Pronunciation of Be (b) and Ube (v)

[marketof]

Hi people. This is driving me nuts. Could someone clarify it for me? I'm studying mainland (Castilian) Spanish. I've read what several books (and endless websites) say about the way b/v changes its pronunciation in different placings. No-one gives a complete explanation and many people are tantalizingly similar to each other, but not exactly, and everyone misses out out one combination or another in their description.

I think I've nearly worked it out, but one thing is still puzzling me ... If you have a word beginning in b/v and the previous word ends in a consonant (that is not m or n) and both words are part of a continuous phrase (if that's not a contradiction?) ... how should you pronounce this b/v?

(According to some writers, it's not at the start of a phrase and is not following an 'm' or 'n', so it should be 'bv'. But according to others it is "at the start of a word" so should be hard 'b'.)

Help, please!! Thank you. David

[Rusty]

The pronunciation of the letters b (be) and v (uve) is exactly the same. This is why words containing a 'b' or a 'v' are often misspelled.

For our discussion, since both letters are said the same way, let's only talk about the letter 'v'.

First off, the sound of the 'v' is made by touching, or nearly touching, both lips together. That is why linguists classify it as a bilabial (two lips) consonant.

When the lips touch, the IPA symbol for the 'v' is /b/. When the lips are nearly touching, the IPA symbol for the 'v' is /β/.

The lips are touched when the 'v' begins a breath group (the start of a phrase or a singled-out word) or when it is preceded by a nasal consonant.
Otherwise, the lips do not touch each other.
It's that simple.
There are three nasal consonants. Their IPA symbols are: /m/, /n/ and /ɲ/

I can't think of a word that ends in ñ (the third nasal consonant), and when the letter 'n' precedes the letter 'v', it is pronounced as if it were an 'm', the first nasal consonant.

Here are a few phrases, followed by the IPA pronunciation:

Bebe.
/ˈbeβe/

Debes beberlo todo.
/ˈdeβez βeˈβeɾlo ˈtoðo/

boca arriba
/ˈboka aˈriβa/

Véase al dorso.
/beˈase al ˈdoɾso/

¿Quieren ver?
/ˈkjeɾem beɾ/

¿Quiere ver?
/ˈkjeɾe βeɾ/

¿Quieres ver?
/ˈkjeɾez βeɾ/

!Qué vago!
/ˈke ˈβaɣo/

¿Dónde está el vaso?
/ˈdonde esˈta el ˈβaso/

Abre la boca, por favor.
/ˈaβɾe la ˈβoka, poɾ faˈβoɾ/

[marketof]

Dear Rusty. Thank you so much for your speedy and really detailed response. That leaves no room for quibbling!

Actually, the majority of my other sources agree with your very clear statement - only a few state (or imply) that a consonant (even if not nasal) before the b/v can make it hard.

I will go with what you state and take it from there.

Thanks again! David