Reading 3 · Tones and marks
Vietnamese uses six written tone categories. Keep their marks when reading. Actual tones and consonants vary between northern and southern speech. Notice vowel marks and tone marks separately.
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Examples
Find a form in the table, then spot it in an example word. Try reading, listen, and read again with the hint covered.
| Written form | Reading hint |
|---|---|
| ma | ngang · a · Fairly level, mid pitch |
| má | sắc · á · Pitch rises |
| mà | huyền · à · Low, trailing pitch |
| mả | hỏi · ả · Pitch dips; may rise at the end |
| mã | ngã · ã · Rising pitch with a glottal interruption |
| mạ | nặng · ạ · Short, low drop with abrupt cutoff |
Hints are aids. Slashes enclose IPA; other Latin text is a reading guide for that language. Spelling does not predict every detail of speech.
New examples use the matching device voice. Listening may be unavailable without it. Synthetic speech is a reference; native-speaker review is pending.
ma
ma
Look for: a
má
má
Look for: á
mà
mà
Look for: à
mả
mả
Look for: ả
mã
mã
Look for: ã
mạ
mạ
Look for: ạ
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Listen to the sounds.
Read without the hint
Read the original first, then open it to check the hint and meaning.
ma
ma
Look for: a
má
má
Look for: á
mà
mà
Look for: à
mả
mả
Look for: ả
mã
mã
Look for: ã
mạ
mạ
Look for: ạ
Your turn
ma
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