The Vietnamese alphabet
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Sign up for freeAs you might have already noticed, the Vietnamese alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) uses the same Latin letters as the majority of languages. Luckily, you don't have to learn characters like in other Asian languages (Thai, Mandarin, etc.). There are three main dialects in Vietnam: the Northern, Central and Southern accent. We will only discuss the Northern pronunciation.
The Vietnamese language consists of 29 letters. It is based on the Latin alphabet without the consonants 'f', 'j', 'w' and 'z'. We will introduce you all the letters as follows:
| Letter | Name | Phonetic sound | Example and how it sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | [a] | anh as in father |
| ă | á | [a/a:] | ăn as in hat |
| â | ớ | [ə] | ấn as in but |
| b | bê; bờ | [ɓ] | ba as in baby |
| c | xê; cờ | [k] | con as in can |
| d | dê; dờ | [z] | dê as in zoo |
| đ | đê; đờ | [ɗ] | đo as in do |
| e | e | [ε] | em as in trend |
| ê | ê | [e] | êm as in mate |
| g | giê; gờ | [ɣ] | ga as in gold |
| h | hát; hờ | [h] | hoa as in hat |
| i | i; i ngắn | [i] | in as in she |
| k | ca | [k] | kịch as in kick |
| l | e-lờ; lờ | [l] | lo as in love |
| m | em-mờ; mờ | [m] | mai as in mum |
| n | en-nờ; nờ | [n] | nói as in nice |
| o | o | [ɔ] | ong as in hot |
| ô | ô | [o] | ông as in boat |
| ơ | ơ | [ɜ:] | ơn as in fur |
| p | pê; pờ; bê phở | [p] | pao as in pen |
| q | cu; quy; quờ | [k] | qua as in queue |
| r | e-rờ; rờ | [z] | ra as in zoo |
| s | ét-xì; sờ; xờ nặng | [s] | sao as in sell |
| t | tê; tờ | [t] | tan as in tea |
| u | u | [ʊ] | u as in boot |
| ư | ư | [ɨ] | ưng as in cute |
| v | vê, vờ | [v] | vui as in van |
| x | ích xì; xờ; xờ nhẹ | [s] | xe an in sea |
| y | i dài; i-cờ-rét | [i] | yến as in she |
The alphabet wasn't too hard now, was it? In the next chapter we will continue with the pronunciation rules. Make sure to check it out! :)