Linh & Minh Draft: being checked by a native speaker

Bảng chữ cái

The Vietnamese alphabet

Bảng chữ cái

The Vietnamese alphabet
linhminh.com
Linh & Minh picture books

Vietnamese is written the way it sounds: with these letters and tones a child can sound out almost any word. When reading, call letters by their sounds (bờ, cờ), not their names. TÊN = the letter's name · ÂM = the sound it makes when you read · hints follow Saigon speech · each book adds a few: Sách 1 = Book 1.

Cho ba mẹ · For Dad and Mom

Vietnamese is written the way it sounds. With these letters and tones, a child can sound out almost any word. When you read together, call each letter by its sound (bờ, cờ), not its name (bê, xê).

How to read a card

tên = the letter's name · âm = the sound it makes when you read. Hints in quotes follow Saigon speech. Each Linh & Minh book teaches a few; Sách 1 means Book 1.

Chữ cái 29 letters, in alphabet order

Four letters so far have their word and picture from Book 1. The others fill in book by book.

A a
Linh holding three sticks of cinnamon over the pot
ba
three
têna“ah”
âmasame
Ă ă
word and picture in
têná“ah”, short
âmásame
 â
word and picture in
tênớ“uh”, short
âmớsame
B b
Beef bones on a wooden board
bò
beef
tênbê“bay”
âmbờ“buh”
C c
word and picture in
tênxê“say”
âmcờ“kuh”
D d
word and picture in
têndê“yay”
âmdờ“yuh”
Đ đ
word and picture in
tênđê“day”
âmđờ“duh”
E e
word and picture in
têne“eh”
âmesame
Ê ê
word and picture in
tênê“ay”
âmêsame
G g
word and picture in
têngiê“yay”
âmgờ“guh”
H h
word and picture in
tênhát“haht”
âmhờ“huh”
I i
word and picture in
têni“ee”
âmisame
K k
word and picture in
tênca“kah”
âmcờ“kuh”
L l
word and picture in
têne-lờ“eh-luh”
âmlờ“luh”
M m
word and picture in
tênem-mờ“em-muh”
âmmờ“muh”
N n
The big cooking pot, with Bà Ngoại beside it
nồi
pot
tênen-nờ“en-nuh”
âmnờ“nuh”
O o
Bà Ngoại tasting phở with chopsticks
ngon
tasty
têno“aw”
âmosame
Ô ô
word and picture in
tênô“oh”
âmôsame
Ơ ơ
word and picture in
tênơ“uh”
âmơsame
P p
word and picture in
tênpê“pay”
âmpờ“puh”
Q q
word and picture in
tênquy“wee”
âmcu“koo”
R r
word and picture in
têne-rờ“eh-ruh”
âmrờ“ruh”
S s
word and picture in
tênét-xì“et-see”
âmsờ“suh”
T t
word and picture in
têntê“tay”
âmtờ“tuh”
U u
word and picture in
tênu“oo”
âmusame
Ư ư
word and picture in
tênư“oo”, smiling
âmưsame
V v
word and picture in
tênvê“vay”
âmvờ“vuh”
X x
word and picture in
têních-xì“ich-see”
âmxờ“suh”
Y y
word and picture in
têni dài“ee yai”
âmi“ee”

Dấu 6 tones, shown on a · a little mark changes the word

Every Vietnamese word has one of these six tones.

Linh holding three sticks of cinnamon
angang · no mark
The voice stays level.
ba = three
bờ – a – ba
Bà Ngoại smiling
àdấu huyền
The voice drops low.
bà = grandma
bờ – a – ba – huyền – bà
word in
ádấu sắc
The voice goes up.
word in
ảdấu hỏi
The voice dips, then comes back up.
word in
ãdấu ngã
The voice rises with a little catch. In Saigon it sounds like hỏi.
word in
ạdấu nặng
The voice drops short and low.

Phụ âm ghép 11 letter pairs · two letters, one sound

gh and ngh are used before e, ê and i; q always comes with u, as qu.

ch
word and picture in
tênchờ“chuh”
âmchờsame
gh
word and picture in
têngờ kép“guh kep”
âmgờ“guh”
gi
word and picture in
têndi“yee”
âmdisame
kh
word and picture in
tênkhờ“khuh”
âmkhờsame
ng
word and picture in
tênngờ“nguh”
âmngờsame
ngh
word and picture in
tênngờ kép“nguh kep”
âmngờ“nguh”
nh
word and picture in
tênnhờ“nyuh”
âmnhờsame
ph
word and picture in
tênphờ“fuh”
âmphờsame
qu
word and picture in
tênquờ“wuh”
âmquờsame
th
word and picture in
tênthờ“tuh”, breathy
âmthờsame
tr
word and picture in
têntrờ“truh”
âmtrờsame
Draft: being checked by a native speakerlinhminh.com/chu-cai · © Thomas J Halpin