Editing Vietnamese language (section)

===Middle Vietnamese===
The writing system used for Vietnamese is based closely on the system developed by [[Alexandre de Rhodes]] for his 1651 ''[[Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum]]''. It reflects the pronunciation of the Vietnamese of Hanoi at that time, a stage commonly termed ''Middle Vietnamese'' ({{lang|vi|tiếng Việt trung đại}}). The pronunciation of the "rime" of the syllable, i.e. all parts other than the initial consonant (optional {{IPA|/w/}} glide, vowel nucleus, tone and final consonant), appears nearly identical between Middle Vietnamese and modern Hanoi pronunciation. On the other hand, the Middle Vietnamese pronunciation of the initial consonant differs greatly from all modern dialects, and in fact is significantly closer to the modern Saigon dialect than the modern Hanoi dialect.

[[File:Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek).pdf|thumb|right|upright|page=43|The first page of the [[B with flourish|ꞗ]] section in [[Alexandre de Rhodes]]'s {{lang|la|[[Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum]]}} (''Vietnamese–Portuguese–Latin dictionary'')]]
The following diagram shows the orthography and pronunciation of Middle Vietnamese:

:{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Middle Vietnamese consonants
|-
! colspan="2" |
! [[labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| ''m'' {{IPAblink|m}}
| ''n'' {{IPAblink|n}}
|
| ''nh'' {{IPAblink|ɲ}}
| ''ng/ngh'' {{IPAblink|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! <small>tenuis</small>
| ''p'' {{IPAblink|p}}{{ref|p|1}}
| ''t'' {{IPAblink|t}}
| ''tr'' {{IPAblink|ʈ}}
| ''ch'' {{IPAblink|c}}
| ''c/k'' {{IPAblink|k}}
|
|-
! <small>aspirated</small>
| ''ph'' {{IPAblink|pʰ}}
| ''th'' {{IPAblink|tʰ}}
|
|
| ''kh'' {{IPAblink|kʰ}}
|
|-
! <small>implosive</small>
| ''b'' {{IPAblink|ɓ}}
| ''đ'' {{IPAblink|ɗ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! <small>voiceless</small>
|
|
| ''s'' {{IPAblink|ʂ}}
| ''x'' {{IPAblink|ɕ}}
|
| ''h'' {{IPAblink|h}}
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| ''ꞗ'' {{IPAblink|β}}{{ref|hookb|2}}
| ''d'' {{IPAblink|ð}}
|
| ''gi'' {{IPAblink|ʝ}}
| ''g/gh'' {{IPAblink|ɣ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| ''v/u/o'' {{IPAblink|w}}
| ''l'' {{IPAblink|l}}
|
| ''y/i/ĕ'' {{IPAblink|j}}{{ref|yod|3}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
| colspan="2" | ''r'' {{IPAblink|r}}
|
|
|
|}

{{note|p|1}} {{IPA|[p]}} occurs only at the end of a syllable.<br />
{{note|hookb|2}} This letter, {{angbr|[[ꞗ]]}}, is no longer used.<br />
{{note|yod|3}} {{IPA|[j]}} does not occur at the beginning of a syllable, but can occur at the end of a syllable, where it is notated ''i'' or ''y'' (with the difference between the two often indicating differences in the quality or length of the preceding vowel), and after {{IPA|/ð/}} and {{IPA|/β/}}, where it is notated ''ĕ''. This ''ĕ'', and the {{IPA|/j/}} it notated, have disappeared from the modern language.

Note that ''b'' {{IPA|[ɓ]}} and ''p'' {{IPA|[p]}} never contrast in any position, suggesting that they are allophones.

The language also has three clusters at the beginning of syllables, which have since disappeared:

*''tl'' {{IPA|/tl/}} > modern ''tr'' - tlước > trước (written in chữ Nôm as 𫏾 (⿰車畧) where 車 represented the initial tl- sound).
*''bl'' {{IPA|/ɓl/}} > modern ''gi'' (Northern), ''tr'' (Southern) - blăng > trăng/giăng (written in chữ Nôm as 𪩮 (⿱巴夌) where 巴 represented the initial bl- sound).
*''ml'' {{IPA|/ml/}} > ''mnh'' {{IPA|/mɲ/}} > modern ''nh'' (Northern), l (Southern) - mlời > lời/nhời (written in chữ Nôm as 𠅜 (⿱亠例) where 亠 (simplified from 麻) represented the initial ml- sound).

[[File:Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum, breve acute apex.png|thumb|right|de Rhodes's entry for {{lang|vi|dĕó{{apex|u}}}} shows distinct [[breve]]s, [[acute accent|acutes]] and [[Vietnamese tilde|apices]].]]
Most of the unusual correspondences between spelling and modern pronunciation are explained by Middle Vietnamese. Note in particular:
*de Rhodes' system has two different b letters, {{angle bracket|b}} and {{angle bracket|ꞗ}}. The latter apparently represented a [[voiced bilabial fricative]] {{IPA|/β/}}. Within a century or so, both {{IPA|/β/}} and {{IPA|/w/}} had merged as {{IPA|/v/}}, spelled as ''v''.
*de Rhodes' system has a second medial glide {{IPA|/j/}} that is written ''ĕ'' and appears in some words with initial ''d'' and hooked ''b''. These later disappear.
*''đ'' {{IPA|/ɗ/}} was (and still is) [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]], whereas ''d'' {{IPA|/ð/}} was dental. The choice of symbols was based on the dental rather than alveolar nature of {{IPA|/d/}} and its [[allophone]] {{IPA|[ð]}} in Spanish and other Romance languages. The inconsistency with the symbols assigned to {{IPA|/ɓ/}} vs. {{IPA|/β/}} was based on the lack of any such place distinction between the two, with the result that the [[stop consonant]] {{IPA|/ɓ/}} appeared more "normal" than the fricative {{IPA|/β/}}. In both cases, the [[implosive consonant|implosive]] nature of the stops does not appear to have had any role in the choice of symbol.
*''x'' was the [[voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative|alveolo-palatal fricative]] {{IPA|/ɕ/}} rather than the [[voiceless dental sibilant fricative|dental]] {{IPA|/s/}} of the modern language. In 17th-century [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], the common language of the Jesuits, ''s'' was the [[voiceless alveolar fricative|apico-alveolar sibilant]] {{IPA|/s̺/}} (as still in much of Spain and some parts of Portugal), while ''x'' was a [[Palato-alveolar consonant|palatoalveolar]] {{IPA|/ʃ/}}. The similarity of apicoalveolar {{IPA|/s̺/}} to the Vietnamese [[retroflex consonant|retroflex]] {{IPA|/ʂ/}} led to the assignment of ''s'' and ''x'' as above.

De Rhodes's orthography also made use of an [[Vietnamese tilde|apex]] diacritic on ''{{apex|o}}'' and ''{{apex|u}}'' to indicate a final [[labial-velar nasal]] {{IPA|/ŋ͡m/}}, an allophone of {{IPA|/ŋ/}} that is peculiar to the Hanoi dialect to the present day. An example is {{wt|mkh-mvi|xa{{apex|o}}}} {{IPA|/ɕawŋ͡m<sup>A1</sup>/}}, which later became {{wt|vi|xong}}. This diacritic is often mistaken for a tilde in modern reproductions of early Vietnamese writing.