Editing Vietnamese language (section)

==Phonology==
{{Main|Vietnamese phonology}}

===Vowels===
Vietnamese has a large number of [[vowel]]s. Below is a [[vowel diagram]] of Vietnamese from Hanoi (including [[centering diphthong]]s):

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! &nbsp;
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Centering diphthong|Centering]]
| ia/iê {{IPA|[iə̯]}}
| ưa/ươ {{IPA|[ɨə̯]}}
| ua/uô {{IPA|[uə̯]}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| i/y {{IPA|[i]}}
| ư {{IPA|[ɨ]}}
| u {{IPA|[u]}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]/<br />[[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| ê {{IPA|[e]}}
| ơ {{IPA|[əː]}}<br />â {{IPA|[ə]}} 
| ô {{IPA|[o]}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]/<br />[[Open vowel|Open]]
|e {{IPA|[ɛ]}}
| a {{IPA|[aː]}}<br />ă {{IPA|[a]}}
| o {{IPA|[ɔ]}}
|}

Front and central vowels (i, ê, e, ư, â, ơ, ă, a) are [[Roundedness|unrounded]], whereas the back vowels (u, ô, o) are rounded. The vowels â {{IPA|[ə]}} and ă {{IPA|[a]}} are pronounced very short, much shorter than the other vowels. Thus, ơ and â are basically pronounced the same except that ơ {{IPA|[əː]}} is of normal length while â {{IPA|[ə]}} is short – the same applies to the vowels long a {{IPA|[aː]}} and short ă {{IPA|[a]}}.<ref group="lower-alpha">There are different descriptions of Hanoi vowels. Another common description is that of {{harv|Thompson|1991}}:

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! unrounded
! rounded
|-
! [[Centering diphthong|Centering]]
| ia~iê {{IPA|[iə̯]}}
|
| ưa~ươ {{IPA|[ɯə̯]}}
| ua~uô {{IPA|[uə̯]}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| i {{IPA|[i]}}
|
| ư {{IPA|[ɯ]}}
| u {{IPA|[u]}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| ê {{IPA|[e]}}
|
| ơ {{IPA|[ɤ]}}
| ô {{IPA|[o]}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| e {{IPA|[ɛ]}}
| ă {{IPA|[ɐ]}}
| â {{IPA|[ʌ]}}
| o {{IPA|[ɔ]}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
| a {{IPA|[a]}}
| colspan="2" |
|}

This description distinguishes four degrees of vowel height and a rounding contrast (rounded vs. unrounded) between back vowels. The relative shortness of ''ă'' and ''â'' would then be a secondary feature. Thompson describes the vowel ''ă'' {{IPA|[ɐ]}} as being slightly higher ([[Near-open vowel|upper low]]) than ''a'' {{IPA|[a]}}.</ref>

The centering diphthongs are formed with only the three high vowels (i, ư, u). They are generally spelled as ia, ưa, ua when they end a word and are spelled iê, ươ, uô, respectively, when they are followed by a consonant.

In addition to single vowels (or [[monophthong]]s) and centering diphthongs, Vietnamese has closing [[diphthong]]s{{efn|In Vietnamese, diphthongs are ''âm đôi''.}} and [[triphthong]]s. The closing diphthongs and triphthongs consist of a main vowel component followed by a shorter semivowel [[offglide]] {{IPA|/j/}} or {{IPA|/w/}}.<ref group="lower-alpha">The closing diphthongs and triphthongs as described by Thompson can be compared with the description above:

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!&nbsp;
! colspan="2"| {{IPA|/w/}} offglide
! colspan="2"| {{IPA|/j/}} offglide
|-
! [[Centering diphthong|Centering]]
| iêu {{IPA|[iə̯w]}}
| ươu {{IPA|[ɯə̯w]}}
| ươi {{IPA|[ɯə̯j]}}
| uôi {{IPA|[uə̯j]}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| iu {{IPA|[iw]}}
| ưu {{IPA|[ɯw]}}
| ưi {{IPA|[ɯj]}}
| ui {{IPA|[uj]}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| êu {{IPA|[ew]}}
| rowspan="2"| –<br />âu {{IPA|[ʌw]}}
| rowspan="2"| ơi {{IPA|[ɤj]}}<br />ây {{IPA|[ʌj]}}
| ôi {{IPA|[oj]}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| eo {{IPA|[ɛw]}}
| oi {{IPA|[ɔj]}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| &nbsp;
| ao {{IPA|[aw]}}<br />au {{IPA|[ɐw]}}
| ai {{IPA|[aj]}}<br />ay {{IPA|[ɐj]}}
| &nbsp;
|}
</ref> There are restrictions on the high offglides: {{IPA|/j/}} cannot occur after a front vowel (i, ê, e) nucleus and {{IPA|/w/}} cannot occur after a back vowel (u, ô, o) nucleus.{{efn|The lack of diphthong consisting of a ''ơ'' + back offglide (i.e., {{IPA|[əːw]}}) is an apparent gap.}}

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|&nbsp;
! colspan="2"| {{IPA|/w/}} offglide
! colspan="2"| {{IPA|/j/}} offglide
|-
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2"| [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Centering diphthong|Centering]]
| iêu {{IPA|[iə̯w]}}
| ươu {{IPA|[ɨə̯w]}}
| ươi {{IPA|[ɨə̯j]}}
| uôi {{IPA|[uə̯j]}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| iu {{IPA|[iw]}}
| ưu {{IPA|[ɨw]}}
| ưi {{IPA|[ɨj]}}
| ui {{IPA|[uj]}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]/<br />[[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| êu {{IPA|[ew]}}
| –<br />âu{{IPA|[əw]}}
| ơi {{IPA|[əːj]}}<br />ây {{IPA|[əj]}}
| ôi {{IPA|[oj]}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]/<br />[[Open vowel|Open]]
| eo {{IPA|[ɛw]}}
| ao {{IPA|[aːw]}}<br />au {{IPA|[aw]}}
| ai {{IPA|[aːj]}}<br />ay {{IPA|[aj]}}
| oi {{IPA|[ɔj]}}
|}

The correspondence between the orthography and pronunciation is complicated. For example, the offglide {{IPA|/j/}} is usually written as ''i''; however, it may also be represented with ''y''. In addition, in the diphthongs {{IPA|[āj]}} and {{IPA|[āːj]}} the letters ''y'' and ''i'' also indicate the pronunciation of the main vowel: ay = ă + {{IPA|/j/}}, ai = a + {{IPA|/j/}}. Thus, ''tay'' "hand" is {{IPA|[tāj]}} while ''tai'' "ear" is {{IPA|[tāːj]}}. Similarly, u and o indicate different pronunciations of the main vowel: au = ă + {{IPA|/w/}}, ao = a + {{IPA|/w/}}. Thus, ''<span lang="vi" dir="ltr">thau</span>'' "brass" is {{IPA|[tʰāw]}} while ''<span lang="vi" dir="ltr">thao</span>'' "raw silk" is {{IPA|[tʰāːw]}}.

===Consonants===
The consonants that occur in Vietnamese are listed below in the [[Vietnamese orthography]] with the phonetic pronunciation to the right.

:{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|-
! colspan=2|
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Retroflex]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan=2| [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| m {{IPA|[m]}}
| n {{IPA|[n]}}
|
| nh {{IPA|[ɲ]}}
| ng/ngh {{IPA|[ŋ]}}
|
|-
! rowspan=3| [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! <small>[[tenuis consonant|tenuis]]</small>
| p {{IPA|[p]}}
| t {{IPA|[t]}}
| tr {{IPA|[ʈ]}}
| ch {{IPA|[c]}}
| c/k/q {{IPA|[k]}}
|
|-
! <small>[[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]</small>
|
| th {{IPA|[tʰ]}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! <small>[[Implosive consonant|implosive]]</small>
| b {{IPAblink|ɓ}}
| đ {{IPAblink|ɗ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan=2| [[Fricative]]
! <small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| ph {{IPA|[f]}}
| x {{IPA|[s]}}
| s {{IPA|[ʂ~s]}}
|
| kh {{IPA|[x~kʰ]}}
| h {{IPA|[h]}}
|-
! <small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| v {{IPA|[v]}}
| d/gi {{IPA|[z~j]}}
|
|
| g/gh {{IPA|[ɣ]}}
|
|-
! colspan=2| [[Approximant]]
|
| l {{IPA|[l]}}
|
| y/i {{IPA|[j]}}
| u/o {{IPA|[w]}}
|
|-
! colspan=2| [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
| colspan=2| r {{IPA|[r]}}
|
|
|
|}

Some consonant sounds are written with only one letter (like "p"), other consonant sounds are written with a [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] (like "ph"), and others are written with more than one letter or digraph (the velar stop is written variously as "c", "k", or "q"). In some cases, they are based on their Middle Vietnamese pronunciation; since that period, ''ph'' and ''kh'' (but not ''th'') have evolved from aspirated stops into fricatives (like Greek [[phi]] and [[chi (letter)|chi]]), while ''d'' and ''gi'' have collapsed and converged together (into /z/ in the north and /j/ in the south).

Not all dialects of Vietnamese have the same consonant in a given word (although all dialects use the same spelling in the written language). See the [[#Language variation|language variation section]] for further elaboration.

Syllable-final orthographic ''ch'' and ''nh'' in Vietnamese has had different analyses. One analysis has final ''ch'', ''nh'' as being [[phoneme]]s {{IPA|/c/, /ɲ/}} contrasting with syllable-final ''t'', ''c'' {{IPA|/t/, /k/}} and ''n'', ''ng'' {{IPA|/n/, /ŋ/}} and identifies final ''ch'' with the syllable-initial ''ch'' {{IPA|/c/}}. The other analysis has final ''ch'' and ''nh'' as predictable [[allophonic]] variants of the velar [[phoneme]]s {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ŋ/}} that occur after the upper front vowels ''i'' {{IPA|/i/}} and ''ê'' {{IPA|/e/}}; although they also occur after ''a'', but in such cases are believed to have resulted from an earlier ''e'' {{IPA|/ɛ/}} which diphthongized to ''ai'' (cf. ''ach'' from ''aic'', ''anh'' from ''aing''). (See [[Vietnamese phonology#Analysis of final ch.2C nh|Vietnamese phonology: Analysis of final ''ch'', ''nh'']] for further details.)

===Tones===
[[File:Vietnamese tone northern.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|Pitch contours and duration of the six Northern Vietnamese tones as spoken by a male speaker (not from Hanoi). [[Fundamental frequency]] is plotted over time. From Nguyễn & Edmondson (1998).]]

Each Vietnamese syllable is pronounced with one of six inherent [[Tone (linguistics)|tone]]s,{{efn|Tone is called {{lang|vi|thanh điệu}} or {{lang|vi|thanh}} in Vietnamese. Tonal language in Vietnamese translates to {{lang|vi|ngôn ngữ âm sắc}}.}} centered on the main vowel or group of vowels. Tones differ in:
* length (duration)
* [[pitch contour]] (i.e. pitch melody)
* pitch height
* [[phonation]]

Tone is indicated by diacritics written above or below the vowel (most of the tone diacritics appear above the vowel; except the ''<span lang="vi" dir="ltr">nặng</span>'' tone dot diacritic goes below the vowel).{{efn|The name of each tone has the corresponding tonal diacritic on the vowel.}} The six tones in the northern varieties (including Hanoi), with their self-referential Vietnamese names, are:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name and meaning
! Description
!Contour
! Diacritic
! Example
! Sample vowel
!Unicode
|-
| '''''ngang''' &nbsp;'' 'level'
| mid level
|˧
| align="center" | <small>(no mark)</small>
| ''ma'' &nbsp;'ghost'
| align="center" | ''{{Audio|Vi ngang tone.ogg|a}}''
|
|-
| '''''huyền''' &nbsp;'' 'deep'
| low falling (often breathy)
|˨˩
| align="center" | {{IPA|◌̀}} ([[grave accent]])
| ''mà'' &nbsp;'but'
| align="center" | ''{{Audio|Vi huyen tone.ogg|à}}''
|U+0340 or U+0300
|-
| '''''sắc''' &nbsp;'' 'sharp'
| high rising
|˧˥
| align="center" | {{IPA|◌́}} ([[acute accent]])
| ''má'' &nbsp;'cheek, mother (southern)'
| align="center" | ''{{Audio|Vi sac tone.ogg|á}}''
|U+0341 or U+0301
|-
| '''''hỏi''' &nbsp;'' 'questioning'
| mid dipping-rising
|˧˩˧
| align="center" | {{IPA|◌̉}} ([[hook above]])
| ''mả'' &nbsp;'tomb, grave'
| align="center" | ''{{Audio|Vi hoi tone.ogg|ả}}''
|U+0309
|-
| '''''ngã''' &nbsp;'' 'tumbling'
| creaky high breaking-rising
|˧ˀ˦˥
| align="center" | {{IPA|◌̃}} ([[tilde]])
| ''mã'' &nbsp;'horse (Sino-Vietnamese), code'
| align="center" | ''{{Audio|Vi nga tone.ogg|ã}}''
|U+0342 or U+0303
|-
| '''''nặng''' &nbsp;'' 'heavy'
| creaky low falling constricted (short length)
|˨˩ˀ
| align="center" | {{IPA|◌̣}} ([[dot (diacritic)|dot below]])
| ''mạ'' &nbsp;'rice seedling'
| align="center" | ''{{Audio|Vi nang tone.ogg|ạ}}''
|U+0323
|}

Other dialects of Vietnamese may have fewer tones (typically only five).

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Tonal differences of three speakers as reported in Hwa-Froelich & Hodson (2002).<ref>Deborah, H.-F., W., H. B., & T., E. H. (2002). Characteristics of Vietnamese Phonology. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(3), 264–273. https://doi.org/10.1044/1058-0360(2002/031)</ref> The curves represent temporal pitch variation while two sloped lines (//) indicates a [[glottal stop]].
|-
! Tone !! Northern dialect !! Southern dialect !! Central dialect
|-
| ''Ngang (a)''|| [[File:Vietnamese-tone-ngang-northern.png|30px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-ngang-southern.png|30px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-ngang-central.png|32px]]
|-
| ''Huyền (à)''|| [[File:Vietnamese-tone-huyen-northern.png|30px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-huyen-southern.png|30px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-huyen-central.png|30px]]
|-
| ''Sắc (á)''|| [[File:Vietnamese-tone-sac-northern.png|x30px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-sac-southern.png|x30px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-sac-central.png|x20px]]
|-
| ''Hỏi (ả)''|| [[File:Vietnamese-tone-hoi-northern.png|60px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-hoi-southern.png|60px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-hoi-central.png|30px]]
|-
| ''Ngã (ã)''|| [[File:Vietnamese-tone-nga-northern.png|50px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-nga-southern.png|60px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-nga-central.png|30px]]
|-
| ''Nặng (ạ)''|| [[File:Vietnamese-tone-nang-northern.png|30px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-nang-southern.png|35px]] || [[File:Vietnamese-tone-nang-central.png|30px]]
|}

In Vietnamese poetry, tones are classed into two groups: ([[tone pattern]])

{| class="wikitable"
! Tone group
! Tones within tone group
|-
| ''bằng'' "level, flat"
| ''ngang'' and ''huyền''
|-
| ''trắc'' "oblique, sharp"
| ''sắc'', ''hỏi'', ''ngã'', and ''nặng''
|}

Words with tones belonging to a particular tone group must occur in certain positions within the poetic verse.

[[Catholic Church in Vietnam|Vietnamese Catholics]] practice a distinctive style of prayer recitation called {{lang|vi|[[đọc kinh]]}}, in which each tone is assigned a specific note or sequence of notes.

==== Old tonal classification ====
Before Vietnamese switched from a Chinese-based script to a Latin-based script, Vietnamese had used the traditional Chinese system of classifying tones. Using this system, Vietnamese has 8 tones, but modern linguists only count 6 phonemic tones.

Vietnamese tones were classified into two main groups, ''bằng'' (平; 'level tones') and ''trắc'' (仄; 'sharp tones'). Some tones such as ''ngang'' belong to the ''bằng'' group, while others such as ''ngã'' belong to the ''trắc'' group. Then, these tones were further divided in several other categories: ''bình'' (平; 'even'), ''thượng'' (上; 'rising'), ''khứ'' (去; 'departing'), and ''nhập'' (入; 'entering').

''Sắc'' and ''nặng'' are counted twice in the system, once in ''khứ'' (去; 'departing') and again in ''nhập'' (入; 'entering'). The reason for the extra two tones is that syllables ending in the stops /p/, /t/, /c/ and /k/ are treated as having entering tones, but phonetically they are exactly the same.

The tones in the old classification were called ''Âm bình'' 陰平 (''ngang''), ''Dương bình'' 陽平 (''huyền''), ''Âm thượng'' 陰上 (''hỏi''), ''Dương thượng'' 陽上 (''ngã''), ''Âm khứ'' 陰去 (''sắc''; for words that do not end in /p/, /t/, /c/ and /k/), ''Dương khứ'' 陽去 (''nặng''; for words that do not end in /p/, /t/, /c/ and /k/), ''Âm nhập'' 陰入 (''sắc''; for words that do end in /p/, /t/, /c/ and /k/), and ''Dương nhập'' 陽入 (''nặng''; for words that do end in /p/, /t/, /c/ and /k/).
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="2" |Traditional tone category
!Traditional tone name
!Modern tone name
!Example
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''''bằng'' 平 ''<nowiki/>'<nowiki/>''level''<nowiki/>''''''
| rowspan="2" |'''''bình'' 平 ''<nowiki/>'<nowiki/>''even''<nowiki/>''''''
|''Âm bình'' 陰平
|''ngang''
|ma 'ghost'
|-
|''Dương bình'' 陽平
|''huyền''
|mà 'but'
|-
| rowspan="6" |'''''trắc'' 仄 ''<nowiki/>'<nowiki/>''sharp''<nowiki/>''''''
| rowspan="2" |'''''thượng'' 上 ''<nowiki/>'<nowiki/>''rising''<nowiki/>''''''
|''Âm thượng'' 陰上
|''hỏi''
|rể 'son-in-law; groom'
|-
|''Dương thượng'' 陽上
|''ngã''
|rễ 'root'
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''''khứ'' 去 ''<nowiki/>'<nowiki/>''departing''<nowiki/>''''''
|''Âm khứ'' 陰去
|''sắc''
|lá 'leaf'
|-
|''Dương khứ'' 陽去
|''nặng''
|lạ 'strange'
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''''nhập'' 入 ''<nowiki/>'<nowiki/>''entering''<nowiki/>''''''
||''Âm nhập'' 陰入
|''sắc''
|mắt 'eye'
|-
|''Dương nhập'' 陽入
|''nặng''
|mặt 'face'
|}