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Stephenlearner Posted 14 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Sound of /v/ in I've ...

Hi,

Here is a sentence:

I've been late twice.

In conversation, do you pronounce the "ve" or omit it totally?

When I listen to the tape, I can hardly hear the sound of /v/.

Thank you very much.
  

Top answer

You sometimes hear " I been late twice", but that is non-standard. Some dialects permit that, and you hear it in very casual, very low-register speech. I would only say it that way if I was joking, trying to sound dumb.

— Enoon

  • You sometimes hear " I been late twice", but that is non-standard.
  • Some dialects permit that, and you hear it in very casual, very low-register speech.
  • I would only say it that way if I was joking, trying to sound dumb.
  • What tape?
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5 Answers
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You sometimes hear "I been late twice", but that is non-standard. Some dialects permit that, and you hear it in very casual, very low-register speech. I would only say it that way if I was joking, trying to sound dumb.

What tape?
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Yes, ya can elide that /v/: cf coulda/shoulda/woulda been
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Thank both of you very much.

It is a tape to teach the American accent. /v/ sound is given in the phonetic transcription, but I can't hear it.
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stephenlearnerI can hardly hear the sound of /v/.
It will sound softened before a /b/. The speaker may have formed the /v/ with his lips only very briefly, so the sound of the /v/ didn't come through very distinctly.

CJ
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