why does v come out as w

[inthedumps]

Why do people from India pronounce "v" as a "w" sound and vice versa. Obviously these sounds are native to your tongues because you can say each, but I often hear Indian people reverse them. Can someone explain why this is? I'm genuinely curious. Cheers!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

Why do people from India pronounce "v" as a "w" sound and vice versa. Obviously these sounds are native to your tongues because you can say each, but I often hear Indian people reverse them. Can someone explain why this is? I'm genuinely curious. Cheers!

lol....interesting...we need someone into linguistics to answer that one....

 

[Mr.DNR]

lol....interesting...we need someone into linguistics to answer that one....

Hehe, you mean "ve" need someone to answer that one?

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

Hehe, you mean "ve" need someone to answer that one?

Pediatricians tell me....if you grew up in the USA until age 9.....your accent will never turn into that.....

 

[UKPharmGirl]

LoL I'm curious too...anyone got any reasons?
There's also the commonly mis-pronounced words like 'pija' for pizza, 'reajon' for reason and 'phully' for fully...hmm *wonders* suggestions?

 

[gwen]

you know, that's an interesting point about accents and age. i was 10 when i came to this country. i knew english very well from being in india and spoke it fluently (in fact, i was placed in honors english right away much to everyone's surprise). my accent literally changed within a month. you'd never know that i was raised partly in india. people to this day make those comments, "oh your english is good, you have no accent".

i have this theory that you cannot change your accent after a certain age, and i think that it might be around 14 or 15. because i've met people who have a thick indian accent if they've come here after 16 or so. the one person who has foiled this theory is my cousin who came here at age 19 and has an american accent now.

interesting, indeed.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

you know, that's an interesting point about accents and age. i was 10 when 11 came to this country. i knew english very well from being in india and spoke it fluently (in fact, i was placed in honors english right away much to everyone's surprise). my accent literally changed within a month. you'd never know that i was raised partly in india. people to this day make those comments, "oh your english is good, you have no accent".

i have this theory that you cannot change your accent after a certain age, and i think that it might be around 14 or 15. because i've met people who have a thick indian accent if they've come here after 16 or so. the one person who has foiled this theory is my cousin who came here at age 19 and has an american accent now.

interesting, indeed.

Hey gwen....i never knew you were desi!!!

 

[gwen]

yeah? well, gwen stefani is one of my favorite musicians, so i used her name as my ID. i'm totally desi. hindi, kashmiri, urdu.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

yeah? well, gwen stefani is one of my favorite musicians, so i used her name as my ID. i'm totally desi. hindi, kashmiri, urdu.

I see. I always remember seeing your username in the other medical forums.

 

[UKPharmGirl]

Not sure but I think there already are theories like this? There's a lot of theories in English Language... This one sounds plausible

you know, that's an interesting point about accents and age. i was 10 when i came to this country. i knew english very well from being in india and spoke it fluently (in fact, i was placed in honors english right away much to everyone's surprise). my accent literally changed within a month. you'd never know that i was raised partly in india. people to this day make those comments, "oh your english is good, you have no accent".

i have this theory that you cannot change your accent after a certain age, and i think that it might be around 14 or 15. because i've met people who have a thick indian accent if they've come here after 16 or so. the one person who has foiled this theory is my cousin who came here at age 19 and has an american accent now.

interesting, indeed.

 

[BDS-DMD]

I am from India and have been in the US since April '05. I studied in English from Grade I so I would like to believe I am pretty fluent with the language.

I have trouble saying "t". It always is taken as "d".

 

[inthedumps]

Yeah, you all are totally missing the point of the OP. I realize that people from other places have accents and that they may be impacted if the individual is exposed to the new language at a prepubescent age. Yada, yada, yada. The question is: WHY DO INDIANS SAY "V" WHEN THEY MEAN TO SAY "W"?? AND VICE VERSA...

 

[gwen]

alrighty sdn police officer. i think its ok to discuss something related to the initial topic, this isn't exactly a med school interview question. but considering you're in the dumps, i guess you're allowed to be pissy.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

alrighty sdn police officer. i think its ok to discuss something related to the initial topic, this isn't exactly a med school interview question. but considering you're in the dumps, i guess you're allowed to be pissy.

 

[jocg27]

Subcontinentals, especially those from the Sindh (of both India and Pakistan), have the habit of changing /w/ to /v/ (as in 'ven' instead of 'when') or vice versa ("I will pay with Weeza" for "...Visa"). Both my also become [ʋ].

Standard Hindi and most other vernaculars do not differentiate between /v/ (voiced labiodental fricative) and /w/ (voiced labiovelar approximant). Instead, most Indians use a frictionless labio-dental approximant for words with either sound. So wine is pronounced like vine.

whole article is here

It's long, and it's a lot of really intense linguistic information...But it is interesting, worth scanning through at least. It's interesting to read stuff you recognize people actually saying.

 

[daagdar-saab]

Yeah, you all are totally missing the point of the OP. I realize that people from other places have accents and that they may be impacted if the individual is exposed to the new language at a prepubescent age. Yada, yada, yada. The question is: WHY DO INDIANS SAY "V" WHEN THEY MEAN TO SAY "W"?? AND VICE VERSA...

can u give an example..i have never seen anyone do tht before...seriously.

may i ask why americans pronounce suggestion as sugges-"chun"..and not like Indians or Britishers as Sugges-"shun"..
Why u ppl pronounce route as "raa-oo-te"..and not like Indians/Britishers as "Root"..
i have so many examples...But I am fine with all of tht..I feel language is just a means of conveying ur thoughts to the person u r conversing with...As long as someone is able to do tht, i feel it is just fine..
Infact, many things or words dont even need words..
here I go slightly off the topic!..haha..

To add,
My Question is why dont they spell "San jose' or 'Baja fresh 'as they pronounce it..like SAn Hosey..or Baha"...We never question tht....
Why do we use silent words like"h" in "hour"..when we dont even use it..we haven't questioned tht..

Why? Why? Why? or shld I say VY? VY? VY?.....haha

 

[cheer_up]

My Question is why dont they spell "San jose' or 'Baja fresh 'as they pronounce it..like SAn Hosey..or Baha"...We never question tht....

San Jose is pronounced as San "Hosey" because it's pronounced the Spanish way not the American way which is very bizarre considering it's in America, but whatever. I remember when I first saw the name, because my uncle lives there, I used to argue so hard with my cousin that it's wrong to pronounce it as San "Hosey" because it's a "J" and not an "H" and it should just be Jose not "Josey" as in "hose" and "Jose". She kept insisting that people pronounce it as "Hosey". Now, I know that is actually true but I still think it's bizarre and I still don't like the "Hosey" sound, but whatever.

 

[daagdar-saab]

u r right cheer_up.
i do know tht it is spanish..I wrote tht coz the place is in US..and our frnd here [assuming him/her to be American] does not question tht.
Why attack Indians?

 

[cheer_up]

QUOTE=daagdar-saab;4405685]u r right cheer_up.
i do know tht it is spanish..I wrote tht coz the place is in US..and our frnd here [assuming him/her to be American] does not question tht.
Why attack Indians?
[/QUOTE]

I certainly don't think the OP is trying to attack Indians at all. I think she/he is just curious. So, don't get defensive . The reason why the OP or any American doesn't question some of points you brought up, is because that is how a "typical" American or the majority of the people in North America says or pronounces them. Therefore, that makes them the norm here. Mind you, I don't think the Americans pronounce "route" as "raa oo te"; well at least the Canadians including myself don't. We pronounce it as "root" too. Also, I've never heard my British friends (I was in England for 5 years) pronounce "suggestion" as you have described, but I could be wrong.
For me, I always wonder why a lot of the Chinese people such as those with a strong Chinese accent when speaking English, cannot say the letter "e" as "e" but they say it as "yee". I think this may be due to the fact that there is no "e" sound or "e" Chinese alphabet in the Chinese language (s). However, I don't know that for sure since I don't speak Chinese myself. By bringing this point up, I am not trying to attack or pick on the Chinese people in any way. It is just a curiosity and an observation that I often come across since I work in an area where there is a large population of Chinese - that's all

 

[inthedumps]

whole article is here

It's long, and it's a lot of really intense linguistic information...But it is interesting, worth scanning through at least. It's interesting to read stuff you recognize people actually saying.

Excellent analysis, jocg. This answers my question exactly. Thanks!
Now for you others, please carry-on with your conversation about your favorite pop stars, etc.
Peace out.

 

[gwen]

inthedumps - of course, we'll discuss why shah rukh looks older and how salman is working on his hair transplant. you let us know how your linguistics phd is coming along.

 

[UKPharmGirl]

Shahrukh rocks (just another observation lol)

 

[daagdar-saab]

did anyone see DON?..I still feel tht Abhishek Bachchan would have been a better choice than SRK.
However, i did like the movie..and songs are simply awesome.

 

[gwen]

yeah, it would have been so awesome to see the real don's son. i'm still not sure if i want to see the new movie. srk needs to retire (i'm not a big fan of his). main hoon kaun, main hoon kaun, main hoon, main hoon, main hoon kaun!?

oh sorry, back to v as w.

 

[UKPharmGirl]

He might not have been at his best in DON but he is a SUPERSTAR

 

[parasiteatwork]

Sharukh Rocks

 

[madaboutmed]

hey i agree!!! shah rukhs the king!! but u cant deny age is takin its toll...any of you watch..KBC? if so then hes probably going to host it instead of amitabh bacchan....

 

[UKPharmGirl]

Age??? He's soooo younggg compared to Big B, and look at him! People still love him to bits despite his age, for me it's the same with Shahrukh, no matter how old he gets....HE'S MY HERO!!!

 

[parasiteatwork]

SHARUKH