Yes, the original pronunciation is with /v/. The word is from French neveu, and was spelt with an or a in Middle English. (Words spelt ...
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Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser.
Pronunciation:nephew
Threadstarter
Cecilio
Startdate
Aug4,2006
Howdoyoupronounce"ph"intheword"nephew"?
As[v]
Votes:1
4.3%
As[f]
Votes:22
95.7%
Totalvoters
23
Cecilio
SeniorMember
Valencia,Spain
Spanish,Valencian/Catalan
Ialwaysthoughttheconsonantinthemiddleofword"nephew"waspronouncedas[v],butitseemsthatnowadaysapronunciationlike[f]ismorecommon.IsitthesameintheUSAandinBritain?Istheoldpronunciation[v]disappearing?
timpeac
SeniorMember
England
English(England)
Ididn'tknowitusedtohavea"v"pronunciation.Ifso-it'sprobablyacaseofliteracyinfluencingpronunciation-suchasthereappearenceinspeechformanypeopleofthe"t"in"often"(oncepronounced"offen"nowit'soften"off-ten".
Tatzingo
SeniorMember
WhereonEarth??
English,UK
I'venotknownaperiodoftimebeforewhatyouhavedescribedas"nowadays"andassuch,the"Ph"soundhasandalwaysis"f".Thisistruenotjustintheword"nephew"butalsoinmanyother"ph"wordssuchastelePHone,PHysical..etc.AlwaysF,neverV.
atz.
timpeac
SeniorMember
England
English(England)
Inlookingintothehistoryofthepronunciationof"nephew"Ifoundthiswhichmightbeofinterest.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_of_disputed_pronunciation
Itsupportsmyideathat"neffew"isa"spellingpronunciation".
O
Operatic
Member
London
English-England
Ipronounceitwithan'f'.Myparentspronounceitwitha'v'.Theywillbethelastgenerationtodoso(wellatleastuntilitchangesagain!).
Operatic
Cecilio
SeniorMember
Valencia,Spain
Spanish,Valencian/Catalan
Itlookslikethepronunciationwith[v]istheoriginalone.ItisdefinitelytheoneIwastaughtwhenIstartedlearningEnglishmanyyearsago.Thequestionis:Aretherestillmanypeoplewhopronounce"nephew"theoldway?
Brioche
SeniorMember
Adelaide
AustraliaEnglish
DanielJones's"EnglishPronouncingDictionary"givesvfirst,andfasavariant.
Myforeignlanguage-Englishdictionariesallhavevonly.
MyMacquarieDictionary[Australian]hasffirst,andvsecond.
MyCollinshasvfirst,fsecond.
M
mjscott
SeniorMember
PacificNorthwest,USA
AmericanEnglish
So,I'mguessingthatmostlythosewithforeignlanguageEnglishdictionariespronounceitwithav?
I'veneverhearditpronouncedorproposedtobepronouncedwithavinsteadofanf.
M
maxiogee
Banned
English
Ivotedfor"f"butmypronunciationwasn'tanoption.Ipronouncethewordasneff-hew.
Doesnobodyelsepronouncethe'h'?
B
BoldLowe
NewMember
English-USA
Forme,definitely"F"(voiceless)asinPhiladelphia.IcanthinkofnowordinAmericanEnglishwhereitispronounced"V"(voiced).Perhaps,insomedialectsithasbeenmispronouncedandthenadoptedasavariant.Non-nativeEnglishteacherssometimesgetconfused.
BTW,Maxio,Idon'temphasizethe"H"but,sinceyouaresayingavoiceless"F"theaircouldmakeitsoundlikean"H"
natkretep
Moderatoconanima(EnglishOnly)
Singapore
English(Singapore/UK),basicChinese
Yes,theoriginalpronunciationiswith/v/.ThewordisfromFrenchneveu,andwasspeltwithanorainMiddleEnglish.(Wordsspeltwith/f/couldbepronouncedwith/v/-inOldEnglish/f/and/v/werenotheardasdifferentsounds.Ourwordofispronounced/ɒv/or/əv/.)
The/f/pronunciationhasovertakenthe/v/pronunciation.
JulianStuart
SeniorMember
SonomaCountyCA
English(UKthenUS)
TheonlyotherexampleofthisthatcomestomindisStephenandSteven.Idon'tthinkI'veeverheardanyoneusethefpronunciationforeither.
natkretep
Moderatoconanima(EnglishOnly)
Singapore
English(Singapore/UK),basicChinese
You'dhearStephenwith/f/inScotland.
e2efour
SeniorMember
England(aged79)
UKEnglish
I'vealwaysthoughtofthevpronunciationascharacteristicofthesouthofEngland.
AsIhearitnowadays,thispronuncationisalsousedby"posh"people.Forexample,IwouldbeprettycertainthatitisusedbyourpresentPrimeMinisterandpeopleofthatkind,includingtheQueen.
Lastedited:Aug19,2015
soundshift
SeniorMember
Derby(centralEngland)
English-England
Myfather,whoisinhiseightiesandfromthesouthofEngland,pronounces"nephew"witha[v].Ipronounceitwitha[f].
JulianStuart
SeniorMember
SonomaCountyCA
English(UKthenUS)
natkretepsaid:
You'dhearStephenwith/f/inScotland.
Clicktoexpand...
Thanks.
Stillwithalongeesound?(i:)I'mgoingthereinafewdaysandwillpayattention
(IavoidedbringinuptheSteffshortesituationsinceitisoftenspelledStefan)
G
GiorgioSpizzi
SeniorMember
Italian
Hullo,Brioche.
That'sstrange.The15theditionofDanielJones'sEPD(publishedin1997)gives:
/...f.../,/...v.../US/...f.../,inthisorder.
Best.
GS
C
Copperknickers
SeniorMember
Scotland-ScotsandEnglish
natkretepsaid:
You'dhearStephenwith/f/inScotland.
Clicktoexpand...
I'veneverheardStephenpronouncedwithan/f/inmyentirelife,inScotlandoranywhereelse.
Asfor'nephew',allofthepeopleIknowwhopronounceit'nevyoo'areover50,butit'sprettycommonnevertheless.
natkretep
Moderatoconanima(EnglishOnly)
Singapore
English(Singapore/UK),basicChinese
WehaveathreadonStephenhere.TheversionthatI'veheardisfromanolderScottishwomanwhocalledherson/ˈstiːfn/.Thefather,fromSouthampton,usesthe/v/version.Stephenhimselfusedthe/v/version.SomeotherolderScottishspeakersused/f/,soI'msureitwasn'tidiosyncratic.
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