult to connect the F sound to
other sounds in a word.
The voiced V sound is produced in almost the same way as the F
sound. Hold your lips and teeth in the same position. The V sound is
different because it is voiced, meaning you produce a sound with your vocal
chords. It can be found in English words such as love, knives,
wolves, Valentine, and wave. The only difference
between these two sounds is that the F sound is a voiceless sound and
the V sound is a voiced sound.
In the English language, we use many voiced sounds. That means that the vocal
cords vibrate when you say that letter. You can hear a voiced V
sound in words such as "vine" and "cave."
The letter F is a voiceless sound because the vocal cords do not
vibrate. Instead, we use a puff of air to produce the sound. If you hold a
piece of paper in front of your mouth when pronouncing a voiceless sound, the
paper should move from the puff of air.
You can hear the voiceless F sound in words such as "for"
and "wife."
Practice the voiced V
sound
Practice
the voiced V sound by saying these words. Hold a piece of paper or your
hand in front of your mouth to make sure you are voicing the consonant and not
using a puff of air. The paper should not move.
Now
practice the voiceless F sound
Use
a piece of paper to practice the voiceless F sound. When you say this
sound, you should release a puff of air from your mouth that moves the paper.
Your vocal cords should not vibrate.
The F sound can be spelled in four different ways: f, ff, ph, and
sometimes gh.
Finally, practice the
sounds side-by-side
Practice
these two sounds side-by-side. Say one word from the V column, and then
say one word from the F column. Remember to voice the V sound and
use a puff of air for the F sound!
V |
F |
love |
free |
vine |
rough |
have |
cough |
visit |
graph |
drive |
lift |
save |
file |
heavy |
phone |
harvest |
fun |
Challenge
words: These
words are a little more difficult. They have both sounds. The V sounds
are in blue. The F
sounds are in green:
Now say these sentences out loud.
The V sounds are in
blue. The F sounds are in green:
1) His wife
will drive the van.
2) I have
five
knives and four forks.
3) Will you phone
before you visit the farm?
4) My family loves
to laugh on vacation.
5) Save
the four wolves who live in the cave.
6) Please forgive me for forgetting the leftover food!
Have you finished them all? Great job! Keep
practicing until you can say them correctly!
Well
done! You have completed the F and V sound lesson.
Let's move on...