The charts below show the way in which the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents
Vietnamese language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see and .
There are two major standards: one of
Hanoi and one of
Ho Chi Minh City. Each makes distinctions that the other does not; neither standard is preferred over the other at Wikipedia. The
central dialects, which make the distinctions of both, are generally represented in articles here, except if a local pronunciation is clearly more relevant.
See
Vietnamese phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Vietnamese.
|-
|colspan=3|
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | hàng
| style="text-align:left;" | high
|-
|colspan=3|
| style="text-align:left;" | cô, kem, quốc
[ as "qu" appears only in northern dialects.]
| rowspan="2" |''q''uốc
| style="text-align:left;" | scan, kid
|-
| colspan="3"|
|quốc, quanh
[ as "qu" appears only in southern dialects.]
|wow
|-
| colspan="1" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | khô
| style="text-align:left;" | loch
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | là
| style="text-align:left;" | low
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | mai
| style="text-align:left;" | my
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | nam
| style="text-align:left;" |no
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | nhà
| style="text-align:left;" | hang you, es|señorita
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | ngâm; nghe
| style="text-align:left;" | singer
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |pin
[ appears only in loanwords, and is often replaced by .]
| style="text-align:left;" | sport
|-
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | xa
| style="text-align:left;" |so
|-
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | sáu
| style="text-align:left;" |show, but with tongue curled
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | tây
| style="text-align:left;" | stop
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |thầy
| style="text-align:left;" | top
|-
| colspan="3" |
~
c
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | chè
| style="text-align:left;" | American cue, but further towards the teeth
|-
| colspan="3" |
ʈʂ ~
ʈ
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |tra
| style="text-align:left;" | choose (unaspirated), with tongue "bunched up"
|-
| colspan="2" |
| rowspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | về
[ may be used as a spelling pronunciation in southern dialects.]
| style="text-align:left;" | van
|-
| rowspan="3" |
|
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |da, danh
| style="text-align:left;" |yellow
|-
|
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |già, giết
| style="text-align:left;" |zero
|-
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |ra, rồi
| style="text-align:left;" | similar to red; variably pronounced as a fricative, flap or trill
|-
! colspan="6" | Medial
glide
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |oanh; quốc
| style="text-align:left;" | quick
|-
! colspan="6" | Final
consonants
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | cái, tay
["ai"read as ːj "ay"read as j]
| style="text-align:left;" | boy
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | thêm
| style="text-align:left;" | pom
|-
| colspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | ban
| style="text-align:left;" | pin
|-
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | trứng
| style="text-align:left;" | long
|-
| colspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | mìn, bên (''after'' )
| style="text-align:left;" |
|-
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | bình
[In southern dialects, the vowels become before the alveolar consonants .][In northern dialects, when the velar finals follow the front vowels , the consonant becomes pre-velar , and the vowels become .]
| style="text-align:left;" | onion ''(various pronunciations)''
|-
| colspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | bốn
[bốn /oːŋ͡m/ vs. bống /ăwŋ͡m/ in Saigon Vietnamese], bún (''after'' )
| style="text-align:left;" |
|-
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | chúng (''after'' )
[In most dialects, when the velar finals follow the round vowels , the consonant is strongly labialized or doubly-articulated , and the vowels become .]
| style="text-align:left;" | like long, but with an 'm' after the 'ng'
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | tiếp
| style="text-align:left;" | clasp
|-
| colspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | xuất
| style="text-align:left;" | pit
|-
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | ác
| style="text-align:left;" | pick
|-
| colspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | chít (''after'' )
| style="text-align:left;" |
|-
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | cách
| style="text-align:left;" | technical ''(various pronunciations)''
|-
| colspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | một (''after'' )
| style="text-align:left;" |
|-
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | học (''after'' )
| style="text-align:left;" | backpack
|-
| colspan="3" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | tao, triệu
,đau
| style="text-align:left;" | how
| style="vertical-align:top;" |
Notes
{{IPA keys