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Alphabet & Pronunciation
Vietnamese alphabet, the six tones, diacritics and key pronunciation rules
ngang (không dấu)
the level/mid tone (no mark)
ma
Flat, mid-pitched — the default, unmarked tone
dấu ngã (~)
the creaky rising tone mark
mã
Rises with a glottal creak, e.g. mã (horse/code)
dấu nặng (.)
the low glottalized tone mark
mạ
Short, low, and heavy, e.g. mạ (rice seedling)
ma, má, mà, mả, mã, mạ
six different words from one syllable + tone
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A classic minimal set showing all six tones distinguish meaning
ph, th, kh, ng/ngh, nh
key consonant digraphs
f, t(aspirated), kh, ng, ny
Each digraph is one single consonant sound
tr, ch, gi
commonly confused consonant digraphs
ch/tr, ch, z/y
tr and ch often merge in Southern speech
ai, ao, au, ây, ơi
common diphthongs
eye, ow, oh, ay, oy
Vowel glides that combine into one syllable nucleus
Miền Bắc vs Miền Nam: phát âm
Northern vs Southern pronunciation
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r/d/gi and s/x merge differently by region
Cấu trúc âm tiết: (phụ âm)(bán nguyên âm)nguyên âm(phụ âm) + thanh
Syllable structure + tone
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Every Vietnamese syllable carries exactly one of the six tones
Chào anh / Chào chị
Polite greetings using kinship terms
chow ahn / chow chee
Greetings built on the pronoun system, not a fixed word for "you"