The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Vietnamese language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. There are two major standards, one of Hanoi and one of Saigon. Each makes distinctions that the other does not; the central dialects, which make the distinctions of both, are represented here. Following the examples are common alternate transcriptions for sounds in IPA, for comparison.
See Vietnamese phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Vietnamese.
| Consonants |
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| ʔ |
anh (pronounced before a vowel) |
button (Informal British) |
| ɓ |
ba [ʔb] |
almost like bee |
| c～tɕ |
chè (Saigon final [t] after e/i/y [1]) |
cheese (unaspirated) |
| ɗ |
đi [ʔd] |
almost like day, but "swallowed" |
| f |
phở |
fight |
| h |
hàng |
high |
| j |
tây; mai (may follow all vowels but e/i/y [1]) |
yellow |
| k |
cô, kem |
sky |
| l |
là |
low |
| m |
mai |
my |
| n |
nam (Saigon final [ŋ] after a/o/u [2]) |
no |
| ɲ |
nhà (Saigon final [n] after e/i/y [1]) |
French agneau, Spanish enseñar |
| ŋ |
ngam (before a/o/u [2]); nghe (before e/i/y [1]) |
singer |
| p |
đáp |
sport |
| s |
xa |
so |
| ʂ |
sao (Hanoi [s]) |
almost like show |
| t |
tây (Saigon final [k] after o/u [2]) |
stop |
| tʰ |
thầy |
top |
| ʈʂ |
tra [ʈ] (Hanoi c～tɕ) |
almost like choose (unaspirated) |
| v |
về ([j] in informal Southern Vietnamese) |
van |
| w |
câu; oanh (Hanoi initial [ʔw]) (may follow all vowels but a/o/u [2]) |
we |
| x |
khô (Saigon [kʰ]) |
loch (Scottish English) |
| ɣ |
ga (before a/o/u [2]); ghế (before e/i/y [1]) |
No English equivalent ; amigo in Spanish |
| z |
da; già (Saigon [j]) |
zero |
| ʐ |
ra (Hanoi [z], Saigon could be [ɹ]) |
almost like pleasure |
|
| Monophthongs |
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| ă |
ăn; anh |
almost like cut |
| a |
ba [3] |
between cat and father |
| e |
về |
almost like sit |
| ɛ |
xe |
set |
| ə̆ |
ân; bênh |
person |
| ə |
bơ |
almost like sir (British English) |
| i |
khi; quy |
see |
| ɨ |
tư |
roughly like glasses |
| o |
cô |
almost like good |
| ɔ |
có; xoong |
law |
| u |
ru |
too |
| Diphthongs |
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| iə |
viên, bia |
beer (British English) |
| ɨə |
xương, chưa |
No English equivalent |
| uə |
uống, mua |
sure (British English) |
| ʷ |
(see /w/ above) |
we |
| Tones |
| IPA |
Examples |
| a ə |
a (Hanoi [˧], Saigon [˧]) |
| â ə̂ |
à (Hanoi [˨˩], Saigon [˨˩]) |
| ǎ ə̌ |
á (Hanoi [˧˥], Saigon [˧˥]) |
| a᷉ ə᷉[4] |
ả (Hanoi [˧˩], Saigon [˧˩˧]) |
| ǎˀ ə̌ˀ |
ã (Hanoi [˧ˀ˥], Saigon [˧˩˧]) |
| âˀ ə̂ˀ |
ạ (Hanoi [˧ˀ˩ʔ], Saigon [˨˧]) |
| ə́k[5] |
ấc (Hanoi [˦˥], Saigon [˦˥]) |
| ə̀k[5] |
ậc (Hanoi [˩], Saigon [˩]) |
|
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The front vowels ([i], [e], [ɛ], [j]) which are based on the letters e, i, and y.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The non-front vowels, which are based on the letters a, o, and u.
- ↑ /aː/ may be pronounced [æ].
- ↑ This is a dipping tone. It looks similar to ã ə̃ ([ ̃ ] (nasalized mark). The dipping tone differs only in being angular in shape, but is not widely supported by IPA fonts.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Before a final /p, t, c, k/, the six tones of Vietnamese are reduced to two.
