Back to Matrix [w] → [v] Edit this Data

[v]→[w]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 2/5

Fricative Glide Germanic

Voiced labiodental fricative to Voiced labio-velar approximant

The lenition of the voiced labiodental fricative [v] into the voiced labio-velar approximant [w].

Phonetic Effects

Lenition, Vocalization

Language Examples

English Germanic

[v]→[w]— Historical variation in London English (Cockney) where [v] and [w] were famously interchanged.

Related Transformations

More Germanic Shifts

[a] → [ã] — Assimilatory Nasalization [a] → [∅] — Elision [a] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [a] → [ə] — Vowel Reduction [æ] → [ɛ] — Vowel Raising

Sources & References

Wells, J. C. (1982). Accents of English.

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