V, the German Kurrent letter v
V is the 22nd letter of the German alphabet, representing a voiceless labiodental fricative /f/ in Germanic words like 'Vater' or 'Vogel', and a voiced /v/ in Latin and Romance loanwords like 'Vase'. In German Kurrent handwriting, it has a distinct historical ductus taught across German-speaking Europe until 1941.
In words
Vater · father
Easy to confuse with
Looks like u (Kurrent u)
The v ends in a small loop at the top right; the u has no loop there and carries an arc above it instead.
History
The letter V occupies the 22nd position in the German alphabet. Phonetically, it represents a voiceless labiodental fricative /f/ in Germanic words like 'Vater' or 'Vogel', and a voiced /v/ in Latin and Romance loanwords like 'Vase'.
Lowercase v in Kurrent is a pointed trough with a sharp base angle that rises on the right into an inward-curling loop at the top of the middle zone. Capital V is a grand, sweeping flourish that plunges down to a pointed base and sweeps upward to an expansive right-hand loop.
The letter v is critical in genealogical registers for the foundational relationship 'Vater' (father), as well as geographical prefixes like 'von' and 'vor'. Its top exit loop distinguishes it from u.
V is the 22nd most frequent letter in German text, at about 0.7% of all letters.[1] Old High German usually wrote this sound with f, as in fihu for Vieh, filu for viel and fior for vier; Middle High German used both f and v, and modern spelling still keeps some of those medieval v spellings.[2]
Sources
- [1] V — Wikipedia (German) — 22nd most frequent, 0.67% (accessed 2026-10-14)
- [2] V — Wikipedia (German) — OHG f-spellings, MHG f and v, modern spelling keeps some v (accessed 2026-10-14)