fː vs v

Voiceless Labiodental Fricative vs Voiced Labiodental Fricative

How these sounds differ

fː

Voiceless Labiodental Fricative

Voicing: voiceless
Place: labiodental
Manner: fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 16 / 500

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Voiced Labiodental Fricative

Voicing: voiced
Place: labiodental
Manner: fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 131 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with fː

Languages with both

131

Languages with v

7 languages in our database contrast both sounds as distinct phonemes. Languages that have one but not the other tend to merge them into a single phoneme — meaning speakers of those languages often struggle to hear the distinction when learning a language that contrasts them.

Has fː, not v (9)

Nara Language isolate Inuit Eskimo-Aleut Karok Language isolate Kadugli (Miri) Kadugli-Krongo Mahas-Fiyadikka Nubian Hindi-Urdu Indo-European Amharic Afro-Asiatic Tashlhiyt Berber Afro-Asiatic Tigre Afro-Asiatic

Has v, not fː (20)

North Azerbaijani Turkic Persian Indo-European Breton Indo-European Logbara Central Sudanic Gbeya Atlantic-Congo Beembe Atlantic-Congo Ga Atlantic-Congo Kpelle Mande Dagbani Atlantic-Congo Margi Afro-Asiatic Angas Afro-Asiatic Guarani Tupian Apinaye Nuclear-Macro-Je Hopi Uto-Aztecan Aleut Eskimo-Aleut Malagasy Austronesian Yay Tai-Kadai Lahu Sino-Tibetan Kabardian Abkhaz-Adyge Yakut Turkic