Vietnamese Pronunciation Tutorial Part 314

Welcome back to our Vietnamese pronunciation tutorial! In this third part, we'll dive deeper into the intricacies of Vietnamese vowels and tones. We'll also introduce some essential consonant sounds and combinations.

Vowels

Vietnamese has six main vowels: a, ă, e, ê, i, o, ô, ơ, u. Each vowel can be pronounced in two different ways, depending on whether it is followed by a consonant or a final consonant. Let's take a closer look:


Vowel
Pronunciation (followed by a consonant)
Pronunciation (final consonant)




a
ah
aw


ă
uh
uah


e
eh
ey


ê
ay
ai


i
ih
ee


o
oh
aw


ô
aw
ow


ơ
uh
uah


u
oo
oo

Tones

Vietnamese is a tonal language, which means that the meaning of a word can change depending on the tone used. There are six main tones in Vietnamese:


Tone
Contour
Example
Meaning




Ngang
Mid-level
ma
ghost


Huyền
Falling
mà
but


Hỏi
Mid-rising
mả
grave


Ngã
Low-rising
mã
horse


Sắc
High-rising
má
cheek


Nặng
Mid-falling
mạ
rice seedling

Consonants

Vietnamese has a rich consonant inventory, consisting of both single consonants and consonant clusters. Let's take a look at some of the most common consonant sounds and combinations:


Consonant
Pronunciation




b
b


c
k


ch
ch


d
d


đ
j


f
f


g
g


gh
ng


h
h


k
k


l
l


m
m


n
n


ng
ng


nh
ny


p
p


ph
f


q
kw


r
r


s
s


t
t


th
th


tr
tr


v
v


x
s


y
y

Putting it All Together

Now that you have a better understanding of Vietnamese vowels, tones, and consonants, let's put it all together in a few practice words:


Word
Pronunciation
Meaning




ba
ba
three


má
má
cheek


nhà
nhà
house


đẹp
đẹp
beautiful


xin chào
sin chào
hello

Practice pronouncing these words out loud to get a feel for the language. With a little bit of practice, you'll be able to master the sounds of Vietnamese and communicate with confidence!

2025-01-12

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