Re: pronunciation of "v" - Good King Grammar

> > Not quite there yet :-) The form 'heil' is either feminine
> > singular nominative/accusative or neuter plural nominative/accusative
> > whereas 'allt' is neuter singular nominative/accusative.
> >
>
> D'oh! I was going for neuter plural (ie. a mixed gender audience), but was
> fooled by 'allr' being a collective noun, thus, I put it in the singular. In
> that case, would 'heilt allt' or 'heil öll' be more appropriate?

:-) 'heil öll' is fine but 'heilt allt' (although grammatically
correct) is just funny.

> > Very fine ferry vine.

> I'm curious then, as to what makes the Icelandic 'v' different to both English
> 'v' and 'w' (it's not bilabial, is it?).

No, it's not bilabial - though the ON 'v' may have been.
Our 'v' is not a voiced 'f'. It's not even a fricative -
it's an approximant. I wonder if an English speaker would
hear it as 'v', 'w' or neither.

> If I've guessed right, English 'f' is at position 1, English 'v' is at
> position 2, and English 'w' is at position 4...

That was my intention, yes.

Kveðja,
Haukur