Lveew or Lveev, which is Correct?

[Globehopper]

As concerns the "B" letter in Cyrillic, some of my language books say that it is pronounced as a W before vowels, and at the end of a word. Other books say that it has a V sound. For example, Lveew or Lveev. Which is more commonly used? Which is correct? Does it have to do with the section of the country?

Can someone please help me with this?

Thanks

[Serhii]

Ukrainian letter B has two different pronunciations. It can be both W ( two lips) and V( lip and teeth). The vowel 'I ' always softens preceding consonats (lito, bilyj, bida...). If B goes before the letter I it becomes a soft one and is always pronounced W ( vikno, viter, vitaty,etc). If it is followed by another vowels you should pronounce V ( vovk, vona, vertep,etc). It is a general rule for our language in all parts of the country, especially in L'wiv where people speak essentially clean and nice language.

The last letter in L'wiv ( V) goes in a weak position ( = you can hear it as a soft one, close to W ) , but it is another rule... Good luck and thank you for a deep and interesting question.

[benda]

Do you want to say, pane Serhiyu, that it is right to say "witaty", not "vitaty"?
I've heard about "W" pronunciation, but mostly at the end of the word, like "zrobyW".

[Globehopper]

Serhii, thanks for responding to my question. Who does pronounce it "Lviv?" Three of my language books say Lviv is correct, and three say Lviw. So who says Lviv? Is it a certain part of the country?

Thanks

[Oleksij_M]

It actually is Lviw. Because "Б" in Ukrainian is pronouced similarly to "w" in English at the end of a closed syllable.

[Oleksij_M]

Oh, god, this site doesn't recognise Cyrillic!

[Kathy]

This site does recognize Cyrillic fonts - the problem is with your browser.

My browser recognizes Cyrillic and, of course, Latin fonts, but not on one site, so I can't read Cyrillic posts on this site.