VIETNAMESE ALPHABET

I. Aims of lesson: After the lesson you will learn: 1. The Vietnamese alphabet system and its pronunciation 2. Learn more detail vowels, consonants, diphthongs, etc. 3. Tones II. Content: 1. Vietnamese alphabet system There are 29 letters in the Vietnamese alphabet system which consists of 12 vowels and 17 consonants. See the list below: Table 1 Aa Hh Qq Ii Rr Kk Ss Bb Ll Tt Cc Mm Uu Dd Nn Oo Vv Ee Xx Yy Gg Pp

2. Vowels As mentioned above, there are 12 vowels in the Vietnamese alphabet system. They are including: Table 2 a o e u i y

How to pronoun these vowels is to follow the below Table 3 Front i, y [i] [e] e [] Central [ ] [ ] / [ ] [a] / a [a] Back u [u] [o] o [ ]

High Upper mid Lower mid Low

Front, central, and low vowels (i, , e, , , , , a) are unrounded, whereas the back vowels (u, , o) are rounded. The vowels [] and [a] are pronounced very short, much shorter than the other vowels. Thus, and are basically pronounced the same except that [] is long while [] is short the same applies to the low vowels long a [a] and short [a].

- Now turn back to the list, (table 2) listen and repeat * Diphthongs and Tripthongs In addition to single vowels (or monophthongs), Vietnamese has diphthongs and triphthongs. The diphthongs consist of a main vowel component followed by a shorter semivowel offglide to either a high front position [], a high back position [], or a central position []. See the table below: Table 4 Vowel nucleus i e a u o Diphthong Diphthong Diphthong with Tripthong with front with back centering with front offglide offglide offglide offglide iu~yu [i] ia~i~y~ya [i] u [e] eo [] i [] u [] a~ [] i [] y [] u [] i [] ay [a] au [a] ai [a] ao [a] ua~u [u] ui [u] ui [u] i [o] oi [] Tripthong with back offglide iu [i] u [] -

The centering diphthongs are formed with only the three high vowels (i, , u) as the main vowel. They are generally spelled as ia, a, ua when they end a word and are spelled i, , u, respectively, when they are followed by a consonant. There are also restrictions on the high offglides: the high front offglide cannot occur after a front vowel (i, , e) nucleus and the high back offglide cannot occur after a back vowel (u, , o) nucleus. The correspondence between the orthography and pronunciation is complicated. For example, the offglide [] is usually written as i however, it may also be represented with y. In addition, in the diphthongs [a] and [a] the letters y and i also indicate the pronunciation of the main vowel: ay = + [], ai = a + []. Thus, tay "hand" is [ta] while tai "ear" is [ta]. Similarly, u and o indicate different pronunciations of the main vowel: au = + [], ao = a + []. The four triphthongs are formed by adding front and back offglides to the centering diphthongs. Similarly to the restrictions involving diphthongs, a triphthong with front nucleus cannot have a front offglide (after the centering glide) and a triphthong with a back nucleus cannot have a back offglide. With regards to the front and back offglides [, ], many phonological descriptions analyze these as consonant glides /j, w/. Thus, a word such as u "where" [] would be /w/. It is difficult to pronoun these sounds, you must listen and repeat carefully (table 4), then pronoun these words. (Practice and then click the sounds to check whether you do it right or not)

Liu xiu chai ru

m khuya tay

ma tai

lao xao lu bu

mi hai hiu hiu

3. Consonant The consonants that occur in Vietnamese are listed below in the Vietnamese orthography with the phonetic pronunciation to the right. Table 5 Labial Alveolar Retroflex palatal Velar Glottal voiceless p[p] t [t] tr [~] ch [c~t] c/k [k] aspirated th [t] Stop voiced b [ ] [] d [ ] voiceless ph [f] x [s] kh [x] h [h] s [] Fricative voiced v [v] gi [z] r [~] g/gh [] m [m] n [n] nh [] ng/ngh [] Nasal u/o [w] l [l] y/i [j] Approximant Some consonant sounds are written with only one letter (like "p"), other consonant sounds are written with a two-letter disgrah (like "ph"), and others are written with more than one letter or digraph (the velar stop is written variously as "c", "k", or "q"). The tables below show detail and it may help you easier to understand * There are 17 single consonants as listed below: Table 6 Consonants b c d g h k l m n p q r s Phoneme /b/ /k/ /z/ /d/ /g/ /h/ /k/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /p/ /k/ /r/ /sh/ English equivalent sounds but, bike car, clean zoo, do, does go, get hat, house keep, leaf, lose meet, mouse not, no pipe, people queen run, road show, shower

t v x

/t/ /v/ /s/

tea, top video, vowel see, sea

* There are 11 consonants clusters: Table 7 Consonants ch gh gi kh nh ng ngh ph th tr qu Phoneme /ts/ /g/ /j/ /x/ // // // /f/ // // /kw/ English equivalent sounds cheap ghost yes loch canyon sing single fine thin, theory try queen

* There are 8 final consonants: Table 8 Consonants c ch m n nh ng p t Phoneme /k/ /ts/ /m/ /n/ // // /p/ /t/ English equivalent sounds car lunch them then canyon sing stop top

Now click the sounds again, listen and repeat carefully. It is necessray to make a difference between these two sounds: +) K vs. Kh K & kh are two of the consonant symbols in the Vietnamese language. K is produced fortis and unaspirated. It is similar to the c in cat. In Vietnamese language it is similar to c and q.

Perhaps one of the most common words beginning with k is kem which means ice cream and ko which means candy. 'Kh' is produced lenis voiceless dorsorelar spirant. The most common 'kh' word is khng which means no or not though there are less common meanings as well. Khe which means strong and healthy is another common word. To place khe khng after a personal referent is to enquire as to another's health - literally: you well no? as in bn khe khng? Also in these times of fast food, the ubiquitous french fry is known as khoai ty chin meaning potato fry. +) Ng and Ngh The sound that ng and ngh make in Vietnamese is by far the hardest sound for Westerners to make. Ng and ngh simply make the last sound in "king" or "running (as long as you don't make the hard /g/ sound at the end). The problem arises when ng or ngh come at the beginning of a word, as the common family name Nguyn clearly demonstrates. Here, the speaker has to isolate the // sound, which even many Western dictionaries don't recognize in their pronunciation guides. (Those that do tend to represent it as /ng/.) This lesson will help you to at least pronounce the // sound well enough for a native listener. One thing you have to take a notice of is the combination of these above consonants Ng/ ngh with vowels. See below for detail: a Ngh Ng nga e i nghe ngh nghi o ngo ng ng u ngu ng y

1. Ngh can only combine with the vowels which are started with i, e, . 2. Ng can combine with vowels started with a, o, , , u, . Besides, Vietnamese has another pair of sound (g/ gh) which are all pronouned as /g/, for these consonants, there is also rule in combining with vowels. a ga e ghe gh i gi* ghi o go g g u gu g y

g gh

- gh can only combine with vowel started with e, , i. - g can go with vowel started with a, o, , , u, . * g can also go with i but in this case it will be pronoun as /j/, e.g. ci g. 3. Tones Vietnamese is a tonal language, It means that different voice inflections on any word will change the meaning of that word. For example, if you say ban with a rising tone, it means "sell," but if you say it with a falling tone, it means "table." Tone is the central part of a word There are five tones in Vietnamese, plus a mid-level non-tone. Press each symbol button below to hear what each tone sounds like, and the name of the tone. Then press the word buttons to hear how one word can be pronounced with all six tones. Underneath is the English translation of each word.

Description Midrange voice goes flat and level. High rising Low falling Start in a low tone, go down and gently back up

Name of Sample word & Symbol tones meaning Ngang Sc Huyn Hi three b to hug

grandmother bane residue haphazardly

Start high, bring voice down, cut off, and go back up Ng Bring voice down and cut off abruptly. Hnh minh ha It is time to practice. Now listen and repeat carefully 1 2 3 4 5 Ba Ma Be Me Le B M b m l B M b m l B M b m l B M b m l B M b m l Nng

* How to type Vietnamese on computer: To use Vietnamese on your computer, you need to download Unikey and then choose vietnamese. You also need to follow this rule: Letters =aw =aa =dd =ee =oo =ow =uw Tones Huyn = F Sc = S H i = R Ng = X Nng = J

- The rest is to follow the normal rule. Example: Ting Vit = t i e e n g s v i e e t j

4. Further practice Exercise 1: Listen and repeat with vowels ao ai au ay u ua uy ui iu ia u y ui oai uya uyu u iu u a eo oe u U

Exercise 2: Practice with consonants. Listen and repeat. xn xao xo xc chm chp chan cht ng ngh ghi chp cy kh khoai lang lu luyn lu bu ly by lp rp nu na nu nng rc rch thiu thiu r rch thn thc ngay ngn thnh thong ngoan ngon khuya khot khng khiu kin tr trung thc

Exercise 3: Matching the consonants with vowels and then pronoun a Ngh Ng Gh G Exercise 4: Practice with tones, listen and repeat. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bo l To Go Mo Lo Ban Ve Tu Mu B l T G M L Bn v T M B l T G M L Bn v T M B l T G M L Bn v T M B l T G M L Bn v T M B l T G M L Bn v T M e i o u uy ai ay a u u

PRONOUN
Vietnamese use terms denoting family relationships (kinship terms) when addressing each other (even when talking to whom they are not related). In fact, they are used as personal pronouns. The system is rather complicated and the choice of the correct expression depends on many factors such as sex, age, social status, the family relationship, the relationship between the speaker and the person he or she is addressing or the overall degree of intimacy between them. You may find it difficult to make sure which term should be used; thus, you need a little bit experience to get it right. The below list will help you understand more. 3.1.1. The first person The first person pronoun in Vietnamese is ti which means I in English. It is the only personal pronoun that can be used in polite speech. Beside it, the first person can be ta, tao but they are only used in informal case, e.g. when talking with close friends. 3.1.2. The second person The below table shows you some personal addresses and their usage Personal pronoun How to use Em B n Anh Ch C B ng/ ngi my Use for person who are younger than you as your younger sisters or brothers Use for person who is as the same age as you or your friends a young male who is a little older than you or your elder brothers a young female who is a little older than you or your elder sisters in formal case; to a young female (Miss ) Formal, an old female (Mrs., lady); informal, as your grandmother Formal, an old male (Mr., gentleman); informal, as your grandfather informal; people are younger than you

3.1.3. The third person It is simple that when adressing the third person, Vietnamese adds the word y after the personal pronoun. Example: Anh y, ng y -> He Ch y, c y, b y -> She N * -> It N* often refers to the things, animals but sometimes, n can denote for a little child in informal case. *Plural personal pronoun: - For the first person, the word chng is added before the personal address. Example:

Ti -> chng ti Ta -> chng ta T -> chng t - For the second person, we use the word cc before the personal address. Example: Anh -> cc anh ch -> cc ch Bc -> cc bc - When addressing plural pronoun for the third person, the word h is used. It refers to a group of people in general both male and female. - The second way to form the plural personal pronoun for the third person is to add the word y after the second person pronoun. Example: Anh -> cc anh y ch -> cc ch y bc -> cc bc y The below table will show you general information. * Singular pronoun Pronoun First person Ti Tao Em Anh Second Ch person ng B My Em y Anh y ng y Third person Em y C y Ch y B y N It She He You English How to use it equivalence I - Refer to yourself (formal) - Refer to yourself with close friends (informal) - Miss, girl or boy (younger than you, informal) - Mr. (older than you) - Miss or Mrs. in formal address - Mr., Sir., gentleman (formal) - Mrs., Madam, lady (formal) - Address between close friends (to use with tao - first person) - Boy (younger than you) - Mr. (Older than you or slightly younger than you in formal address) - Mr., sir, gentleman (person is older than you or higher status) - Girl (younger than you) - Miss. - Miss or Mrs. - Lady, Mrs, Madam (person is older than you or higher status) - Thing in general

*Plural pronoun Pronoun Chng ti First person Chng ta Em Anh Ch Second Cc person C B ng H Em Anh Ch Third Cc person C B ng Chng n They You English equivalence We How to use it - Refer to a group of yourselves (formal) - Address to boys or girls (younger than you) - A group of young males (older than you) - A group of young females (older than you, ) - A group of women (Miss) - A group of old females (Mrs., ladies) - A group of old males (Mr., Sir) - Address to a group of people (in general) - A group of boys and girls (younger than you) - A group of young males - A group of females (Miss, Mrs.) - A group of young females (in general) - A group of old females - A group of old males - A group of young people (younger than you, informal)

In addition, there are different pronouns for each kind of relative. Lets see family terms: Pronoun c b ng ch bc c d ch anh em thy c Usage your grandgrand parents Your grand mother your grandfather your uncle who is your fathers younger brother Your uncle who are your parentss older siblings your aunt, who is your fathers younger sister your aunt, who is your mothers younger sister your elder sister or siblings your elder brother or siblings your younger sister or brother or siblings the teacher (if he is a man) the teacher (if she is a woman)