[w] for [v] in the speech of Russians speaking English
Jules Levin
ameliede at EARTHLINK.NET
Tue Sep 17 18:01:37 UTC 2013
There are Russian speakers and Russian speakers.
A clearly articulated labio-dental [v] like in English is a NGR, CGR,
and normative pronunciation (although as I recall--and I am doing all
this from memory), with less lip-spreading than in English. As you move
to the South, it weakens. Cf. Ukr., BR, SGR. Gorbachev retained SGR
features--is he on UTube?--so I am sure there are many other SGR
speakers of standard who are a little weak with the labio-dentals.
Demographically the majority of Russian speakers are SGR speakers for
whom Standard Russian, like Standard English for many of us, is a mix of
native and what we learned in school.
Jules Levin
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