Vietnamese phonology
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The phonology of Vietnamese features 19 consonant phonemes, with 5 additional consonant phonemes used in Vietnamese's Southern dialect, and 4 exclusive to the Northern dialect. Vietnamese also has 14 vowel nuclei, and 6 tones that are integral to the interpretation of the language. Older interpretations of Vietnamese tones differentiated between "sharp" and "heavy" entering and departing tones. This article is a technical description of the sound system of the Vietnamese language, including phonetics and phonology. Two main varieties of Vietnamese, Hanoi and Saigon, which are slightly different from each other, are described below.
Initial consonants
Initial consonants which exist only in the Northern dialect are in red, while those that exist only in the Southern dialect are in blue.
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Retroflex | (Alveolo-) palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
unaspirated | (p) | t | ʈ | c | k | (ʔ) |
| aspirated | tʰ | ||||||
| implosive | ɓ | ɗ | |||||
| affricate | (tɕ) | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʂ | x | h | |
| voiced | v | z | ɣ | ||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||
| Rhotic | r | ||||||
- /w/ is the only consonant sound permitted to form consonant clusters with other consonants.
- In many regions of Northern Vietnam, the pair /n/ and /l/ have merged into one, they are no longer two opposing phonemes. Some native Vietnamese speakers who lack linguistic knowledge stigmatize pronouncing the initial consonant of a word whose orthographic form begins with the letter l as /n/ or n as /l/, calling it nói ngọng (lit. 'lisping'). The phenomenon of no longer distinguishing /n/ from /l/ in words whose orthographic form begins with the letter n or l has three manifestations:
- The initial consonant of all words whose orthographic form begins with n or l is /n/.
- The initial consonant of all words is /l/.
- In some words, the initial consonant corresponding to the letter n at the beginning of the spelling form of the word is /n/, with l being /l/, in some other words the sound corresponding to n is /l/, with l being /n/.
- In Northern dialects, some words have the initial consonant as the voiced palatal nasal /ɲ/, such as nhuộm, nhức, nhỏ (nhỏ in nhỏ giọt, not nhỏ in nhỏ bé), nhổ, nhốt, have phonetic variants with the initial consonant /z/. This /z/ sound is written with the letter d or gi or r depending on the word (at least one of those three letters, sometimes two, or even all three).
- Some words with the initial consonant being the voiced velar nasal /ŋ/ also have phonetic variants with the initial consonant being the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/, which are used in some places in the North. For example, the words ngáy (ngáy in ngáy ngủ), ngẫm (ngẫm in suy ngẫm) also have phonetic variants gáy, gẫm.
- In Northern dialects, the voiceless bilabial plosive /p/ is only the initial consonant in a few loanwords from other languages, mainly from French. In writing, the sound /p/ is written with the letter p, as in sâm panh, derived from French champagne. Not every word in another language that has the initial consonant /p/ have the corresponding Vietnamese loanword with the initial consonant /p/. In some words, the sound /p/ is replaced by the sound /ɓ/. For example, both syllables of the word búp bê (derived from the French word poupée /pu.pe/) have the initial consonant /ɓ/, not /p/. In Southern dialects, the initial consonant of words whose spelling form begins with the letter p is /ɓ/ in many speakers.
- The glottalized stops are preglottalized and voiced: [ʔɓ, ʔɗ] (the glottis is always closed before the oral closure). This glottal closure is often not released before the release of the oral closure, resulting in the characteristic implosive pronunciation. However, sometimes the glottal closure is released prior to the oral release in which case the stops are pronounced [ʔb, ʔd]. Therefore, the primary characteristic is preglottalization with implosion being secondary.
- /ɓ, m/ are bilabial, while /f, v/ are labiodental.
- /t, tʰ/ are denti-alveolar ([t̪, t̪ʰ]), while /ɗ, n/ are apico-alveolar.
- /c, ɲ/ are phonetically lamino-alveolar.
- /ʈ, c/ are often slightly affricated [ʈ͡ʂ, t͡ɕ], but they are unaspirated.
- A glottal stop [ʔ] is inserted before words that begin with a vowel or /w/ in Northern dialects:
ăn 'to eat' /ăn/ → [ʔăn] uỷ 'to delegate' /wi/ → [ʔwi˧˩˧]
Hanoi initials
- /s, z/ are denti-lamino-alveolar: [s̪, z̪].
- /l/ is apico-alveolar: [l̪].
- d, gi and r are all pronounced /z/.
- ch and tr are both pronounced /tɕ/, while x and s are both pronounced /s/.
- The highly salient (and socially stigmatized) merger of /l/ and /n/ as mentioned above, characteristic of the speech of many lower- and working-class Vietnamese in the Red River Delta, is sometimes consciously manipulated to humorous and/or pejorative effect in colloquial Hanoi speech.
- /p, j, r/ occur in a small number of foreign (mainly French) loans, e.g. [pan˧] < panne 'breakdown', [ɣa˧ ra˧] < garage, [bi˧ ja˧] < billiard. For many speakers, however, /p/ is realized as [b/ɓ] and /r/ as [z].
- There are no retroflex consonants /ʈʂ/, /ʂ/, /ʐ/; instead there are palato-alveolar consonants: /tʃ/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/ in spelling pronunciations taught in schools.
Saigon initials
- /s/ is apico-alveolar [s̺].
- /l/ is palatalized lamino-alveolar: [lʲ].
- Some people pronounce d as [j], and gi as [z] in situations where the distinction is necessary. Most people pronounce both as [j].
- Historically, /v/ is pronounced [j] in common speech, merging with d and gi. However, it is becoming distinct and pronounced as [v], especially in careful speech or when reading a text. In traditional performance including Cải lương, Đờn ca tài tử, Hát bội (Tuồng) and some old speakers of Overseas Vietnamese, it is pronounced as consonant cluster [bj], [βj] or [vj]. In loanwords, it is pronounced [v], [ʋ] or [w], for example, va li is pronounced [vaː˧ lɪi̯˧], [ʋaː˧ lɪi̯˧] or [waː˧ lɪi̯˧].
- Historically, a distinction is made between ch /c/ and tr /ʈ/, as well as between x /s/ and s /ʂ/. However, in many speakers, these two pairs are becoming merged as /c/ and /s/ respectively.
- In southern speech, the phoneme /r/, generally represented in Vietnamese linguistics by the letter ⟨r⟩, has a number of variant pronunciations depending on the speaker. A person can also have many pronunciations. It may occur as a retroflex fricative [ʐ], an alveolar approximant [ɹ], an alveolar flap [ɾ], a trill [r], or a tapped fricative/fricative trill [ɾ̞, r̝]. In the border area between Ho Chi Minh City and Long An province (Bình Chánh, Cần Giuộc, Cần Đước), the letter ⟨r⟩ is pronounced as a palatal approximant [j]. In many areas in the Mekong Delta, the letter ⟨r⟩ is pronounced as a velar fricative [ɣ].
Simplification of consonant clusters /Cw/ in southern dialects
As mentioned above, the only cluster in Vietnamese is /Cw/ in which /C/ is a consonant. Although this cluster tends to be retained by many young urban people in southern Vietnam, especially in Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding areas, it is generally reduced to one element in southern dialects. Depending on which consonant forms the cluster /Cw/, there are two patterns in this simplification process. In one pattern the consonant is deleted and /w/ remains. In the other, /w/ is deleted while the consonant remains:
- In southern speech, /kw/, /hw/, and /ʔw/ are usually pronounced [w], including among educated urban speakers. The cluster go /ɣw/ is very rare, seen only in goá /ɣwa˧˥/ ‘widowed’. The cluster ngw /ŋw/ shows greater loss in rural varieties than in urban ones.
u-/o- /ʔw/ → u/o /w/ hu-/ho- /hw/ → u/o /w/ qu- /kw/ → u/o /w/ go- /ɣw/ → o /w/ ngu-/ngo- /ŋw/ → u/o /w/ - However, they are becoming distinct and pronounced as [kw] or [w], [hw], [ʔw], [ɣw], and [ŋw] respectively, especially in formal speech or when reading a text.
- In informal speech, the voiceless velar fricative /x/ (represented by the letter kh) is often transformed into the corresponding voiceless bilabial and labiodental consonants /ɸ/, /f/ and the prevocalic /w/ is deleted, for example: cá khoai is pronounced as cá phai, khóa máy is pronounced as phá máy, khỏe không? is pronounced as phẻ không?. This pronunciation is observed only in rural southern dialects, and it does not occur in the speech of educated speakers.
- There are only a few words where the bilabial and labiodental consonants /m, ɓ, f, v/ are followed by the prevocalic /w/. Most of them are French loanwords, for example: tiền boa (pourboire), đậu pơ-ti-poa (petit pois), xe buýt (bus), vải voan (voile). The initial consonant is kept and the prevocalic /w/ is lost and pronounced as: tiền bo, đậu bo, xe bít, vải von.
- After the consonant clusters of the remaining articulators (alveolar, postalveolar, palatal consonants) followed by the prevocalic /w/, the initial consonant is kept and the prevocalic /w/ is lost as above, for example: vô duyên is pronounced as vô diên, cái loa (hát) is pronounced as cái la.
Comparison of initials
The table below summarizes these sound correspondences:
Diaphoneme Hanoi Saigon Example word Hanoi Saigon /v/ /v/ /j/ or /v/ vợ 'wife' [və˨˩ˀ] [jə˨˧] or [və˨˧] /z/ /z/ /j/ da 'skin' [za˧] [ja˧] gia 'to add' /r/ /r/ ra 'to go out' [ra˧] /c/ /c/ /c/ chẻ 'split' [t͡ɕɛ˧˩] [cɛ˩˥] /ʈ/ /ʈ/ or /c/ trẻ 'young' [ʈɛ˩˥] or [cɛ˩˥] /s/ /s/ /s/ xinh 'beautiful' [sɪŋ̟˧] [sɪ̈n˧] /ʂ/ /ʂ/ or /s/ sinh 'born' [ʂɪ̈n˧] or [sɪ̈n˧]
Vowels
Vowel nuclei
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centering | iə ⟨ia~iê⟩ | ɯə ⟨ưa~ươ⟩ | uə ⟨ua~uô⟩ |
| Close | /i/ ⟨i, y⟩ | /ɯ/ ⟨ư⟩ | /u/ ⟨u⟩ |
| Close-mid/ Mid |
/e/ ⟨ê⟩ | /ɤ/ ⟨ơ⟩ | /o/ ⟨ô⟩ |
| /ɤ̆/ (/ʌ/) ⟨â⟩ | |||
| Open-mid/ Open |
/ɛ/ ⟨e⟩ | /a/ ⟨a⟩ | /ɔ/ ⟨o⟩ |
| /ă/ (/ɐ/) ⟨ă⟩ |
The IPA chart of vowel nuclei above is based on the sounds in Hanoi Vietnamese; other regions may have slightly different inventories. Vowel nuclei consist of monophthongs (simple vowels) and three centering diphthongs. The Standard Vietnamese vowel inventory comprises 9 monophthong qualities /i e ɛ a ɤ ɯ u o ɔ/ and three falling diphthongs /iə ɯə uə/, although other acoustic analysis suggests eleven monophthongs /i e ɛ a ɐ ʌ ɤ ɯ u o ɔ/ and three diphthongs /ie/, /ɯɤ/ and /uo/.
- All vowels are unrounded except for the four back rounded vowels: /u, o, ɔ, uə̯/.
- In the South, the high vowels /i, ɨ, u/ are all diphthongized in open syllables: [ɪi̯, ɯ̽ɯ̯, ʊu̯], Ba Vì [baː˧ vɪi̯˩] (ⓘ).[better source needed]
- /ə̆/ and /ă/ are pronounced shorter than the other vowels. These short vowels only occur in closed syllables.
- The vowels /ɛː/ and /ɔː/ are marginal. As with the other short/long vowel pairs, short and long /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are only distinguished in closed syllables. For some speakers the distinction may be one of vowel quality or of the articulation of the syllable coda in addition to or instead of vowel quantity.
- /ɯ/: Many descriptions, such as Thompson, Nguyễn (1970), Nguyễn (1997), consider this vowel to be close back unrounded: [ɯ]. However, Han's instrumental analysis indicates that it is more central [ɨ] than back. Hoang (1965), Brunelle (2003) and Phạm (2006) also transcribe this vowel as central. But according to Kirby (2011), /ɯ/ is frequently realized as mid centralized [ɯ̌], leading some authors to transcribe it as [ɨ] (Han (1966); Brunelle (2003)).
Closing sequences
In Vietnamese, vowel nuclei are able to combine with offglides /j/ or /w/ to form closing diphthongs and triphthongs. Below is a chart listing the closing sequences of general northern speech.
/w/ offglide /j/ offglide Front Central Back Centering /iə̯w/ ⟨iêu⟩ /ɯə̯w/ ⟨ươu⟩ /ɯə̯j/ ⟨ươi⟩ /uə̯j/ ⟨uôi⟩ Close /iw/ ⟨iu⟩ /ɯw/ ⟨ưu⟩ /ɯj/ ⟨ưi⟩ /uj/ ⟨ui⟩ Close-mid/
Mid/ew/ ⟨êu⟩ –
/ɤ̆w/ ⟨âu⟩/ɤj/ ⟨ơi⟩
/ɤ̆j/ ⟨ây⟩/oj/ ⟨ôi⟩ Open-mid/
Open/ɛw/ ⟨eo⟩ /aw/ ⟨ao⟩
/ăw/ ⟨au⟩/aj/ ⟨ai⟩
/ăj/ ⟨ay⟩/ɔj/ ⟨oi⟩
Thompson (1965) says that in Hanoi, words spelled with ưu and ươu are pronounced /iw, iəw/, respectively, whereas other dialects in the Tonkin delta pronounce them as /ɯw/ and /ɯəw/. This observation is also made by Kirby (2011).
Finals
When stops /p, t, k/ occur at the end of words, they have no audible release ([p̚, t̚, k̚]):
đáp 'to reply' /ɗap/ → [ɗap̚] mát 'cool' /mat/ → [mat̚] khác 'different' /xak/ → [xak̚]
When the velar consonants /k, ŋ/ are after /u, o, ɔ/, they are articulated with a simultaneous bilabial closure [k͡p̚, ŋ͡m] (i.e. doubly articulated) or are strongly labialized [k̚ʷ, ŋʷ].
đục 'murky' /ɗuk/ → [ɗuk͡p̚], [ɗʊk̚ʷ] độc 'poison' /ɗok/ → [ɗə̆wk͡p̚], [ɗə̆wk̚ʷ] đọc 'to read' /ɗɔk/ → [ɗăwk͡p̚], [ɗăwk̚ʷ] ung 'cancer' /uŋ/ → [uŋ͡m], [ʊŋʷ] ông 'man'/'grandfather' /oŋ/ → [ə̆wŋ͡m], [ə̆wŋʷ] ong 'bee' /ɔŋ/ → [ăwŋ͡m], [ăwŋʷ]
Hanoi finals
Analysis of final ch, nh
The pronunciation of syllable-final ch and nh in Hanoi Vietnamese has had different analyses. One analysis, that of Thompson (1965), has them as being phonemes /c, ɲ/, where /c/ contrasts with both syllable-final t /t/ and c /k/, and /ɲ/ contrasts with syllable-final n /n/ and ng /ŋ/. Final /c, ɲ/ is, then, identified with syllable-initial /c, ɲ/.
Another analysis has final ⟨ch⟩ and ⟨nh⟩ as representing different spellings of the velar phonemes /k/ and /ŋ/ that occur after upper front vowels /i/ (orthographic ⟨i⟩) and /e/ (orthographic ⟨ê⟩). This analysis interprets orthographic ⟨ach⟩ and ⟨anh⟩ as an underlying /ɛ/, which becomes phonetically open and diphthongized: /ɛk/ → [ăjk̟̚], /ɛŋ/ → [ăjŋ̟]. This diphthongization also affects ⟨êch⟩ and ⟨ênh⟩: /ek/ → [ə̆jk̟̚], /eŋ/ → [ə̆jŋ̟].
Arguments for the second analysis include the limited distribution of final [c] and [ɲ], the gap in the distribution of [k] and [ŋ] which do not occur after [i] and [e], the pronunciation of ⟨ach⟩ and ⟨anh⟩ as [ɛc] and [ɛɲ] in certain conservative central dialects, and the patterning of [k]~[c] and [ŋ]~[ɲ] in certain reduplicated words. Additionally, final [c] is not articulated as far forward as the initial [c]: [c] and [ɲ] are pre-velar [k̟, ŋ̟] with no alveolar contact.
The first analysis closely follows the surface pronunciation of a slightly different Hanoi dialect than the second. In this dialect, the /a/ in /ac/ and /aɲ/ is not diphthongized but is actually articulated more forward, approaching a front vowel [æ]. This results in a three-way contrast between the rimes ăn [æ̈n] vs. anh [æ̈ɲ] vs. ăng [æ̈ŋ]. For this reason, a separate phonemic /ɲ/ is posited.[citation needed]
Table of Hanoi finals
The following rimes ending with velar consonants have been diphthongized in the Hanoi dialect, but /i/, /u/ and /ɯ/ are more open:
ong, oc /awŋ/, /awk/ → [ăwŋ͡m], [ăwk͡p̚] ông, ôc /əwŋ/, /əwk/ → [ə̆wŋ͡m], [ə̆wk͡p̚] ung, uc /uŋ/, /uk/ → [ʊŋ͡m], [ʊk͡p̚] ưng, ưc, ưn, ưt /ɯŋ/, /ɯk/, /ɯn/, /ɯt/ → [ɯ̽ŋ], [ɯ̽k̟̚], [ɯ̽n], [ɯ̽t̚] anh, ach /ɛŋ/, /ɛk/ → [ăjŋ̟], [ăjk̟̚] ênh, êch /eŋ/, /ek/ → [ə̆jŋ̟], [ə̆jk̟̚] inh, ich /iŋ/, /ik/ → [ɪŋ̟], [ɪk̟̚]
With the above phonemic analyses, the following is a table of rimes ending in /n, t, ŋ, k/ in the Hanoi dialect:
| /ɐ/ | /a/ | /ɛ/ | /ɔ/, /aw/ | /ʌ/ | /ɤ/ | /e/ | /o/ | /i/ | /ɯ/ | /u/ | /iə̯/ | /ɯə̯/ | /uə̯/ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /n/ | ăn | an | en | on | ân | ơn | ên | ôn | in | ưn | un | iên | ươn | uôn |
| /t/ | ăt | at | et | ot | ât | ơt | êt | ôt | it | ưt | ut | iêt | ươt | uôt |
| /ŋ/ | ăng | ang | anh | ong | âng | – | ênh | ông | inh | ưng | ung | iêng | ương | uông |
| /k/ | ăc | ac | ach | oc | âc | – | êch | ôc | ich | ưc | uc | iêc | ươc | uôc |
Saigon finals
Merger of finals
While the variety of Vietnamese spoken in Hanoi has retained finals faithfully from Middle Vietnamese, the variety spoken in Ho Chi Minh City has drastically changed its finals. Rimes ending in /k, ŋ/ merged with those ending in /t, n/, respectively, so they are always pronounced /t, n/, respectively, after the short front vowels /i, e, a/ (only when /a/ is before "nh"). However, they are always pronounced /k, ŋ/ after the other vowels /u, uː, o, ɔ, iː, ɨː, ɨ, aw, a, aː, ɛ, ə, əː/. After rounded vowels /aw, u, o/, many speakers close their lips, i.e. they pronounce /k, ŋ/ as [k͡p, ŋ͡m]. Subsequently, vowels of rimes ending in labiovelars have been diphthongized, while vowels of rimes ending in alveolar have been centralized. Otherwise, some Southern speakers distinguish /k, ŋ/ and /t, n/ after /u, uː, o, ɔ, iː, ɨː, ɨ, aw, a, aː, ɛ, ə, əː/ in formal speech, but there are no Southern speakers who pronounce "ch" and "nh" at the end of syllables as /k, ŋ/.
Table of Saigon finals
The short back vowels in the rimes have been diphthongized and centralized, meanwhile, the consonants have been labialized. Similarly, the short front vowels have been centralized which are realized as central vowels /ă, ə, ɨ/ and the "unspecified" consonants have been affected by coronal spreading from the preceding front vowels which are surfaced as coronals (alveolar) /n, t/.
ung, uc /uŋ/, /uk/ → [ʊwŋ͡m], [ʊwk͡p̚] ông, ôc /oŋ/, /ok/ → [ăwŋ͡m], [ăwk͡p̚] ong, oc /ɔŋ/, /ɔk/ → anh, ach /an/, /at/ → [ăn], [ăt̚] ênh, êch /en/, /et/ → [ɤn], [ɤt̚] in ~ inh, it ~ ich /in/, /it/ → [ɪ̈n], [ɪ̈t̚] um, up /um/, /up/ → [ʊm], [ʊp̚] ưng ~ ưn, ưc ~ ưt /ɨŋ/, /ɨk/ → [ɯ̽ŋ], [ɯ̽k̟̚]
The other closed dialects (Huế, Quảng Nam, Bình Định) which have also been merged in codas, but some vowels are pronounced differently in some dialects:
| Huế | Quảng Nam | Bình Định | Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ung, uc | [ʊwŋ͡m], [ʊwk͡p̚] | [ʊwŋ͡m], [ʊwk͡p̚] | [ʊwŋ͡m], [ʊwk͡p̚] | [ʊwŋ͡m], [ʊwk͡p̚] |
| un, ut | [uːŋ͡m], [uːk͡p̚] | [uːŋ͡m], [uːk͡p̚] | ||
| ênh, êch | [ən], [ət̚] | [ən], [ət̚] | [ən], [ət̚] | [ɤːn], [ɤːt̚] |
| ên, êt | [eːn], [eːt̚] | [eːn], [eːt̚] | [eːn], [eːt̚] | |
| inh, ich | [ɪ̈n], [ɪ̈t̚] | [ɪ̈n], [ɪ̈t̚] | [ɪ̈n], [ɪ̈t̚] | [ɪ̈n], [ɪ̈t̚] |
| in, it | [in], [it̚] | [in], [it̚] | [in], [it̚] |
The ông, ôc rimes are merged into ong, oc as [ăwŋ͡m], [ăwk͡p̚] in many Southern speakers, but not with ôn, ôt as pronounced [oːŋ͡m], [oːk͡p̚]. The oong, ooc and eng, ec rimes are few and are mostly loanwords or onomatopoeia. The ôông, ôôc (oong, ooc, eng, ec, êng, êc as well) rimes are the "archaic" form before becoming ông, ôc by diphthongization and still exist in the North Central dialect in many placenames. The articulation of these rimes in the North Central dialect are [oːŋ], [oːk̚] without a simultaneous bilabial closure or labialization.
on, ot /ɔn/, /ɔt/ → [ɔːŋ], [ɔːk] oong, ooc /ɔŋ/, /ɔk/ → ôn, ôt /on/, /ot/ → [oːŋ͡m], [oːk͡p̚]. ôông, ôôc /oŋ/, /ok/ → ong, oc /awŋ/, /awk/ → [ăwŋ͡m], [ăwk͡p̚] ông, ôc /əwŋ/, /əwk/ →
With the above phonemic analyses, the following is a table of rimes ending in /n, t, ŋ, k, ŋ͡m, k͡p/ in the Ho Chi Minh City dialect:
| /ɔ/, /aw/ | /o/ | /u/ | /ă/ | /a/ | /ə̆/ | /ə/ | /ɨ/ | /ɛ/ | /e/ | /i/ | /uː/ | /ɨː/ | /iː/ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /n/ | – anh |
ên ênh |
in inh |
|||||||||||
| /t/ | – ach |
êt êch |
it ich |
|||||||||||
| /ŋ/ | on oong |
ăn ăng |
an ang |
ân âng |
ơn – |
ưn ưng |
en eng |
uôn uông |
ươn ương |
iên iêng | ||||
| /k/ | ot ooc |
ăt ăc |
at ac |
ât âc |
ơt – |
ưt ưc |
et ec |
uôt uôc |
ươt ươc |
iêt iêc | ||||
| /ŋ͡m/ | – ong / ông |
ôn ôông |
un ung |
|||||||||||
| /k͡p/ | – oc / ôc |
ôt ôôc |
ut uc |
|||||||||||
| Combinations that have changed their pronunciation due to merger are bolded. | ||||||||||||||
Tone
Vietnamese vowels are all pronounced with an inherent tone. Tones differ in
- pitch
- length
- contour melody
- intensity
- phonation (with or without accompanying constricted vocal cords)
Unlike many Native American, African, and Chinese languages, Vietnamese tones do not rely solely on pitch contour. Vietnamese often uses instead a register complex (which is a combination of phonation type, pitch, length, vowel quality, etc.). Thus, it may be more accurate to categorize Vietnamese as a register language rather than a "pure" tonal language.
There is much variation among speakers concerning how tone is realized phonetically. There are differences between varieties of Vietnamese spoken in the major geographic areas (northern, central, southern) and smaller differences within the major areas (e.g. Hanoi vs. other northern varieties). In addition, there seems to be variation among individuals. More research is needed to determine the remaining details of tone realization and the variation among speakers.
Six-tone analysis
In the modern Vietnamese orthography, tone is indicated by diacritics written above or below the vowel, of which there are six categories (including the null diacritic). The six-tone analysis corresponds most closely with the way the Vietnamese language is written, perceived and taught, whether to those in the school system or to learners of Vietnamese as a foreign language.
Northern varieties
The six tones in the Hanoi and other northern varieties are:
Tone name Tone ID VNI/Telex/VIQR Description Chao Tone Contour Diacritic Example ngang 'flat' A1 [default] mid level ˧ (33) ◌ ba ('three') huyền 'deep' A2 2 / f / ` low falling (breathy) ˨˩ (21) or (31) ◌̀ bà ('grandmother') sắc 'sharp' B1 1 / s / ' mid rising, tense ˧˥ (35) ◌́ bá ('to embrace') nặng 'heavy' B2 5 / j / . mid falling, glottalized, heavy ˧ˀ˨ʔ (3ˀ2ʔ) or ˧ˀ˩ʔ (3ˀ1ʔ) ◌̣ bạ ('to strengthen') hỏi 'asking' C1 3 / r / ? mid falling(-rising), emphasis ˧˩˧ (313) or (323) or (31) ◌̉ bả ('bait') ngã 'tumbling' C2 4 / x / ~ mid rising, glottalized ˧ˀ˥ (3ˀ5) or (4ˀ5) ◌̃ bã ('residue')
Ngang tone
- The ngang tone is level at around the mid level (33) and is produced with modal voice phonation (i.e. with "normal" phonation). Alexandre de Rhodes (1651) describes this as "level"; Nguyễn (1997) describes it as "high (or mid) level".
Huyền tone
- The huyền tone starts low-mid and falls (21). Some Hanoi speakers start at a somewhat higher point (31). It is sometimes accompanied by breathy voice (or lax) phonation in some speakers, but this is lacking in other speakers: bà = [ɓa˨˩]. Alexandre de Rhodes (1651) describes this as "grave-lowering"; Nguyễn (1997) describes it as "low falling".
Hỏi tone
- The hỏi tone starts a mid level and falls. It starts with modal voice phonation, which moves increasingly toward tense voice with accompanying harsh voice (although the harsh voice seems to vary according to speaker). Nguyễn & Edmondson (1998) reports that in Hanoi, the tone is mid falling (31). In other northern speakers, the tone is mid falling and then rises back to the mid level (313 or 323). This characteristic gives this tone its traditional description as "dipping". However, the falling-rising contour is most obvious in citation forms or when syllable-final; in other positions and when in fast speech, the rising contour is negligible. The hỏi also is relatively short compared with the other tones, but not as short as the nặng tone. Alexandre de Rhodes (1651) describes this as "smooth-rising"; Nguyễn (1997) describes it as "dipping-rising".
Ngã tone
- The ngã tone is mid rising (35). Many speakers begin the vowel with modal voice, followed by strong creaky voice starting toward the middle of the vowel, which is then lessening as the end of the syllable is approached. Some speakers with more dramatic glottalization have a glottal stop closure in the middle of the vowel (i.e. as [VʔV]). In Hanoi Vietnamese, the tone starts at a higher pitch (45) than other northern speakers. Alexandre de Rhodes (1651) describes this as "chesty-raised"; Nguyễn (1997) describes it as "creaking-rising".
Sắc tone
- The sắc tone starts as mid and then rises (35) in much the same way as the ngã tone. It is accompanied by tense voice phonation throughout the duration of the vowel. In some Hanoi speakers, the ngã tone is noticeably higher than the sắc tone, for example: má = ˧˦ (34); mã = ˦ˀ˥ (45). Alexandre de Rhodes (1651) describes this as "acute-angry"; Nguyễn (1997) describes it as "high (or mid) rising".
Nặng tone
- The nặng tone starts mid or low-mid and rapidly falls in pitch (32 or 21). It starts with tense voice that becomes increasingly tense until the vowel ends in a glottal stop closure. This tone is noticeably shorter than the other tones. Alexandre de Rhodes (1651) describes this as "chesty-heavy"; Nguyễn (1997) describes it as "constricted".
Southern varieties
![[icon]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (January 2011) |
| Tone name | Tone ID | Vni/telex/Viqr | Description | Chao Tone Contour | Diacritic | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quảng Nam | Bình Định | Ho Chi Minh City | ||||||
| ngang "flat" | A1 | [default] | mid flat level | ˦˨ (42) | ˧˧ (33) | ˦˦ (44) | ◌ | ba ('three') |
| huyền "deep" | A2 | 2 / f / ` | low falling | ˧˩ (31) | ˧˩ (31) | ˧˩ (31) | ◌̀ | bà ('lady') |
| hỏi "asking" | C1 | 3 / r / ? | mid falling-rising | ˧˨˦ (324) | ˧˨˦ (324) | ˨˩˦ (214) | ◌̉ | bả ('poison') |
| ngã "tumbling" | C2 | 4 / x / ~ | ◌̃ | bã ('residue') | ||||
| sắc "sharp" | B1 | 1 / s / ' | high rising | ˦˥ (45) | ˦˧˥ (435) | ˧˥ (35) | ◌́ | bá ('governor') |
| nặng "heavy" | B2 | 5 / j / . | low falling-rising | ˧˨˧ (323) | ˧˩˧ (313) | ˨˩˨ (212) | ◌̣ | bạ ('at random') |
In Southern varieties, tones ngang, sắc, huyền have similar contours to Northern tones; however, these tones are produced with normal voice instead of breathy voice.
The nặng tone is pronounced as low rising tone (12) [˩˨] in fast speech or low falling-rising tone (212) [˨˩˨] in more careful utterance.
The ngã and hỏi tone are merged into a mid falling-rising (214) [˨˩˦], which is somewhat similar to the hỏi tone of the non-Hanoi Northern accent mentioned above. This merged hỏi–ngã tone is characteristic of Southern Vietnamese accents.
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North-central and Central varieties
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (May 2008) |
North-central and Central Vietnamese varieties are fairly similar with respect to tone although within the North-central dialect region there is considerable internal variation.
It is sometimes said (by people from other provinces) that people from Nghệ An pronounce every tone as a nặng tone.
Eight-tone analysis
An older analysis assumes eight tones rather than six. This follows the lead of traditional Chinese phonology. In Middle Chinese, syllables ending in a vowel or nasal allowed for three tonal distinctions, but syllables ending with /p/, /t/ or /k/ had no tonal distinctions. Rather, they were consistently pronounced with a short high tone, which was called the entering tone and considered a fourth tone. Similar considerations lead to the identification of two additional tones in Vietnamese for syllables ending in /p/, /t/, /c/ and /k/. These are not phonemically distinct from the sắc and nặng tones, however, and hence not considered as separate tones by modern linguists and are not distinguished in the orthography.
| Traditional Tone Category | Register | Tone name | Tone ID | Vni/telex/Viqr | Description | Chao Tone Contour by Location | Diacritic | Example | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanoi | Quảng Nam | Bình Định | Ho Chi Minh City | |||||||||
| bằng 平 "even" | bình 平 "level" | phù "high" | ngang "flat" | A1 | [default] | mid flat level | ˧ (33) | ˦˨ (42) | ˧ (33) | ˦ (44) | ◌ | ba ('three') |
| trầm "low" | huyền "deep" | A2 | 2 / f / ` | low falling | ˨˩ (21) | ˧˩ (31) | ˧˩ (31) | ˧˩ (31) | ◌̀ | bà ('lady') | ||
| trắc 仄 "oblique" | thượng 上 "rising" | high | hỏi "asking" | C1 | 3 / r / ? | mid falling-rising | ˧˩˧ (313) | ˧˨˦ (324) | ˧˨˦ (324) | ˨˩˦ (214) | ◌̉ | bả ('poison') |
| low | ngã "tumbling" | C2 | 4 / x / ~ | mid rising, glottalized | ˧ˀ˥ (3ˀ5~4ˀ5) | ◌̃ | bã ('residue') | |||||
| khứ 去 "departing" | high | sắc "sharp" | B1 | 1 / s / ' | high rising | ˧˥ (35) | ˦˥ (45) | ˦˧˥ (435) | ˧˥ (35) | ◌́ | bá ('governor') | |
| low | nặng "heavy" | B2 | 5 / j / . | low falling-rising | ˧ˀ˩ʔ (3ˀ1ʔ) | ˧˨˧ (323) | ˦˧˦ (313) | ˨˩˨ (212) | ◌̣ | bạ ('at random') | ||
| nhập 入 "entering" | high | sắc "sharp" | D1 | 1 / s / ' | high checked rising | ˧˥ (35) | ˦˥ (45) | ◌́ | bác ('uncle') | |||
| low | nặng "heavy" | D2 | 5 / j / . | low checked falling | ˧ˀ˩ʔ (3ˀ1ʔ) | ˨˩ (21) | ◌̣ | bạc ('silver') | ||||
Syllables and phonotactics
According to Hannas (1997), there are 4,500 to 4,800 possible spoken syllables (depending on dialect), and the standard national orthography (Quốc Ngữ) can represent 6,200 syllables (Quốc Ngữ orthography represents more phonemic distinctions than are made by any one dialect). A description of syllable structure and exploration of its patterning according to the Prosodic Analysis approach of J.R. Firth is given in Henderson (1966).
The Vietnamese syllable structure follows the scheme:
- (C1)(w)V(G|C2)+T
where
- C1 = initial consonant onset
- w = labiovelar on-glide /w/
- V = vowel nucleus
- G = off-glide coda (/j/ or /w/)
- C2 = final consonant coda
- T = tone.
In other words, a syllable has an obligatory nucleus and tone, and can have an optional consonant onset, an optional on-glide /w/, and an optional coda or off-glide.
More explicitly, the syllable types are as follows:
Syllable Example Syllable Example V ê "eh" wV uể "sluggish" VC ám "possess (by ghosts, in the hands of a person etc.)" wVC oán "bear a grudge" VC ớt "capsicum" wVC oắt "little imp" CV nữ "female" CwV huỷ "cancel" CVC cơm "rice" CwVC toán "math" CVC tức "angry" CwVC hoặc "or"
C1: Any consonant may occur in as an onset with the following exception:
- /p/ does not occur in native Vietnamese words
w: the onglide /w/ (sometimes transcribed instead as labialization [ʷ] on a preceding consonant):
- does not occur after /n/ in native Vietnamese words (it occurs in uncommon Sino-Vietnamese borrowings, such as noãn "ovule")
V: The vowel nucleus V may be any of the following 14 monophthongs or diphthongs: /i, ɯ, u, e, ɤ, o, ɛ, ʌ, ɔ, ɐ, a, iə̯, ɯə̯, uə̯/.
G: The offglide may be /j/ or /w/. Together, V and G must form one of the diphthongs or triphthongs listed in the section on Vowels.
- offglide /j/ does not follow the front vowels /i, e, ɛ, iə̯/
- offglide /w/ does not follow the rounded vowels /u, o, ɔ, uə̯/
- with some exceptions (such as khuỷu tay "elbow"), the offglide /w/ cannot occur if the syllable contains a /w/ onglide
C2: The optional coda C2 is restricted to labial, coronal, and velar stops and nasals /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ/, which cannot cooccur with the offglides /j, w/.
T: Syllables are spoken with an inherent tone contour:
- Six tone contours are possible for syllables with offglides /j, w/, closed syllables with nasal codas /m, n, ŋ/, and open syllables—i.e., those without consonant codas /p, t, k/.
- If the syllable is closed with one of the oral stops /p, t, k/, only two contours are possible: the sắc and the nặng tones.
| Zero coda | Off-glide coda | Nasal consonant coda | Stop consonant coda | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ∅ | /j/ | /w/ | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | /p/ | /t/ | /k/ | ||
| Vowel nucleus | /ɐ/ | ay [ɐj] | au [ɐw] | ăm [ɐm] | ặn [ɐn] | ặng [ɐŋ] | ặp [ɐp] | ặt [ɐt] | ặc [ɐk] | |
| /a/ | ạ, (gi)à, (gi)ả, (gi)ã, (gi)á [a] | ại [aj] | ạo [aw] | ạm [am] | ạn [an] | ạng [aŋ] | ạp [ap] | ạt [at] | ạc [ak] | |
| /ɛ/ | ẹ [ɛ] | ẹo [ɛw] | ẹm [ɛm] | ẹn [ɛn] | ạnh [ăjŋ] | ẹp [ɛp] | ẹt [ɛt] | ạch [ăjk] | ||
| /ɔ/ | ọ [ɔ] | ọi [ɔj] | ọm [ɔm] | ọn [ɔn] | ọng [ăwŋ] | ọp [ɔp] | ọt [ɔt] | ọc [ăwk] | ||
| /ʌ/ | ậy [ʌj] | ậu [ʌw] | ậm [ʌm] | ận [ʌn] | ậng [ʌŋ] | ập [ʌp] | ật [ʌt] | ậc [ʌk] | ||
| /ɤ/ | ợ [ɤ] | ợi [ɤj] | ợm [ɤm] | ợn [ɤn] | ợp [ɤp] | ợt [ɤt] | ||||
| /e/ | ệ [e] | ệu [ew] | ệm [em] | ện [en] | ệnh [ə̆jŋ] | ệp [ep] | ệt [et] | ệch [ə̆jk] | ||
| /o/ | ộ [o] | ội [oj] | ộm [om] | ộn [on] | ộng [ə̆wŋ] | ộp [op] | ột [ot] | ộc [ə̆wk] | ||
| /i/ | ị, ỵ [i] | ịu [iw] | ịm, ỵm [im] | ịn [in] | ịnh [iŋ] | ịp, ỵp [ip] | ịt [it] | ịch, ỵch [ik] | ||
| /ɯ/ | ự [ɯ] | ựi [ɯj] | ựu [ɯw] | ựng [ɯŋ] | ựt [ɯt] | ực [ɯk] | ||||
| /u/ | ụ [u] | ụi [uj] | ụm [um] | ụn [un] | ụng [uŋ] | ụp [up] | ụt [ut] | ục [uk] | ||
| /iə/ | ịa, (g)ịa, ỵa [iə] | iệu, yệu [iəw] | iệm, yệm [iəm] | iện, yện [iən] | iệng, yệng [iəŋ] | iệp, yệp [iəp] | iệt, yệt [iət] | iệc [iək] | ||
| /ɯə/ | ựa [ɯə] | ượi [ɯəj] | ượu [ɯəw] | ượm [ɯəm] | ượn [ɯən] | ượng [ɯəŋ] | ượp [ɯəp] | ượt [ɯət] | ược [ɯək] | |
| /uə/ | ụa [uə] | uội [uəj] | uộm [uəm] | uộn [uən] | uộng [uəŋ] | uột [uət] | uộc [uək] | |||
| Labiovelar on-glide followed by vowel nucleus | /ʷɐ/ | oạy, (q)uạy [ʷɐj] | oặm, (q)uặm [ʷɐm] | oặn, (q)uặn [ʷɐn] | oặng, (q)uặng [ʷɐŋ] | oặp, (q)uặp [ʷɐp] | oặt, (q)uặt [ʷɐt] | oặc, (q)uặc [ʷɐk] | ||
| /ʷa/ | oạ, (q)uạ [ʷa] | oại, (q)uại [ʷaj] | oạo, (q)uạo [ʷaw] | oạm, (q)uạm [ʷam] | oạn, (q)uạn [ʷan] | oạng, (q)uạng [ʷaŋ] | oạp, (q)uạp [ʷap] | oạt, (q)uạt [ʷat] | oạc, (q)uạc [ʷak] | |
| /ʷɛ/ | oẹ, (q)uẹ [ʷɛ] | oẹo, (q)uẹo [ʷɛw] | oẹm, (q)uẹm [ʷɛm] | oẹn, (q)uẹn [ʷɛn] | oạnh, (q)uạnh [ʷăjŋ] | oẹt, (q)uẹt [ʷɛt] | oạch, (q)uạch [ʷăjk] | |||
| /ʷʌ/ | uậy [ʷʌj] | uận [ʷʌn] | uậng [ʷʌŋ] | uật [ʷʌt] | ||||||
| /ʷɤ/ | uợ [ʷɤ] | |||||||||
| /ʷe/ | uệ [ʷe] | uệu [ʷew] | uện [ʷen] | uệnh [ʷə̆jŋ] | uệt [ʷet] | uệch [ʷə̆jk] | ||||
| /ʷi/ | uỵ [ʷi] | uỵu [ʷiw] | uỵn [ʷin] | uỵnh [ʷiŋ] | uỵp [ʷip] | uỵt [ʷit] | uỵch [ʷik] | |||
| /ʷiə/ | uỵa [ʷiə] | uyện [ʷiən] | uyệt [ʷiət] | |||||||
| Tone | a /a/, à /â/, á /ǎ/, ả /a᷉/, ã /ǎˀ/, ạ /âˀ/ | á /á/, ạ /à/ | ||||||||
- Less common rimes may not be represented in this table.
- The nặng tone mark (dot below) has been added to all rimes in this table for illustration purposes only. It indicates which letter tone marks in general are added to, largely according to the "new style" rules of Vietnamese orthography as stated in Quy tắc đặt dấu thanh trong chữ quốc ngữ. In practice, not all these rimes have real words or syllables that have the nặng tone.
- The IPA representations are based on Wikipedia's conventions. Different dialects may have different pronunciations.