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Tags: japanese, chinese, vietnamese, korean, filipino

Learn Vietnamese here!

The Alphabet and Tones

MiasmaMoon
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:57 pm

Introduction

The Vietnamese script is written in a Latin-based script, which is known as Quốc Ngữ. Vietnamese is a tonal language, consisting of five tones and a neutral tone. By changing the tone, you change the meaning of the word. For example...

ma means ghost
má means mother
mả means burial site
mã means horse

Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:36 pm

Alphabet

The Vietnamese alphabet consists of twelve vowels and eighteen consonants. They are:

Aa
Ââ
Ăă
Bb
Cc
Dd
Đđ
Ee
Êê
Gg
Hh
Ii
Kk
Ll
Mm
Nn
Oo
Ôô
Ơơ
Pp
Qq
Rr
Ss
Tt
Uu
Ưư
Vv
Xx
Yy

(Sounds will be attached later.)

Note that the English letters f, j, w, and z do not exist in the Vietnamese language.

MiasmaMoon
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MiasmaMoon
Crew

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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:47 pm

Tones

In Vietnamese, there are five tones and a neutral tone. The tone is written as a mark above the major vowel in a word.

The five tones are:

(The accent marks will be combined with the A vowel to show its appearance. Plus, the font will be increased to show its appearance.)

dấu sắc (á), written as a line going up
dấu huyền (à), written as a line going down
dấu hỏi (ả), written as a question mark
dấu ngã (ã), written as a tilde (or swiggly line)
dấu nặng (ạ), written as a dot under the vowel

Note: Dấu huyền is sometimes written as a straight line instead of a line pointing down.

Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:52 pm

Dipthongs

Dipthongs are combinations of consonants that create a sound different from the two consonants combined. They are:

Ch (like "chocolate")
Tr (sound does not exist in English)
Ph (like English "f")
Kh (aspirated "k"; like "kite")
Ng (like "sing")
Ngh (like "sing"; is used when the following vowel is an "i" or "e")
Nh (like Spanish "ñ")
Th (aspirated "t", like "tore")
Gi (like "zee")
Gh (???)
Qu (sound does not exist in English)

(Sounds will be attached later.)