a quick IPA guide to the Vietnamese alphabet

by Bùi Hoàng Duy / Dzwee H. Bui

revised December 10, 2012

Originally, Vietnamese was written using a Chinese-based script known as Ch Nômữ

(“Southern script”) or Nôm. During the 17th century, Portuguese Jesuits introduced a Latin-based orthography for Vietnamese called Ch Qu c Ngữ ố ữ (“script for the national language”), which was then perfected and published by a French missionary named Alexander de Rhodes. The two systems co-existed until the early 20th century, when Ch Nôm died out. Now, onlyữ Ch Qu c Ng is used.ữ ố ữ

The Vietnamese alphabet consists of 17 consonant letters and 12 vowel letters:

a â b c d đ e ê g h i k l m n o ô p q r s t u v x yă ơ ư

The alphabet suits Northern dialects better than Southern ones, due to the latter group having drifted further from 17th century Vietnamese.

Consonants / Ph âmụ

Vietnamese has 25 consonant letters and digraphs:

b c ch d đ g gh h k kh l m n ng ngh p ph qu r s t th tr v x

Note:

•<q> never goes alone but always with <u>.

•<f> might be used as shorthand for <ph>, but this usage is not official.

Onsets / Ph âm ụ đ uầBelow are the consonant letters and digraphs found in initial position:

B b [ɓ] implosive

C c [k] tenuis

Ch ch [c]

D d [z / j] /j/ in the South; /z/ in the North; evolved from / /ʝ đ Đ [ɗ] implosive

G g [ɣ] also <gh>

H h [h]

K k [k] tenuis

Kh kh [x]

L l [l] shifted to <n> in Northern working class speech (NWCS)

M m [m]

N n [n] shifted to <l> in NWCS

Ng ng [ ] ŋ also <ngh>

Nh nh [ɲ] clearest Portuguese influence

P p [p] only in loanwords; merged with <b> for most speakers

Ph ph [f]

R r [z / , ɹ ɣ] /ɹ/ or /ɣ/ in the South; /z/ in the North

S s [s / ʂ] now only /s/ is commonly heard

T t [t] tenuis

Th th [th] aspirated

Tr tr [c] also /tɹ/ in the South (pedantry)

V v [v / j] /j/ South; /v/ North

X x [s] evolved from /ɕ/

•Stemming from Portuguese tradition, <g> and <ng> have to be written differently before front vowels in order to preserve their phonetic value. So before <e>, <ê>, <i> and <y>, we write <gh> and <ngh> instead. E.g.: ga vs. ghi; ngô vs. nghe

•It’s common for Northern speakers from the countryside and the working class to mix up <l> and <n>, with <l> becoming <n> far more often then the other way around. This trend is quite stigmatised.

Codas / Ph âm cu iụ ố

Vietnamese, like most Austroasiatic languages, has fairly restricted syllable codas. Out of the 23 consonant letters and digraphs, only 8 can stand in a final position: c ch m n ng nh p t

c [k, kp] /kp/ is allophonic after rounded vowels

ch [k ~ t] In the North, like final <c>. In the South, like final <t>.

m [m]

n [n / ]ŋ /n/ in the North; complicated in the South

ng [ , m]ŋ ŋ / m/ is allophonic after rounded vowelsŋ

nh [ ~ n]ŋ <ng> North; <n> South

p [p]

t [t ~ k] /t/ in the North; complicated in the South

Notes:

•All obstruent codas - <c>, <ch>, <p>, <t> - are unreleased. English speakers and speakers of European languages in general have the habit of releasing their voiceless stops very strongly.

•It’s not certain what consonants <ch> and <nh> truly represented at the time the alphabet was made; those sounds are lost to history. Another theory is that these digraphs were an effort on the missionaries’ part to compromise between the two groups of dialect.

•<ch> and <nh> follows <a>, <ê> and <i> ONLY.

•<ng> NEVER follows <ê>, <i> or <y>.

•For / m/ and /kp/, simply close your lips after the / / and /k/. This is one feature that learnersŋ ŋ often forget about.

•In Northern dialects, the “–anh” rhyme is pronounced [ɑɪŋ], disntinct from “– ng”ă [ɑ ]ŋ

•Treatment of <n> and <t> in Southern dialects:

- After <e, o, u, ư > : they are recognised as <ng> and <c>, and behave exactly like them. “-on” is a special case; see below.

- After <ê, i>: they stay as /n/ and /t/, but have a centralising effect on the vowel they follow.

- After <ô>: also recognised as <ng> and <c>, but /o/ is lengthened. E.g. t tố [to:kp] vs. t cố [tokp]; côn [ko: mŋ ] vs. công [ko mŋ ]…

- The “–on” rhyme is pronounced like –oong, not –ong. For details, see ‘Monophthongs’.

Vowels / Nguyên âm

As a member of the Austro-Asiatic family, Vietnamese has a large vowel inventory.

Monophthongs / Nguyên âm đ nơ

The Vietnamese vowel system is based on 9 vowels (or 11 if we count the difference in length). They are written with 12 letters and 1 digraph:

A a [ :] ɑ

Ă ă [ ] ɑ

 â [ɤ] short in checked syllables and diphthongs / triphthongs*ơ

E e [ ] ɛ /j / ɛ in NWCS

Ê ê [e]

I i [i ~ ] ɪ See note

O o [ ] ɔ

Oo oo [ ]ɔ See note

Ô ô [o]

Ơ ơ [ɤ / ɤ:] /ɤ:/ in checked syllables (to contrast with â)

U u [u]

Ư ư [ɯ]

Y y [i ~ ] ɪ See note

•<i> and <y> are NOT interchangeable when forming diphthongs and triphthongs (e.g ui vs. uy). The Ministry of Education suggested that <y> should be used in Hán-Vi t wordsệ (words borrowed from Classical Chinese), while <i> is for native words, but in reality this matter is settled by imitation and habit.

•[ɔ] is spelled as <oo> to signify that the following <ng> is pronounced [ ], with open lips,ŋ not [ m]. ŋ E.g.: Close lips after cong [kɔ m], but NOT after ŋ coong [kɔ ].ŋ Hence, it’s the coda that changes. The vowel itself stays the same, not drawn out or pronounced any differently.

•* E.g.: d + n = dânơ

Diphthongs / Nguyên âm đôi

Dipthongs are formed by taking core vowels, then "gliding" them. There are two types of glides in Vietnamese:

Prevocalic Glide: The W-glide

This glide takes place before the vowel sets in. An example of this glide in English is when you

turn dell into dwell. Because the Portuguese language doesn’t have the letter <w>, the Jesuits used vowel letters to write it down instead.

Before <a>, < > and <e>, we use <o> to markă the glide:

oa [w :] ɑ Southern working class speech (SWCS): / :/ or / :/ɑ ɔo ă [w ] ɑ short <oa> in checked syllables

oe [w ] ɛ

Before <ê>, <ơ> and <y>, we use <u>

uê [we]

uơ [wɤ:]

uâ [wɤ] short <u > in checked syllables*ơ

uy [wi] <y> cannot be replaced with <i> for this diphthong

•* E.g.: qu + n = qơ uân

•IMPORTANT: <uy> is distinct from <ui>

•In the North, <qu> stands for /kw/, with the w-glide being an integral part of this digraph. In the South it becomes a simple /w/.

•This glide doesn't go with the 3 rounded vowels /o ɔ u/.You might come across qu c ố (e.g “qu c gia” – nation), which seemingly goes against thisố rule. In reality, it’s a homophone of cu c ố – which falls into the -glideə below; Southerners unround the core vowel and make it sound like "w c".ấ

•A recent development in Southern dialects (especially among working class speakers): This glide gets deleted after a consonant. For example, đóng thu ế “to pay tax” would sound the same as đóng th ế “to body-double in a movie”. The digraph <oa> is commonly pronounced as /ɔ:/, in addition to the / :ɑ / expected under this sound change, while <qu> stays as /w/.

Postvocalic Glides:

These three glide take place after the vowel has set in. Three glides belong to this type.

- The ɪ-glide: marked by writing <i> or <y> after the core vowel letter.

ai [ : ] ɑ ɪ

ay [ ]ɑɪ SWCS: merged with <ai>

ây [ɤ ] ɪ SWCS: shifted to [ ]ɑɪoi [ ] ɔɪ

ôi [o ]ɪ SWCS: merged with <oi>

i ơ [ɤ: ]ɪ

ui [u ]ɪ <i> cannot be replaced with <y> for this diphthong

i ư [ɯ ]ɪ

•This glide doesn't apply to /e/, /ɛ/ and /i/.

•Letters that stand for short vowels - < > and <â> - receive <y> instead of the regulară <i>.

- The ʊ-glide: Marked by writing <u> or <o> after the core vowel letter. In practice this one

is closer to [w] (postvocalic labialisation i.e. rounding your lips at the end, but only slightly).

ao [ : ] ɑ ʊ

au [ ]ɑʊ SWCS: merged with <ao>

âu [ɤ ]ʊ SWCS: shifted to [ ]ɑʊ

eo [ ] ɛʊ

êu [e ]ʊ SWCS: merged with <iu>

iu [i ~ ] ʊ ɪʊ

uư [ɯ ]ʊ SWCS: [u]

•Like the w-glide, this glide doesn't go with the three rounded vowels.

•And also not with < >, only its short version <â>.ơ

- The ə-glide:

ia, iê [i ]ə

ua, uô [u ]ə

a, ư ươ [ɯ ] ə

•The latter in each pair is how the diphthong would be written in a checked syllablehia + n = hiên lua + n = luôn h a + ng = h ngư ươ

Triphthongs / Nguyên âm ba

Triphthongs are made by adding glides to diphthongs. It's mostly about adding the w-glide to a postvocalic diphthong; the core vowel is now "wrapped" in glides, head and tail. Words with tripthongs are not common and may be hard to spell even for native speakers.

- w-glide + ɪ-diphthong:

oai [w : ]ɑ ɪ [w] + ai khoai, lo i, quái…ạ

oay [w ]ɑɪ [w] + ay trái khoáy, loay hoay…

uây [wɤ ]ɪ [w] + ây qu y, khuậ ấy đ ng…ộ

- w-glide + ʊ-diphthong:

oeo [w ]ɛʊ [w] + eo ngo n ngoèo, o t o o…ằ ặ ẹ

uyu [wi ]ʊ [w] + iu khúc khu uỷ

- w-glide + ə-diphthong:

uya, uyê [wi ]ə [w] + ia uyê in a checked syllable. E.g. khuya + n = khuyên

- Oddballs: These are interesting. Each consists of a core vowel and then two postvocalic glides in a row.

iêu / yêu

[i ]əʊ ia + [ ]ʊ chi u, yêu, yêu ki u… ề ề

uôi [u ]əɪ ua + [ ]ɪ nuôi, ru i, chu i…ồ ố

iươ [ɯ ]əɪ a + [ ]ư ɪ mười, cưới, đười i… ươ

uươ [ɯ ]əʊ a + [ ]ư ʊMerged with <iêu> in the North and becomes [u] in the South, especially among the working class. E.g: h uươ à N: hiêu, S: h u, huư

Tones / Thanh d uấ

Only vowel letters may receive tone marks.

Tone Description Diacritic Name of diacritic

(thanh) ngang Flat, unwavering a (none) (không d u)ấ

(thanh) s cắ High, rising á (acute accent) d u s cấ ắ

(thanh) huy nề Low, falling à (grave accent) d u huy nấ ề

(thanh) h iỏLow, falling then rising

(small hook above)ả d u h iấ ỏ

(thanh) ngã High, creaky/broken ã (tilde) d u ngãấ

(thanh) n ngặ Low, creaky/broken (dot below)ạ d u n ngấ ặ

Note that Southern dialects have only 5 tones. They merge h i and ngã into a new tone. Thisỏ tone also starts low, then also falls and rises like the original h i tone.ỏ

Down South, the n ng tone is also much less creaky. It fact, one can say that it’s simply lowặ and breathy.

Examples using "ma":

ma ghost

má cheek / mom

mà but, though

m ả tomb

mã horse (in Chinese compound words)

m ạ rice seedling

Examples using "tô":

tô large bowl

t ố to accuse before the law or the authority

t ồ simple-minded, naïve for one’s age

t ổ nest

tộ a Northern word for bowl

With diphthongs and triphthongs, there are more than one vowel letter. So where to place the tone mark then? Answer: The vowel letter that is second-to-last in the syllable.

Examples with diphthongs: d u, b y, cu nấ ả ố .

Examples with triphthongs: oái, khu u,ỷ quy nể

There are exceptions to this rule:

•You never put the tone mark on the <u> in <qu>. Examples: quá, not qúa.

•In <uê> : <ê> receives the diacritic, <u> doesn't.

•For <oa> and <oe> in open syllables, it’s also acceptable to place tone marks on the last vowel letter. E.g: lòa and loà are both accepted (though lòa is more commonly seen).

Quick Quizzes

Quiz A: Suppose you have a random tone mark. Which letter would you put it on?

1) loa, loan, tuy, huynh

2) mai, quây, điêng

4) c i, ươ khuyu, chuyên

Quiz B: For each syllable, point out the letter that stands for the core vowel:

1) đôi, vài, lui, chây, trói

2) khỏe, đo n, quá, truy, huạ ề

3) màu, trêu, gấu, đeo, h uư

4) chia, chiên, mua, nư ng, cu nớ ộ

5) ngư i, khờ uya, ngoèo, đu i, quayố

6) giáo viên, chi c thuy n, khuây kh a, l p loèế ề ỏ ậ

SolutionA.

1) o or a / a / u / y

2) a / â / ê

3) / y / êơ

B.

1) ô / a / u / â / o

2) e / a / a / y / ê

3) a / ê / â / e / ư

4) i / i / u / / uư

5) / y / e / u / aư

6) a, i / i, y / â, a / â, e