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The pronunciation of the letter v is one of the few cases of ambiguity in German orthography. The German language normally uses the letter "f" to indicate the sound (as used in the English word ''fight'') and "w" to indicate the sound (as in ''victory''). However, the letter "v" does occur in a large number of German words, where its pronunciation is in some, but in some other words. In mediaeval German, the sound had been voiced in some dialects and was therefore written "v". Contemporary German has gone back to the unvoiced pronunciation, but kept the mediaeval spelling here and there. As a general (and defective) rule, we can thus say that "v" is pronounced in originally German words, and in words of foreign origin. ==Rules== ''V'' is pronounced * in the name of the letter ''v'' ; * in the frequent prefix ''ver-'' and all words constructed with it, such as ''vergessen, Vertreibung'' etc.; * in the following words and all their derivations: ''Vater'' (father); ''Veilchen, Veigerl'' (viola flower); ''Veitstanz'' (the neuropathy St Vitus Dance); ''Vers'' (verse); ''Vesper'' (snack, small meal); ''Vest, Veste'' (in geographical names: fortress); ''Vettel'' (pejorative: old woman); ''Vetter'' (male cousin); ''Viech'' (pejorative: animal); ''Vieh'' (cattle); ''viel'' (much, many); ''vier'' (four); ''Vize'' (vice-, deputy); ''Viztum'' (historic government official; today humorously: sub-agent); ''Vlies'' (raw wool, fleece); ''Vogel'' (bird); ''Vogt'' (historic rural administrator, reeve); ''Volk'' (folk, nation); ''voll'' (full); ''von'' (of, from); ''vor'' (before, in front of); * in the following given names: ''Eva, Veit, Veltin, Volbrecht'' and all those beginning with ''Volk-'', such as ''Volker''; * in the beginning of German family and place names, apart from names of foreign descent and few exceptions (this often leads to mispronunciations among English-speakers, who falsely use in names like Vettel); * in the beginning of Dutch family and place names; word-initial ''v'' is actually traditionally pronounced in Dutch, although is currently very common in the northern varieties, found in the Netherlands. ''V'' is pronounced (or ) * where it occurs in the middle of a word stem, usually following the stressed vowel, as in ''Leverkusen'', but also in ''November'' (however, exceptions to this rule are some place names, most prominently ''Hannover'' ; * in the beginning of words and given names other than those listed above, such as ''Vakuum, vage'' (all of which are of foreign descent, mostly Latin or French); * in family and place names which are neither German nor Dutch. Pronunciation varies between and * in the word ''Evangelium'' (gospel), where both alternatives may be considered standard; * in the words ''Larve'' (larva) and ''Nerven'' (nerves), where is the standard form and is used only by few speakers; * in a number of words, such as ''Vikar'' (vicar), ''Viper'' (viper), ''Vitrine'' (closet, cabinet), where is the standard form and is used only by few (mostly less-educated) speakers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pronunciation of v in German」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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