LinguaSix tones, six different words
In Vietnamese the pitch of your voice is part of the word, not a sign of your mood. The same syllable ma said at six different pitches is six different words. There are exactly six tones, and five of them are written with a small mark.
| Tone | Mark on a | What the voice does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ngang | a | stays flat and high | ma |
| huyền | à | starts mid and falls | mà |
| sắc | á | rises sharply | má |
| hỏi | ả | dips and comes back up | mả |
| ngã | ã | rises with a break in the middle | mã |
| nặng | ạ | drops low and stops short | mạ |
Where the mark goes
Five marks are written on the main vowel of the syllable: à á ả ã sit above it, and the nặng dot ạ sits below it. The ngang tone has no mark at all – an unmarked syllable is not toneless, it carries the flat tone.
Tôi mua bàn.I buy a table.
Tôi bán bàn.I sell tables.
One syllable, six words
| Word | Tone | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ma | ngang | ghost |
| mà | huyền | but |
| má | sắc | mum in the South |
| mả | hỏi | grave |
| mã | ngã | horse in old words |
| mạ | nặng | rice seedling |
hỏi and ngã are the pair learners find hardest. hỏi is a smooth dip: the voice goes down and comes back up. ngã goes up too, but with a catch in the throat in the middle, as if the sound were cut in two. In southern speech the two have merged, so many speakers say them the same way.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| thanh điệu | tone (of a syllable) | Thanh điệu là phần khó nhất. Tone is the hardest part. |
| dấu sắc | the rising tone mark | Chữ á mang dấu sắc. The letter á carries the sắc mark. |
| dấu huyền | the falling tone mark | Chữ à mang dấu huyền. The letter à carries the huyền mark. |
| dấu hỏi | the dipping tone mark | Chữ ả mang dấu hỏi. The letter ả carries the hỏi mark. |
| dấu ngã | the broken tone mark | Chữ ã mang dấu ngã. The letter ã carries the ngã mark. |
| dấu nặng | the heavy dot mark | Dấu nặng nằm dưới chữ. The nặng mark sits under the letter. |
| ma | ghost | Trẻ con sợ ma. Children are afraid of ghosts. |
| mà | but | Nhà nhỏ mà đẹp. The house is small but pretty. |
| bàn | table | Cái bàn này rất to. This table is very big. |
| bán | to sell | Chị ấy bán cà phê. She sells coffee. |
| bạn | friend | Tôi có nhiều bạn. I have many friends. |
| giọng | voice | Giọng của bạn rất hay. Your voice is very nice. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 2
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 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.