Pronunciation of v in German explained

The pronunciation of (v) is one of the few cases of ambiguity in German orthography. The German language normally uses (f) to indicate the sound pronounced as //f// (as used in the English word fight) and (w) to indicate the sound pronounced as //v// (as in victory). However, (v) does occur in a large number of German words, where its pronunciation is pronounced as //f// in some words but pronounced as //v// in others.

Originally, in Middle High German, the sound pronounced as //f// had been voiced in some dialects and was therefore written (v). Contemporary German has gone back to the unvoiced pronunciation, but idiosyncratically sometimes retained the medieval spelling. As a general (and defective) rule, it can thus be said that (v) is pronounced pronounced as //f// in originally German words and pronounced as //v// in words of foreign origin.

Rules

(v) is pronounced pronounced as //f//

• in the name of the letter pronounced as //faʊ//;
• in the frequent prefix German: ver- and all words constructed with it, such as German: vergessen, Vertreibung etc.;
• in the following words and all their derivations: German: Vater "father"; German: Veilchen, Veigerl "viola flower"; German: Veitstanz (the neuropathy St Vitus Dance); German: Vers* "verse"; German: Vesper* "snack, small meal, evening prayer service"; German: Vest, Veste "(in geographical names) fortress"; German: Vettel "(pejorative) old woman"; German: Vetter "male cousin"; German: Viech "(pejorative) animal"; German: Vieh "livestock"; German: viel "much, many"; German: vier "four"; German: Vize* "vice-, deputy"; German: Viztum "historic government official; (today humorously) sub-agent"; German: Vlies "raw wool, fleece"; German: Vogel "bird"; German: Vogt "historic rural administrator, reeve"; German: Volk "folk, nation"; German: voll "full"; German: von "of, from"; German: vor "before, in front of"; German: Frevel* "outrage, sacrilege"; (the words with * are pronounced by some speakers with pronounced as //v//, especially in Austria)
• in the following given names: German: Eva, Veit, Veltin, Volbrecht and all those beginning with German: Volk-, such as German: Volker;
• at the beginning of German family and place names, apart from names of foreign descent and few exceptions (this often leads to mispronunciations among English-speakers, who falsely use pronounced as //v// in names like German: [[Sebastian Vettel|Vettel]]);
• at the beginning of Dutch family and place names; word-initial (v) is actually traditionally pronounced pronounced as //v// in Dutch, although pronounced as //f// is currently very common in the northern varieties, found in the Netherlands;
• at the end of words, e. g. German: Nerv "nerve" (its forms and derivatives are also usually pronounced with pronounced as //f//: Nerven, nervös), German: naiv "naïve" (this word follows the rule of final obstruent devoicing, its forms and derivatives have pronounced as //v//: German: Naive, German: Naivität), German: brav "brave" (its forms are pronounced with either pronounced as //v// or pronounced as //f//: German: brave).

(v) is pronounced pronounced as //v// (or pronounced as //ʋ//)

• where it occurs in the middle of a word stem, usually following the stressed vowel, as in German: Leverkusen, but also in German: November (sometimes pronounced with pronounced as //f// in Austria and Switzerland) (however, exceptions to this rule are some place names, most prominently German: Hannover pronounced as //haˈnoːfɐ//);
• at the beginning of words and given names other than those listed above, such as German: Vakuum, vage (all of which are of foreign descent, mostly Latin or French, and most especially loanwords of English origin);
• in family and place names which are neither German nor Dutch.

Pronunciation varies between pronounced as //f// and pronounced as //v//

• in the words German: Evangelium "gospel" and German: Pulver "powder", where both alternatives may be considered standard;
• in the words German: Larve "larva" and German: Nerven "nerves", where pronounced as //f// is the standard form and pronounced as //v// is used only by few speakers;
• in a number of words, such as German: Vikar "vicar", German: Viper "viper", German: Vitrine "closet, cabinet", where pronounced as //v// is the standard form and pronounced as //f// is used only by few (mostly less-educated) speakers.