101 



sound which might resemble the English iv [nd,-°wa-\. "' pro- 

 bably bilabial [arpivik]. ^^ on account of the и the lips are 

 very much pouted, therefore uneven numbers; but they 

 are not drawn back quickly as in the case of the English «', 

 but are kept forward in rest and are squeezed together to 

 a f^l with a little rounding (no closure), '^ without closure 

 against the teeth, but merely friction. -^ without v ; una 

 pivdlugo with a little indication of v. — --^ [nätsu'etyara] with 

 marked pouting of the lips and a slight wrinkling of the nose 

 at the formation of tsu. — ^^ [Htsüaßik] tsil as in -^. 



The list contains in all 172 observations of the v-sound. 

 The result of these observations is that 1 found the sound 79 

 times unrounded (even numbers), 32 times slightly rounded 

 (even -]- uneven number), 29 times almost rounded (uneven -j- 

 even number), 32 times absolutely rounded (uneven numbers). 



With respect to the place of articulation, my observations 

 show 56 times the underlip slightly drawn back [a'^'^'^^'^^'^), 53 times 

 the lips almost or entirely in their natural position {a^^^'^'^^'^), 

 17 times the lips pouted (a**"^^^), 19 times the underlip in 

 contact with the lower edge of the upper teetli [a^^^"'^). 



This great number of variations may at first glance seem 

 to show mere confusion and inconsistency. They all have, 

 however, this in common, that they indicate a voiced labial 

 fricative, and on closer observation one soon finds that there 

 is a predominant tendency to form a bilabial slightly rounded 

 fricative. This agrees with the acoustic effect which the sound 

 had on my ears. When 1 occasionally noted an articulation 

 which very nearly corresponded to our labiodental v^ I even in 

 that case found that the closure (friction) was as a rule somewhat 

 looser than in the corresponding Danish or English articulation. 

 At all events, the labiodental v does occur, but is apparently 

 merely occasional and may perhaps be partly due to the 



