a quick IPA guide to the

 Vietnamese alphabet

 by Bùi Hoàng Duy / Dzwee H. Bui

revised December 10, 2012

Oririgi
gina
nally
lly,,
Vietna
Vietname
mese
se wa
wass wr
writ
itte
ten
n us
usin
ingg a Ch
Chin
ines
ese-
e-ba
base
sed
d sc
scri
ript
pt kn
know
ownn as Chữ  NôNôm
m
(“Southern script”) or Nôm. During the 17 century, Portuguese Jesuits introduced a Latin-
th

based orthography for Vietnamese called Chữ Quốc Ngữ  (“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 cen
centur
tury, when Chữ  Nôm died
y, when died out.
out. Now,
Now, only
only
Chữ Quốc Ngữ  is used.

 The Vietnamese alphabet

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

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

 The alphabet suits Northern

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

Consonants / Phụ âm

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 / Phụ âm đ ầu

Below are the consonant letters and digraphs found in initial position:

Bb ɓ
[ ] implosive
C c [k] tenuis
Ch ch
ch [c]
D d [z / j] /j/ in the
the South;
South; /z/ in the
the North;
North; evolved from /ʝ /
evolved from
Đđ ɗ
[ ] implosive

Gg ɣ
[ ] also <gh>
Hh [h]
Kk [k] tenuis
Kh kh [x]
Ll [l] shifted to <n> in Northern working class speech (NWCS)
Mm [m]
Nn [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]
Rr [z / ɹ, ɣ] ɹ ɣ
/ / or / / in the South; /z/ in the North

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

Tt [t] tenuis
 Th th [th] aspirated
 Tr tr [c] ɹ
also /t / in the South (pedantry)
Vv [v / j] /j/ South; /v/ North
Xx [s] evolved from / /ɕ
•Stemming from Portuguese tradition, <g> and <ng> have to be written
written different
differently
ly before
before
front vowels
vowels in order to preserve
preserve their phonetic
phonetic value. So before
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.
stigmatised.

Codas / Phụ âm cuố i

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

In the North, like final <c>. In the South, like final
ch [k ~ t] <t>.
m [m]
n [n / ŋ] /n/ in the North; complicated in the South
ng [ŋ, ŋm] /ŋm/ is allo
allophon
phonic
ic after
after rounded
rounded vowels
vowels
nh [ŋ ~ n] <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
languages in general
general have the habit
habit of releasing their voiceless
voiceless stops
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 /ŋm/ and /kp/,

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

In Northern dialects, the “–anh” rhyme is pronounced [ɑɪŋ], disntinct from “–ăng”  [ɑŋ]
•

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

•

- After <e, o, u, ư >: they

the y are recog
r ecognise
nisedd 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. tố t [to:kp] vs.
tố c [tokp]; côn [ko:ŋm] vs. công [koŋm]…

- The “–on” rhyme is pronounced like –oong, not –ong. For details, see ‘Monophthongs’.
‘Monophthongs’.
Vowels / Nguyên âm
As a member of the Austro-Asiatic family, Vietnamese has a large vowel inventory.

Mono
Monopht
phtho
hongs
ngs / Nguy
Nguyên âm đơn
ên âm

 The Vietnamese vowel

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

Aa [ɑ:]
Ăă [ɑ]
Ââ [ ] ɤ short ơ in checked syllables and diphthongs / triphthongs*
Ee [] ɛ / j / in NWCS
ɛ

Êê [e]
Ii [i ~ ] ɪ See note
Oo [ ] ɔ

O o oo [ ] ɔ See note
Ôô [o]
Ơơ ɤ ɤ
[ / :] ɤ
/ :/ in checked syllables (to contrast with â)
Uu [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 that <y> should be used in Hán-Việ t words
of Education suggested that
(words borrowed from Classical
Classical Chinese), while <i> is for native words, but in reality this
matter is settled by imitation
i mitation and habit.
[ɔ] is spelled as <oo>
• <oo> to signify
signify that the following
following <ng> pronounced [ŋ ], with open lips,
<ng> is pronounced lips,
not [ŋm]. E.g.: Close lips after cong [k ŋm], but NOT after coong [k ŋ]. Hence, it’s the
ɔ ɔ

coda that changes. The vowel itself stays the same, not drawn out or pronounced any
differently.
* E.g
• .: dơ + n = dân
E.g.: dân

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
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
vowel letters to write it down
down instead.

Before <a>, <ă> and <e>,

Before <a>, <e>, we use
use <o> to
to mark
mark the glide:
oa [wɑ:] Southern
Southern workin
working
g class
class speec
speech
h (SWCS): /ɑ:/ or /ɔ:/
(SWCS):
oă [wɑ] short <oa> in checked syllables
oe [w ] ɛ

Before <ê>, <ơ> and <y>, we use <u>

uê [we]
uơ ɤ
[w :]

uâ [wɤ] short <uơ> in checked

short checked syll
syllab
ables
les**
uy [wi] <y> cannot be replaced with <i> for this diphthong

• E.g.: quơ + n = quân

* E.g.:
•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
• doesn't go with the 3 rounded
rounded vowels /o u/.
ɔ

 You might come “quố c gia” – nation),

come across quố c (e.g “qu nation), which seeming
seemingly ly goes against
against this
rule. In reality, it’s a homophone of cuố c – which falls into the ə-glide below; Southerners
unround
unround the core
core vowel
vowel and make
make it sound like "wấ c".
sound like
•A recent development in Southern dialects (especially among working class speakers): This
glide gets deleted after a consonant. For example, đóng thuế  “to pay tax” would sound
the same as đóng thế  “to body-double in a movie”. The digraph <oa> is commonly
pronounced as / :/, in addi
additio
tion
ɔ the /ɑ:/ expected under this sound change, while <qu>
n to the
stays as /w/.

Postvocalic Glides:
 These three glide take
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 [ɑ ] ɪ SWCS: merged with <ai>

ây [ ] ɤ ɪ SWCS
SWCS:: shi
shifted to [ɑɪ]
fted
oi [ ] ɔɪ

ôi [o ] ɪ SWCS: merged with <oi>

ơi [ :]ɤ ɪ

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

ɪ

ư i [ ɯ] ɪ
 •  This glide doesn't
doesn't apply to /e/, / / and /i/.
ɛ

• stand for short vowels - <ă> and <â> - receive <y> instead of the regular
Letters that stand
<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
labialisation i.e. rounding your lips at the end, but only slightly).
ao [ɑ: ]ʊ

au [ɑ ] SWCS: merged with <ao>

ʊ

âu [ ɤ]
ʊ SWCS: shifted to [ɑʊ]
eo [ ] ɛʊ

êu [e ] SWCS: merged with <iu>

ʊ

iu [i ~ ]
ʊ ɪʊ

ư u [ ɯ ] SWCS: [u]

ʊ

• Like the w-glide, this glide doesn't go with the three rounded vowels.
• And also with <ơ>, only its
also not with its short
short version
version <â>.
<â>.

- The ə-glide:
i a, i ê [iə]
ua, uô [uə]
ưa, ươ ɯə]
[
•  The latter in each pair is how the diphthong would
would be written in a checked syllable
syllable
hia + n = hiên
lua + n = luôn
hưa + ng = hương

 Triphthongs / Nguyên âm ba

 Triphthongs are made

made by adding glides
glides to diphthongs.
diphthongs. It's mostly about
about adding the w-glide
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 [wɑ: ] ɪ [w] + ai khoai, loại, quái…

oay [wɑ ] ɪ [w]
[w] + ay
ay trái
trái kho
khoáy
áy,, loay
loay hoay
hoay…
…

uây [w ] ɤ ɪ
[w] + ây quậy, khuấ y động…

- w-glide + ʊ -diphthong:
 oeo [w ]
ɛʊ [w] + eo ngoằn ngoèo, oặt oẹo…
uyu [wi ]
ʊ [w] + iu khúc khuỷ u

- w-glide + ə-diphthong
ə-diphthong::

uyê in a checked syllable. E.g. khuya + n =

uya, uyê [wiə] [w] + ia
khuyên

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

iêu / [iə ] ia + [ ]
ʊ ʊ chi ều, yê yêu kiề u…
yêu, yê
yêu
uôi [uə ] ɪ ua + [ ]
ɪ nuôi, ru ồi, chuố i…
ươi [ɯə ] ɪ ư a + [ ]
ɪ mười, cưới, đười ươi…
Merged with <iêu> in the North and becomes [u] in the
ươu [ɯə ] ʊ ư a + [ ]
ʊ South, especially among the working class. E.g: hươ u à N:
hiêu S: hư u, hu
hiêu,, S:
Tones / Thanh dấ u
Only vowel letters may receive tone marks.

Tone Description Diacritic Name of diacritic

(thanh) ngang Flat, unwavering a (none) (khô
(k ng dấ u)
hông
nh)) sắc
(thanh High, rising á (acute accent) dấu sắc
(tha
(thanh
nh)) huy ề n
huy Low, falling à (grave accent) dấu huyền
Low, falling then
nh)) hỏi
(thanh ả (small hook above) dấu hỏi
rising
(thanh) ngã High,
igh, cre
creak
aky
y/bro
/broke
ken
n ã (t
(tild
ilde) dấ u ngã
(th
thanh)) nặng
anh Low, creaky/broken ạ (dot below) dấu nặng

Note that Southern

Southern dialects have
have only 5 tones. merge hỏ i and ngã into a new tone. This
tones. They merge
the original hỏ i tone.
tone also starts low, then also falls and rises like the

South, the nặng tone is also

Down South, also much less creaky. It fact,
fact, one can say that it’s simply
simply low
and breathy.

Examples using "ma":

ma ghost
má cheek / mom
mà but, though
mả tomb
mã horse (in Chinese compound words)
mạ rice seedling

Examples using "tô":

tô large bowl
tố  to accuse before the law or the authority
t ồ simple-minded,
simple-mind ed, naïve for one’s age
tổ 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: dấu, bảy, cuố n.

Examples with triphthongs: oái, khuỷu, quyể n

 There are exceptions

exceptions to this rule:
 You never put the tone mark
• mark on the <u> in <qu>. Examples:
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) cươi, 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
đoạn, quá truy,, huề
quá,, truy
3) màu, trêu, gấ u, đeo, hư u
4) chia, chiên, mua, nư ớng, cuộn
5) ngư ời, khuya,
uya, ngoèo
ngoèo,, đuđuố i, quay
quay
6) giá
giáo
o vi
viên, chiếc thu
ên, chi yề n, kh
thuy khuây khỏ a, lậ p loè
uây kh loè

Solution
A.
1) o or a / a / u / y
2) a / â / ê
3) ơ / y / ê

B.
1) ô / a / u / â / o
2) e / a / a / y / ê
3) a / ê / â / e / ư 
4) i / i / u / ư  / u
5) ư  / y / e / u / a
6) a, i / i, y / â, a / â, e