LinguaOne syllable, six words
This is the heart of Vietnamese. The same syllable said with a different pitch is a different word – not a different shade of the same word, a completely different one. There are six tones, and five of them are written with a mark; the sixth is the one with no mark at all.
| Written | The voice | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ma | flat and level | ghost |
| má | rising | mother |
| mà | falling | but |
| mả | dipping and rising | grave |
| mã | broken and rising | horse |
| mạ | heavy and short | rice seedling |
Five of the marks sit ABOVE the vowel, and one sits UNDER it. The heavy tone is written as a dot below the letter, and it is the only mark in the whole language that goes there – which makes it easy to spot and easy to forget.
The rising mark leans to the right; the falling one leans to the left. They are opposites in shape and in sound.
The hook and the tilde. The hook dips and comes back; the tilde breaks in the middle and rises.
má tôimy mother
con mãthe horse
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| má | mother | Má tôi nấu cơm. My mother cooks rice. |
| mà | but | Nhỏ mà mạnh. Small but strong. |
| mã | horse | Con mã trong cờ. The horse in chess. |
| bốn | four | Bốn cái ghế. Four chairs. |
| nhỏ | small | Con mèo nhỏ. A small cat. |
| mạnh | strong | Anh ấy rất mạnh. He is very strong. |
Exercises
This lesson has 8 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- trace the letter: 2
- fill the gap: 1
- match the pairs: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
How many tones does Vietnamese have?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.