# Why do Germans sometimes pronounce "V" as "W"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987 "2004-06-12T17:00:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/21 "2004-06-14T04:33:34Z")
Heck, I grew up in Georgia (if Atlanta counts) and _I_ never heard “dubya” until I moved to New England. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/22 "2004-06-14T04:44:23Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > Well let’s see, I suppose “double U” is the correct way to pronounce “W”, but with my German friend, the pronunciation seemed drawn out a bit, more like “dub bull U”. Where I am more used to “dub U”, I think I had “dub ya” on the mind from all the G.W. posts. But I do believe you will hear “dub ya” in other parts of the south, Tennessee perhaps? I’d never heard it til I moved to Texas and then mostly in conjunction with GW. In Georgia, Alabama, and North Florida, it was always “double U”, said with a slight drawl. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/23 "2004-06-14T15:28:12Z")
I dunno, but I’ve noticed it since I’ve gotten here… but only for wodka, wictim(s), wery, and wampire. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/24 "2004-06-14T18:06:34Z")
I’ve actually heard people say “jes” instead of “yes”. I think they’ve mostly been Spanish speakers. Again, they don’t have the “J” sound in their native language, so I’m not sure why this happens. But from my observation, it seems any time learn a foreign language, and the new language assigns the consonants to the letters in a radically different way from your own language, any sort of confusion is possible regarding the consonants and letters in question. (Note: by _consonant_ I mean the pronounced sound, as opposed to the written _letter_). ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/25 "2004-06-14T19:15:34Z")
I’ve noticed that often my Indian colleagues will make the same W/V substitution (“woluntary” “wolume”). Would this be for the same reason as for German speakers, as posited above? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/26 "2004-06-14T22:28:34Z")
Anybody remember “Allen’s Alley” from radio? One of Fred Allen’s characters was the European “Mrs. Nussbaum.” In one segment she mentioned “witamins from wegetables” as well as “string-ala-beans and ruta-bagels” and “tambourines” (for “tangerines”). ---
**Author:** ![Lush\_Jinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Lush\_Jinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lush_Jinks)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/27 "2004-06-15T04:05:36Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’ve actually heard people say “jes” instead of “yes”. I think they’ve mostly been Spanish speakers. Again, they don’t have the “J” sound in their native language, so I’m not sure why this happens. Depends on the region, hombre. Sometimes the “y” in spanish is pronounced like an english “j”, so playa (beach) sounds like pla-jah. Most places it’s pronounced like in english though, but the “j” sound also comes out in the “ll” (elle) letter, which is usually pronounced like an english “y” but if you listen to any mexican radio stations you’ll often hear advertisements ending with LLAMA HOY (call today) pronounced “jama oy”. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/28 "2004-06-15T05:30:38Z")
Seems to me it’s pretty common for second language speakers to wrongly insert sounds they have trouble pronouncing. A phenomenon of this sort called h-epenthesis happens a lot when Quebecois speak English. Since the sound ‘h’ doesn’t exist in French, naturally it often gets left out a great deal by Francophones speaking English: 'ow did you 'elp 'er. Often, however, you get an ‘h’ stuck on where it doesn’t belong; the funniest ever was when an ex of mine said that our orange juice was too Hassidic. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987/29 "2004-06-15T14:29:58Z")
> [@Lush Jinks](#): > > Depends on the region, hombre. Sometimes the “y” in spanish is pronounced like an english “j”, so playa (beach) sounds like pla-jah. Most places it’s pronounced like in english though, but the “j” sound also comes out in the “ll” (elle) letter, which is usually pronounced like an english “y” but if you listen to any mexican radio stations you’ll often hear advertisements ending with LLAMA HOY (call today) pronounced “jama oy”. That makes sense to me. _J_ and _y_ are actually fairly close in terms of where you articulate them in the mouth; I never thought of that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-germans-sometimes-pronounce-v-as-w/249987.md?page=1)