Let’s start learning Vietnamese! But before that, what is the Vietnamese language?
As some of you may know, Vietnam was repeatedly colonized by China from 217 BC to AD 980. This has led to the Vietnamese language containing many words of Chinese origin. Consequently, Vietnamese includes both pure Vietnamese words (từ thuần Việt) and Sino-Vietnamese words (từ Hán Việt) – which have pronunciation generally close to that of the original Chinese.
Regarding pure Vietnamese words (từ thuần việt), there are many sounds and tones that do not exist in English. So on this marterial, we will learn how to pronounce these together.
Let’s master Vietnamese sounds!
Compared to 5 vowels and 21 consonants in English, Vietnamese have 12 vowels and 17 consonants, which make Vietnamese have more combinations between vowels and consonants or vowels and vowels. In some cases the combination is not able to use English phonetic symbols to express the pronunciation correctly.
Besides of various of combinations between vowels and consonants, Vietnamese is a tonal language which is probably the most difficult part of learning Vietnamese. In Vietnamese the tones change the meanings of individual words. Therefore, speakers need to be careful to correctly pronounce the word or it could cause misunderstandings.
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| Ma – Ghost | Má – Mother | Mã – Horse | Mả – Tomb | Mạ – Rice seedling |
Mastering Vietnamese pronunciation using English phonetic symbols
For those not familiar with English phonetic symbols, it might be useful to compare Vietnamese pronunciation by looking at examples of English word pronunciations, paying attention to the position of the tongue and the opening of the mouth.
Pronunciation of Vietnamese vowels with English phonetic symbols
| Vietnamese 12 vowels | English phonetic symbols | Example |
| a | æ | apple |
| ă | ʌ | cut |
| â | ə | run |
| e | e | red |
| ê | ei | face |
| i | i | seat |
| o | ɔː | fault |
| ô | ou | no |
| ơ | ə: | learn |
| u | uː | shoot |
| ư | ʌ | huh |
| y | i | see |
Pronunciation of Vietnamese consonants with English phonetic symbols
| Vietnamese 17 consonants | English phonetic symbols | Example |
| b | b | bed |
| c | k | cook |
| ch | ch | chat |
| d | z | zoo |
| đ | d | dance |
| g | g | get |
| gh | g | get |
| h | h | human |
| k | k | call |
| kh | ch | beach |
| l | l | let |
| m | m | memo |
| n | n | name |
| ng | ng | long |
| ngh | ng | long |
| nh | nj | lasagna |
| p | p | pet |
| ph | f | flog |
| q | q | queen |
| r | r | red |
| s | ʃ | sharp |
| t | t | test |
| th | th | think |
| tr | dge | edge |
| v | v | voice |
| x | s | song |