{"id":11228,"date":"2024-11-26T23:33:15","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T22:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/vaya-a-buscar-bayas-detras-de-la-valla-the-pronunciation-of-b-and-v-in-spanish\/"},"modified":"2025-03-29T05:39:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T04:39:58","slug":"vaya-a-buscar-bayas-detras-de-la-valla-the-pronunciation-of-b-and-v-in-spanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/vaya-a-buscar-bayas-detras-de-la-valla-the-pronunciation-of-b-and-v-in-spanish\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaya a buscar bayas detr\u00e1s de la valla: the pronunciation of “b” and “v” in Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\tW<\/span>\n\t\t\t

e will need to clarify some phonetic concepts before starting with the content of this article. Several concepts, but I believe they will be useful not only for understanding what we will cover in this article but also for learning about phonetics in general.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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To understand what I will explain in this article, it is important to know that a consonant differs from a vowel because consonant sounds involve some kind of obstruction to the airflow through the vocal tract, whereas vowel sounds do not present any obstruction. A fricative consonant, on the other hand, is pronounced by allowing the air to pass continuously through a narrow opening, creating friction with the structures that form this opening. An example is the Spanish f<\/i>: it is a labiodental fricative consonant because the small opening through which the air passes is formed by the upper teeth and the lower lip. An occlusive consonant is pronounced by completely blocking the airflow for an instant and then releasing it. An example is the Spanish p<\/i>, which is a bilabial occlusive consonant because the airflow is momentarily blocked by both lips. Finally, an approximant consonant is pronounced by bringing two structures of the vocal tract close together without creating friction (so it is not a fricative) and introducing some obstruction to the airflow (so it is not a vowel). Examples, as we will see, are the Spanish b <\/i> and v<\/i>, depending on the case, because both lips come close enough to partially obstruct the airflow but not enough to generate friction. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The pronunciation of consonants can be voiced or voiceless. In voiced consonants, the vocal cords vibrate; in voiceless consonants, they do not. Referring to the examples in the previous paragraph, in Spanish, f <\/i> is a voiceless labiodental fricative consonant because, in addition to its point of articulation, the vocal cords do not vibrate when we pronounce it. Similarly, p <\/i> is a voiceless bilabial occlusive consonant for the same reasons, while b <\/i> and v <\/i> are voiced consonants that, as we will see, can be either occlusive or approximant depending on the context. A relatively simple way to determine whether a consonant is voiced or voiceless is to touch your larynx while pronouncing it: if you feel vibration, it is voiced; if not, it is voiceless. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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There is a widespread belief among native Spanish speakers that b and v are pronounced differently. Specifically, we believe – myself included, as I once held this belief – that v <\/i> is pronounced as a voiced labiodental fricative consonant, similar to the v <\/i> in very <\/i> in English, the w <\/i> in w\u00fcrstchen <\/i> in German, or the v <\/i> in vouloir <\/i> in French. In my particular case, this belief stems from what I was taught in elementary school, even though it is incorrect. I believed it until I realized it was not true after making mistakes while speaking the foreign languages I know. I fully understood it later while pursuing my master’s degree in Spanish as a foreign language at university. However, the truth is that “b” and “v” are pronounced the same in Spanish, alternating between an occlusive and approximant pronunciation depending on the context, as we will see. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Phonetic neutralization of b and v.
<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In Classical Latin, b <\/i> was pronounced as a voiced bilabial occlusive in all positions, and v <\/i> as a voiced bilabial semivowel \/w\/, similar to the w <\/i> sound in the English word water<\/i>. In the evolution into the Romance languages, broadly speaking, the occlusive b <\/i> (\/b\/) relaxed in some positions, resulting in the voiced bilabial approximant \/\u03b2\/ that we still have in modern Spanish. As for v<\/i>, it evolved into a voiced labiodental fricative pronunciation, so in some dialects of medieval Spanish, this pronunciation existed, and it remains in other Romance languages, such as French, and in languages that borrowed vocabulary from Latin, like English. However, in Spanish, it was lost in most varieties. Only in some areas of Spain, influenced by local languages like Catalan, and in some parts of the Americas, influenced by indigenous languages, can this pronunciation of v <\/i> still be found. The most common pattern in Spanish is the alternation between the voiced bilabial occlusive \/b\/ and the voiced bilabial approximant \/\u03b2\/. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Sounds of b and v in Spanish.
<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    \n
  1. [b]: Voiced Bilabial Occlusive. It is produced with a complete closure between both lips, similar to the initial sound of “boy” in English. <\/li>\n
  2. [\u03b2]: Voiced Bilabial Approximant. In this variant, the lips come close together but do not fully close, creating a softer and more relaxed sound. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    The occlusive pronunciation occurs at the beginning of a word, after a pause, or following a nasal consonant, while the approximant pronunciation occurs after a vowel or following a non-nasal consonant. Thus, we pronounce \/b\/ola (bola), un \/b\/eso (beso), \/b\/entana (ventana) y en\/b\/\u00edo (env\u00edo), pero la \/\u03b2\/entana (la ventana), la \/\u03b2\/ola, al\/\u03b2\/a (alba) y cur\/\u03b2\/a (curva). <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    We have reached the end. I know I\u2019ve included a lot of information to differentiate between two very similar sounds, but I thought it would be useful because pronunciation errors are the ones most likely to become fossilized, meaning that our brain decides that no correction is necessary, since although they may cause interference in communication, they do not make it impossible. And, from my personal experience, learning phonetic concepts is, among other things, a very good resource for improving the pronunciation of the language(s) we want to acquire. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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    \n\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>Prev<\/span><\/span>Anterior<\/span>Art\u00edculo indefinido: fill in the blanks<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\tSiguiente<\/span>Tomates verdes fritos: the plural in Spanish<\/span><\/span><\/path><\/svg>Next<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Phonetics: Pronunciation of “b” and “v” in Spanish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[190],"tags":[182],"class_list":["post-11228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-phonetics","tag-down-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11228"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15849,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11228\/revisions\/15849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}