Pronunciation Chart

ba

dad

Letter name: a. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

ăn

eat

Letter name: á. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

cân

weigh; kilogram

Letter name: ớ. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

ba

dad

Letter name: bê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

cá

fish

Letter name: xê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

da

skin

Letter name: dê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

đi

go

Letter name: đê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

bé

small; child

Letter name: e. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

bê

calf

Letter name: ê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

gà

chicken

Letter name: giê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

hoa

flower

Letter name: hát. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

đi

go

Letter name: i. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

kê

millet

Letter name: ca. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

lá

leaf

Letter name: e-lờ. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

mẹ

mother

Letter name: em-mờ. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

nón

hat

Letter name: en-nờ. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

to

big

Letter name: o. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

cô

aunt; female teacher

Letter name: ô. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

bơ

avocado; butter

Letter name: ơ. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

pin

battery

Letter name: pê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

quà

gift

Letter name: quy. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

rau

vegetables

Letter name: e-rờ. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

sách

book

Letter name: ét-xì. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

tay

hand

Letter name: tê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

thu

autumn

Letter name: u. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

thư

letter

Letter name: ư. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

về

return

Letter name: vê. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

xe

vehicle

Letter name: ích-xì. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

tay

hand

Letter name: i dài. The letter name is used for spelling; hear the sound in the example word. Letter names can vary by teaching tradition.

ba

dad

Open the mouth comfortably; keep the vowel steady.

ăn

eat

Use a short open vowel. Learn it with a following consonant, not as a long isolated a.

cân

weigh; kilogram

Use a short central vowel with relaxed, unrounded lips. Compare it with the longer ơ.

bé

small; child

Keep the tongue toward the front; the jaw is more open than for ê.

bê

calf

Keep the tongue toward the front and the lips unrounded. Use a closer jaw position than for e.

đi

go

Raise the front of the tongue; keep the lips unrounded. The spellings i and y can represent the same vowel.

to

big

Round the lips with a relatively open jaw. Compare o with the closer ô.

cô

aunt; female teacher

Round the lips and use a closer jaw position than for o. Avoid an English-style off-glide.

bơ

avocado; butter

Keep the lips unrounded and use a steady central vowel. Compare its length with â in context.

thu

autumn

Raise the back of the tongue and round the lips. Keep the vowel steady.

thư

letter

Use a high tongue position toward the back with unrounded lips. Compare u and ư without adding another vowel.

bia / biên

beer / border

These spellings commonly represent the same vowel sequence in different syllable structures. Practise the movement in the whole word.

mua / muôn

buy / countless

Move smoothly through the vowel sequence. The spelling changes with syllable structure.

mưa / mượn

rain / borrow

Practise ưa in mưa and ươ in mượn. Keep both parts within one syllable.

ba

dad

Close both lips, then open into the vowel. Do not add an extra vowel before the word.

cá / kê

fish / millet

Use a closure at the back of the mouth. c and k are spellings used in different written environments.

quà

gift

Practise qu with its following vowel in a whole word. Lip rounding is important; its realization varies with the vowel and speaker.

da / gia đình

skin / family

Keep the written forms distinct while listening to the selected regional model.

Many Southern speakers use a y-like sound for d and gi.

đi

go

Use voicing with a tongue-tip closure. Keep đ distinct from d.

gà / ghế

chicken / chair

Use voiced friction toward the back of the mouth. g and gh are spelling variants before different vowels.

hoa

flower

Let air pass gently from the throat into the vowel.

khăn

towel

Make friction toward the back of the mouth. Do not pronounce kh as two separate consonants.

lá

leaf

Touch the tongue near the upper front teeth; let air pass around its sides.

mẹ

mother

Close the lips and let the sound resonate through the nose.

nón

hat

Use a tongue-tip closure with nasal airflow. Compare with ng and nh.

nghe / ngô

listen / corn

Begin with the back-of-mouth nasal sound. Do not add a g release or a vowel before it.

nhà

house

Raise the middle/front of the tongue toward the hard palate for a nasal sound.

pin

battery

Close and release both lips. Word-initial p occurs especially in borrowed words.

phở

phở noodle soup

Use the lower lip and upper teeth. ph is one initial sound, not p followed by h.

rau

vegetables

Listen to a whole word. The pronunciation of r varies across regions and individual speakers.

Follow the individual Southern speaker; distinctions vary within the region.

sách / xe

book / vehicle

Compare the written forms and regional models; do not assume every speaker makes the same contrast.

Follow the individual Southern speaker; distinctions vary within the region.

tay

hand

Use a tongue-tip closure with little outward puff of air. Compare t with th.

thư

letter

Release the tongue-tip closure with a clear puff of air. This is not English th in think.

cha / trà

father / tea

Practise the word onsets as single units. Regional speakers may distinguish or merge these spellings.

Follow the individual Southern speaker; distinctions vary within the region.

về

return

Practise the whole word; regional and individual realizations vary.

Follow the individual Southern speaker; distinctions vary within the region.

nam

male; south

End with both lips closed and nasal resonance.

bàn

table

Use the selected speaker as the model; the place of closure can vary with region and preceding vowel.

bàng

tropical almond tree

End with nasal resonance toward the back of the mouth. Some rounded-vowel combinations also involve lip closure.

bánh

cake; bread

Practise the complete rhyme; do not copy the initial nh sound mechanically into every final nh environment.

hộp

box

Close the lips and hold the ending. Do not add a released p or a final vowel.

bát

bowl

Make a brief closed ending without an extra vowel. The closure can shift in Southern speech after some vowels.

bác

older aunt or uncle

Use a brief back closure without an audible release. Practise together with the preceding vowel.

sách

book

Keep the ending short and unreleased; do not add an English ch release or another vowel.

tai / tay

ear / hand

These are vowel-plus-glide rhymes. Listen to the whole rhyme; the spelling is not an instruction to add a separate syllable.

sau / sao

after / star

Finish with a smooth glide within the same syllable. Practise the whole rhyme, not the final letter alone.

ma

ghost

No tone mark. Start with a steady, comfortable pitch.

Typically level in an isolated model word.

mà

but; which

Notice both pitch and voice quality; avoid forcing an exaggerated fall.

A falling pattern; follow the recorded speaker.

má

cheek; mom (Southern)

Move toward a higher pitch. The ending consonant can change the shape and duration.

Often rising in an open syllable.

mả

grave

Listen to the dip and recovery in the selected speaker. Keep the spelling distinct from ngã.

Commonly shares a dipping-rising pattern with ngã.

mã

code

Listen for the selected speaker’s voice quality as well as pitch.

Commonly pronounced like hỏi; the two spellings remain distinct.

mạ

rice seedling

Avoid adding an extra syllable or straining the throat. Compare a natural whole-word model.

May have a low dipping/rising pattern and less constriction than many Northern models.