bit lower than the mid-level tone and moderately goes downward
3. The high-rising tone begins at a little bit higher pitch than the mid-level tone, then in the middle of the syllable the voice sharply goes upward.
4. The low-falling-rising tone begins at the pitch which is the beginning point of the low-falling tone, and drops abruptly, then the voice goes upward at the end of the syllable.
5. The high-rising broken tone begins at a bit higher pitch than the high-rising tone and then abruptly goes upward and at the end of the syllable is accompanied by a glottal stop.
6. The low-falling broken tone begins at a bit lower pitch than the low-falling tone and then abruptly goes downward and at the end of the syllable is accompanied by a glottal stop.
These tones may be represented graphically as shown in the following chart.
Examples of words using the six main tones in Vietnamese are:
1. ma “ghost” (mid-level tone)
2. mà ( ˋ ) “but” (low-falling tone)
3. má ( ˊ ) “mother” (high-rising tone)
4. mả ( ˀ ) “grave” w(low-falling-rising tone)
5. mã ( ˜ ) “horse” (high-rising broken tone)
6. mạ ( ˌ ) “rice seedling” (low-falling broken tone)
Vietnamese consonants
Vietnamese has twenty-two initial consonants. Please listen to the audio recordings to hear examples of each one.
Examples
Examples
Examples
b [b]
ph [f]
v [v]
m [m]
t [t]
đ [d]
th [th]
boy
phone
van in the North;
yes in the South
man
dog
dove
Texas (aspirated)
x [s]
d, gi [z]
n [n]
l [l]
r4 [r] tr5 [tr] s6 [s] r7 [r]
save
zipper
no
love
run
train
shave
run
ch [j]
nh [ny]
c, k, qu [k]
kh [kh]
g, gh [gh]
ng, ngh [ng]
h [h]
chase
onion
gas
kiss
golf
sing, singy
house
Note that the Vietnamese character d denotes a [z] sound whereas the [d] sound is written as đ. Both s and x are pronounced as the [s] sound in the Hanoi dialect. The Vietnamese character x should not be confused with the English x that represents a [z] sound as in Xerox or xylophone.
Many Vietnamese initial consonants are similar to their English counterparts. However the following consonants sound very different from the English ones or do not exist in English at all.
The consonants t and th
The consonant t is unaspirated which means it is pronounced without releasing a puff of air, unlike the
English t (but similar to the Spanish t). There is a similar consonant th which is aspirated, which means it has
4 This trill initial consonant does not exist in the Hanoi dialect.
5 This retroflex initial consonant does not exist in the Hanoi dialect.
6 This retroflex initial consonant does not exist in the Hanoi dialect.
7 This retroflex initial consonant does not exist in the Hanoi dialect.
5
the t sound plus a puff of air. Please note that th is not pronounced the way it is in English (with the tongue blocking the teeth). It is pronounced as a t sound with a puff of air after it. Compare ta “we” versus tha “forgive.”
The consonant ch
English does not have a consonant similar to this Vietnamese consonant. It is halfway between the English ch and j sounds. For instance, cha “father,” and chú “uncle.” It should not be confused with the English ch as in chapter or chase.
The consonant nh
This consonant sounds like ny, similar to the Spanish ñ as in mañara. For example, nhà “house” and nhỏ “small.”
The consonant kh
This Vietnamese consonant is a rasping sound produced by narrowing the passage to the throat at the back of the mouth. The air squeezes through the passage on its way out, similar to the German ch or Arabic kh. For instance, khá “good,” khi “when.”
The consonants g and gh
These have the same pronunciation as kh, but more growly, with a vibration of the vocal chords in the throat. Compare ghi “write down” vs. khi “when.”
The consonants ng and ngh
These have the same pronunciation, like the ng in the English word hangar. In Vietnamese, this sound is often used at the beginning of a word. For example, ngủ “sleep” and nghề “occupation.”
The consonants d and đ
In Vietnamese the letter d is pronounced like English [z]
