The sound system between English and Vietnamese
Ho Chi Minh City University of Education
Department of English
THE SOUND SYSTEM BETWEEN
ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
Instructor: Nguyen Ngoc Vu
Student: Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet
HCMC,30/12/2009
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The sound system between English and Vietnamese
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Introduction
Nowadays, English is considered a popular language to communicate all
over the word such as in politics, economics, culture….On the other hand,
English is widely studied outside the countries ( Japan, Singapore, Taiwan,
hina...) as a second language. In Vietnam, English is more and more popular
and necessary for everyone. However, learning a foreign language is not easy.
So, what should learners do? The primary purpose of learning a foreign
language is to master its sound system first in order to speak with acceptable
pronunciation. Now I am going to do a research about the sound system
between English and Vietnamese. It is a very good way for learners to acquire
and understand the second language effectively and clearly.
The Vowels
What is a vowel? A scientific answer would be that vowels are the core or
‘peak’ of the syllable. In fact, as we have seen, a syllable can consist minimally
of one vowel V) only, as in the word eye (V); alternative, the vowel in a given
syllable can also a surrounded on ether or both sides by consonants ( C), as in
the words bray CCV), ants VCCC), and pranks (CCVCCC). Another way of
describing vowels is to define them as sounds in which there is continual
vibration of the vocal cords and the stream is allowed to escape from the mouth
in an unobstructed manner, without any interruption.( Phonetics and Phonology
2005.p.7-12)
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In Vietnamese, the vowel is the nucleus in words. It is customary to use
three main dimensions to describe vowels:
 The position of the tongue: high vs. low,
front vs. back
 The position of the lips: rounded vs. unrounded
Vowel chart of Hanoi Vietnamese. ( Wikipedia)
Front Central
Back
High
i [i]
u [u]
Upper Mid
ê [e]
ư [ɨ]
ô [o]
â [ə] / ơ [ə:]
Lower Mid e [ɛ]
Low
ă [a] / a [a:]
o [ɔ]
The sound system between English and Vietnamese
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Vowel chart of Vietnamese
Phonetic description of vowel phonemes and their allophones
The front vowel: / i, e, ɛ /
/i/ is the high front unrounded vowel. It is produced with the maximum front
elevation of the tongue.
e.g. lính (solders), đi (to go)
/e/ is the high mid-front unrounded vowel. It is produced with the elevation of
the tongue lower than that of /i/.
e.g. đê (dyke)
/ɛ / is the lower mid-front unrounded vowel. It is produced with the elevation of
the tongue lower than that of /e/.
e.g. mẹ (mother)
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The central vowel: /ư. ơ, ʌ, a/
/ư/ is the high centre unrounded vowel. It is produced like the back rounded /u/
with the same tongue height yet with the lips spread.
e.g. từ(from), xứ(country).
/ơ/ is the unrounded counterpart of /o/. It is produced with the same articulation
but with the lips neutral.
e.g. chờ (to wait), bờ (shore)
/ ʌ / is the low mid central vowel. It can be considered as a short nasalized
counterpart of /ơ/ which is longer quantity.
/a/ is the low central unrounded vowel. It is articulated with the lips neutral.
e.g. ba (three)
The back vowel:/u, o, ɔ, ă/
/u/ is the high back unrounded vowel. It is produced with the maximum back
elevation of the tongue.
E.g. dù (umbrella)
/o/ is the higher mid-back unrounded vowel.
E.g. cô (Miss), tốt (good)
/ɔ /is the lower mid-back unrounded vowel. This sound is “intermediate”
between /a /and /o/.
eg. lo (worry), nho (grape)
/ă/ is the fairly back unrounded nasalized vowel. This sound is exclusively
Vietnamese.
E.g. mắt (eyes), bắt (to catch)
The sound system between English and Vietnamese
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In English
Phonetic description of vowel phonemes and their allophones ( Wikipedia)
/i: / is a long high/ close front spread vowel. It occurs freely in all positions:
initial, medial, and final, as the above example show.
e.g. meat /mi:t/
eat /i:t/
/i / is a short high/ close front spread vowel. It does not occur finally.
e.g. it /it/
sit /sit/
/e/ is a short mid front spread vowel. It occurs freely all positions
e.g. bait /bet/
decay /dike/
/ æ/ is a short low/ open front spread vowel. It is a rather short phoneme.
e.g. add /æd/
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bat /æb/
/u: / is a long high/ close back rounded vowel.
e.g. boot /bu:t/
clue /klu:/
/u/ is a shorthigh/ close back rounded vowel. This phoneme occurs only in the
medial position.
e.g. book /buk/
look /luk/
/ ɔ:/ is a long mid back rounded vowel.
e.g. awful / ɔ:ful/
bought /bɔ:t/
/ ɔ / is a short low/ open back rounded vowel.
e.g. gossip / 'gɔsip/
/a:/ is a long low/ open back rounded vowel.
e.g. farm / farm/
/ ɔ:/ is a long mid central neutral vowel
e.g. awful /ɔ:ful/
saw / sɔ:/
/ ə / is a short mid central neutral vowel. It occurs freely all positions
e.g. above / əbʌv /
sofa / 'səufə/
/ ʌ / is a short low/ open central neutral vowel. It is more back than /ə/.
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e.g. above / əbʌv/
butter / bʌtrə /
Besides the number of vowels describes above, English has three
diphthongs which occur in al positions: /ai/, /au/, / ɔi/
The consonants
What is a consonants ? A sound formed by the the occlusion or near
occlusion of the breath stream. Consonants differ from vowels by the audible
friction with which they are produced.
A speech sound produced by occluding / p, b, t, d, k, g/, diverting /m, n,
ŋ/, or obstructing /f, v, s, z/ ect. The flow of air from the lungs ( opposed to
vowel ); a letter or other symbol representing r unusually representing a
consonant sound.( Nguyen Minh Tam 2000: 89-90)
In Vietnamese
Vietnamese consonant of Hanoi dialect
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Fortis stops
Fortis stops in Vietnamese are voiceless /p t c k /, and voiced /b d/. They
are characterized by relatively strong articulation. Voiceless stops can occur in
initial or final positions, but voiced stops occur only initially. When voiceless
stops occur in final positions, they are unreleased.
/p/
bilabial voiceless stop.
e.g. pin ‘battery’
tiep ‘welcome’
/b/ bilabial voiced stop. /b/ in Vietnamese is always preceded by glottal stop,
which is seldom released before the beginning of the /b/,
e.g. biet ‘know’
ba ‘three’
/t/
apical voiceless stop.
e.g. tien ‘money’
mot ‘one’
/d/
apicoalveolar voiced stop, preglottalized and often imploded.
e.g. di ‘go’
dep ‘beautiful’
/c/ laminoalveolar stop. This phoneme can occurs both in initial and finial.
e.g. ich ‘be useful’
sach ‘be clean’
/k/ voiceless dorsovelar stop. It is sharply released when occurs in the initial.
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e.g. kia ‘over there’
keu ‘call’
When occurs in the final position after u and [w], it is unreleased with
simultaneous strong rounding (and often closure or near closure) of the
lips.
e.g. luc ‘instance’
When occurs in final position after vowels other than i, ê, u, ô, and o, it
is plain unreleased.
e.g. nuo,c ‘water’
Lenis oral consonants
Lenis oral consonants in Vietnamese are /f v th l s z x Ä h/. They occur only
in initial position.
/f/
voiceless labiodental spirant.
e.g. pho, ‘noodle soup’
/v/
voiced labiodental spirant.
e.g. viec ‘affair,’ ‘work’
ve 'return'
/th/
voiceless apicodental stop with aspirated release.
e.g. thi ‘exam’
thua ‘to lose’
/l/
voiced lateral.
e.g. linh ‘soldier’
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leo ‘to climb’
/s/
voiceless laminodental spirant.
e.g. so ‘number’
sach ‘book’
/z/
voiced laminodental spirant.
e.g. ra [za] ‘go out’
/x/ voiceless dorsovelar spirant.
e.g. khi ‘when’
kho ‘be difficult’
/Ä/ voiced fricative dorsovelar oral consonant. Although /g/ and /Ä/ are very
similar, there is a difference, i.e. /Ä/ is fricative but /g/ is not.
e.g. gap ‘to meet’
goi ‘to call’
/h/
voiceless glottal spirant.
e.g. hieu ‘to understand’
hoi ‘to ask’
Nasals
Nasal consonants in Vietnamese are fully voiced and
about midway in relation to the extremes of lenis and fortis. Those in final
position after short vocalics are more fortis than others. They all occur both
initially and finally.
/m/
labial nasal.
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e.g. My ‘America’
tim ‘to look for’
/n/
postdental apical nasal.
e.g. nam ‘year’
ho,n ‘be more’
/ø/ laminoalveolar nasal.
e.g.
nha ‘house’
nhanh ‘be fast’
/N/ dorsovelar nasal. When it occurs in the final, it comes simultaneously with
strong rounding (and often closure or near closure) of the lips. Only after u,
and [w] if occurs in the final position.
e.g. ngu ‘sleep’
dung ‘be correct’
( Do Xuan Thao 1995: 30-33)
In English
When consonants appear in pairs, fortis consonants (or voiceless) appear
on the left and lenis consonants (lightly voiced or voiced) appear on the right:
Manner of
Articulation
Stop
Place of Articulation
Labial Labiodentals Dental Alveolar Alveopalatals Palatal Velar Glottal
m n
t
d
ŋ
p
b
The sound system between English and Vietnamese
f
Fricative
v
θ
ð
s
z
Affricative
Approximant
r
Lateral
l
ʃ
ʒ
tʃ
dʒ
k
j
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g h
w
Chart of English consonant.( Le Quang Thiem:98-99)
English consonants include 24 consonant phonemes which are classified
according to their respective point of articulation, manner of articulation, and the
presence of phonation. The consonants are patterned amazingly in pairs:
voiced/ voiceless.( Wikipedia)
Phonetic description of consonant phonemes and their allophones
The stop: the two sets of stops are distinct from each other by the presence of
the vibration of the vocal cords:
 Nasal stop (nasal): /m/, /n/, / ŋ /. Sounds of this kind occur at the
beginning of the words man (bilabial closure), name (alveolar closure),
and sing (velar closure).
 Oral stop (plosive): /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/. This kind of sound occurs in the
consonants in the words pie, buy (bilabial closure), tie, dye (alveolar
closure), and key, guy (velar closure).
The fricative: /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, / θ /, / ð /, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/. They belong to a large class of
sounds called continuants (a class that also includes vowels and
approximants). English has voiceless and voiced labiodentals
fricatives at the beginning of the words fat and vat, voiceless and
voiced dental fricative word-initially in the words thin and those,
alveolar fricatives word-initially in sing and zip, and a voiceless
The sound system between English and Vietnamese
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alveolar fricative word-initially in ship. The voiced alveopalatal
fricative is rare in English. It is the first consonant in the word
azure, and is also heard in the words pleasure and rouge. The
voiceless glottal fricative of English is heard in hotel and hat.
The affricative: / tʃ /, / dʒ /. English has only two affricative, both of which are
alveopalatal. They are heard word-initially in church and jump, and
are transcribed as / tʃ /, / dʒ /.
The approximant: The English approximants are the alveolar approximants /l/
and /r/, the palatal approximant /j/, as in yes, and the dark l – the
velar approximant - as in bottle. Keep in mind, however, that this is
a simplification.
In general, a consonant letter usually represents one consonant sound.
Some consonants, for example, c, g, s, can represent 2 different consonant
sounds.
Contrastive analysis the sound system of English and
Vietnamese
Vowels:
When searching the vowel system between English and Vietnamese. It
should pay attention to the two features which exists in Vietnamese but it does
not have in English is medial of Vietnamese and tripthongs of English and in
contrast.
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“A tripthong is a glide from vowel to another and then to a third, all
produced rapidly and without interruption”.
For example: when you pronounce ‘fire’ /'faiə/, we start a original vowel /a/,
gliding to /i/ and finally stop at /ə/.
So we can see that tripthongs are not only difficult to pronounce but it is
not easy to listen. The tripthongs is described in last section, with / ə/ added on
the end:
ei+ ə -- eiə
au+ ə-- auə
ai+ ə --aiə
ɔi+ ə -- ɔiə
əi+ ə --əuə
In articulating Vietnamese vowels, the tongue is generally higher than in
the articulation of the English approximates. Thus, the Vietnamese vowel /i/ is
much tense than the English /i/. The lengthening of the vowels is not phonemic
in Vietnamese. In contrast, all English vowels are phonetically diphthongized.
They are normally produced with less energy than Vietnamese vowels.
Consonants
Look at the above two consonant chart of English and Vietnamese, you
can see that they shows the phonemes unique to one system and absent from
the other.
Vietnamese learners tend to substitute the Vietnamese stop /th/ for the
nearest English sound, the fricative/ θ /, and the aspirated stop /kh/ for the
English aspirated allophone [k’] of [k], These Vietnamese are phonetically
similar to some sounds in English but are not sufficiently like the English
The sound system between English and Vietnamese 16
sounds to be classified as the same cause critical trouble for the native
speakers of Vietnamese.
The bilabials:
Both languages have the same number of labials; the distribution of
these phonemes is. However, not the same in both languages, and it will
present trouble some conflicts. Initial bilabial [p-] in Vietnamese is rare and is
normally found an allophone of the initial [b-]; [-p] is always found in the final
position and unreleased. Vietnamese labiodentals /f, v/ occur initially, while the
English labiodentals equivalents occur freely in all position.
The dentals and alveolar:
The Vietnamese stop /t/ is an unaspirated dental in the initially position,
an unreleased or neutralized consonant the final position, while the English
equivalent /t/ is an aspirated alveolar stop in the initial position and has two
more allophones than the Vietnamese /t/. /t/ in Vietnamese is matched by the
English /t/; both are voiceless dental stop. In English, aspiration following the
phoneme/t/ is allophonic, while in Vietnamese it is phonemic. Furthermore,
Vietnamese dentals / t, d/ are more tense than the English equivalents
The Vietnamese stop /d/ is an unaspirated dental which is occurs only in
the initial position; it is very close to the English alveolar stop /d/ but not quite
the same. English /d/ is articulated further back at the tooth ridge and is slightly
aspirated in the initial position. English has the same allophone in all position;
optionally it is neutralized in the final position. Consequently, Vietnamese /th/
is commonly substituted for English / θ / which sometimes renders the
utterance incomprehension. e.g. ‘think’ in English and ‘thi' in Vietnamese.
The palatal:
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The Vietnamese sibilants occur only in the initial position, whereas the
English equivalents occur more freely, /š/ in all positions and /ž/ in the medial
and final positions.
The palatal glide /y/ in Vietnamese is approximately identical with its
equivalent in English. In Vietnamese it occurs initially as a consonant and
finally as the on glide of the diphthong; in English it is a consonant in the initial
and medial positions between stressed vowels and an on glide in the final
position.
The velar:
Among velars, this English /k/ with its three allophonic variants aspirated
in the initial position, unaspirated in the medial position after certain
consonants, and optionally unreleased in the final position might be looked
upon as the cause of a serious problem phonetic, allophonic, and distributional
for the Vietnamese.
The glottal
The glottal fricative /h/ is relatively identical in both languages. The
English /h/ occurs initially and intervocalic ally, and sometimes it serves as a
central glide, while Vietnamese /h/ occurs initial only.
Conclusion
This contrastive alnalysis points out the similarities and differences about the
sound system of english and Vietnamese. So it helps teachers and learners to
teach and learn English as a second language better.I think that if teachers
know where and how the sounds are made, thay are in a better position to
help your students.
The sound system between English and Vietnamese 18
References Citied
Nguyen minh Tam (2000). The glossary of Phonetic. Viet Nam. Nha xuat ban
giao duc.
Phonetics and Phonology (2005). Viet Nam. Ho Chi Minh City University of
Education.
Le Quang Thiem. Nghien Cuu Doi Chieu Cac Ngon Ngu. Viet Nam. Nha xuat
ban Quoc gia Ha Noi.
Do Xuan Thao (1995). Ngu Am Tieng Viet Hien Dai. Viet Nam. Truong Dai
Hoc Su Pham Ha Noi.
Vowels. Dec.28,2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel
Cosonants . Dec 28, 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_phonology
Vowels.Dec 28,2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language