Zoopdog pronunciation guide generator for Vietnamese

Consonants

bdfghlmnsvwz: As in English.
ᴄʜ (Hà Nội): Unaspirated, as in English mischief, but a little further forward in the mouth, as in Japanese chikuwa.
ᴄʜ (Quảng Nam / Sài Gòn): Unaspirated, with the tongue curled back, and with less friction. It feels more like throwing your tongue forward than pushing air out between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.
ġ (Hà Nội): A gargling sound, as in French rôle or Arabic ghareeb.
k: Unaspirated, as in skip or Spanish corazón. Note thatkat the end of a word is unreleased, as in actor.
k’ (Quảng Nam / Sài Gòn): Aspirated, as in coal.
ᴋʜ (Hà Nội): As in Scottish loch or German Bach.
k*: Final (unreleased) k with lips closed, like pronouncingkandpsimultaneously, and cheeks puffed.
ng: As in English sing. Note that this sound often occurs at the beginnings of words, not just the ends, as in English.
ng*: Final (unreleased) ng with lips closed, like pronouncingngandmsimultaneously, and cheeks puffed.
ny: As in English junior. Note that this sound can come beforew, as in the word nhoài.
p: Only occurs at the ends of words, where it is unreleased, as in captain.
ᴙ (Quảng Nam / Sài Gòn): As in Mandarin rǒu. Roughly similar to the American English red, except with the tongue tensed and curled far back.
sh (Quảng Nam / Sài Gòn): Further forward in the mouth than in English. Depending on the speaker, this sound can vary between European Spanish salud (with the tip of the tongue flattened slightly) or Mandarin xīn.
t: Unaspirated, with the tip of the tongue against the back of the top teeth, as in Spanish and Japanese toro. Note thattat the end of a word is unreleased, as in thoughtful.
t’: Aspirated, with the tip of the tongue against the back of the top teeth, as in Hindi thālī.
ᴛʏ (Quảng Nam / Sài Gòn): This sound does not have any equivalent in well-known Western languages. It is like ᴄʜabove, but with the tongue flat, so that the sides of the tongue touch the side teeth. The tip of the tongue does not make contact with the roof of the mouth.

Vowels

a: Roughly as in American English father, but often slightly further forward in the mouth, as in British English hat or French patte.
å: As in British English bath.
ɐ: As in American and British English under.
æ: As in American English apple.
ê: Same as the Vietnamese letter. As in French santé. (However, note that the Vietnamese letter ê at the end of a word, such as Lê, represents a diphthongized sound as in English day. This is reflected in the guide.)
ĕ: As in American and British English get.
ə: Usually as in American and British English about, but generally used to represent a relaxed-mouth transitioning vowel sound.
ə˞: Similar to ə, but further back in the mouth. No equivalent in well-known Western languages. As in Mandarin hē.
i: As in American and British English feet.
ɪ: As in American and British English big.
o: A pure vowel, as in Spanish hombre.
ɔ: As in American English thought. Note that the combinationɔisounds exactly like English boy.
u: As in American and British English pool.
ư: Same as the Vietnamese letter; no equivalent in any well-known Western languages. Roughly like uwith the lips unrounded, as in Korean eumsik.
ŭ: As in American and British English push.

Length

la la laː˧ la , ngin nghìn ŋiːn˨˩̤ ngin
muə˞ mua muɤ˧ muə˞: Short vowels occupy roughly half the time of a long vowel.
mai mai maːj˧ mai , mang mang maːŋ˧ mang: These combinations are basically pronounced as you would expect them to be.
maii may maj˧ maii , mang măng maŋ˧ mang: In these combinations, the vowel is cut short as if you are skipping over the vowel to get to the consonant. Vowel and nasal endings (
m
n
ng
) should be held for twice the normal length, as if they are a long vowel. Such “early endings” are shown in dark red to draw your attention.
kwə˞ʷk* quốc kʷɤʷk͡p˧˥ kwə˞ʷk* , lĕê lê lɛːe̯˧ lĕê , tŭng tưng tɪ̈ŋ˧ tŭng: These vowels are pronounced very short and connect the neighboring sounds, as indicated by their transitioning background. In many cases, they are responsible for the “Southern drawl” sound of many Vietnamese words.

Tones, Phonation, and Stops

ma ma ma̟ː˧ ma ma má ma̟ː˧˥ ma ma mã ma̟ː˨˩˦ ma ma mà ma̟ː˨˩ ma: There are five levels of pitch.
håʷk* học hɑʷk͡p˨˩˨̰ håʷk*: Dotted lines represent words pronounced with tenseness in the vocal chords. (Wikipedia)
ġa gà ɣaː˨˩̤ ġa: Thick lines represent words pronounced with slackness in the vocal chords, as if you are yawning. (Wikipedia)
ᴄʜi chị t͡ɕiːʔ˨˩̰ ᴄʜi sưə˞ sữa sɯʔɤ˧˥ sưə˞ ai ai aːj˧ ai bɔ bò ʔɓɔː˨˩̤ bɔ: The pause in the word uh-oh is an example of a glottal stop. In Vietnamese, glottal stops can interrupt, end, or even begin words. For example, their co-occurence withbanddat the beginnings of words in the Hanoi accent is what gives them their distinctive sound.