Vietnamese alphabet facts for kids

The alphabet of the Vietnamese language (Vietnamese: Chữ_cái) is used all over the world. It helps people read and write Vietnamese.

Letters of the Alphabet

Vietnamese uses letters that look a lot like the ones in the English alphabet. But it also has some special letters and marks that change how words sound.

Here are the main letters used in Vietnamese: a, b, c, d, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, x, y

Special Vietnamese Characters

Vietnamese adds special marks, called diacritical marks, to many of these letters. These marks change the sound of the letter or the tone of the word. For example, 'a' can become 'á', 'à', 'ả', 'ã', or 'ạ'.

The little '₫' symbol you might see is for the Vietnamese currency, the Dong. Most people just write "VND" for Vietnamese Dong.

Here's a table showing many of the Vietnamese letters, including those with special marks:

One example is the letter 'ở', which means "at" or "where."

Understanding Special Letters

Vietnamese uses some letters that are changed from the basic Latin alphabet. These include: ô, ơ, â, ă, ê, ư, đ

These special letters help create new sounds for the Vietnamese language. English uses the same letters for different sounds (like 'a' in "apple" vs. "ape"). But Vietnamese often uses a new letter or a mark to show a different sound.

• The letter 'đ' sounds like the English d.
• The letter 'd' in Vietnamese can sound like y (in Southern Vietnam) or z (in Northern Vietnam).
• The letters 'a, â, ă' are all different "ah" sounds.
• The letters 'u, ư' are different "oo" sounds, never an "uh" sound.
• The letters 'e, ê' are like "eh" and "ey" sounds.
• The letters 'o, ô, ơ' are all different "oh" sounds.
• The letters i and y often make the same vowel sound and can sometimes be swapped.

The School Alphabet

In Vietnamese schools, children learn an alphabet with 29 letters. These are the basic Latin letters plus the special changed ones: a, b, c, d, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, x, y, ô, ơ, â, ă, ê, ư, đ.

Letters like F, J, W, and Z are not used in native Vietnamese words. They are mostly found in words borrowed from other languages, like English.

Making Vowel Sounds with Tones

Vietnamese is a tonal language. This means the meaning of a word can change depending on the "musical pitch" or tone of your voice when you say it. Think of it like music where the same note can sound different if you play it higher or lower, or change how you play it.

Here are the six main tones in Vietnamese:

When speaking Vietnamese, it's more about how strong you say a sound and how long you hold it, rather than just the musical pitch.

How the Alphabet Works

Sounds with Multiple Letters

Sometimes, a single sound in Vietnamese is made using two or even three letters together. These are called "digraphs" (two letters) or "trigraphs" (three letters). For example:

• 'Ch' in Vietnamese is like the 'ch' in "mechanic."
• 'Ph' sounds like the English 'f', as in "phone." It's used in the famous Vietnamese soup, phở.
• 'Tr' can sound like 'j' in "jump" to some speakers.

Here are some common letter combinations:

• CH
• GI
• GH
• KH
• NG
• NGH
• NH
• PH
• TH
• TR

Alphabetical Order

Vietnamese dictionaries arrange words in a special order, which includes both single letters and some of these common letter combinations.

Syllables in Vietnamese

Vietnamese words are often made of single syllables. Because of its connection to East Asian languages like Chinese, Vietnamese words can sometimes be put together in different orders. This can change where they appear in a dictionary.

The Alphabet in Daily Life

Learning the Vietnamese alphabet and its tones takes practice! It's very important to get the tones right because changing a tone can completely change the meaning of a word. For example, saying "đầu của tôi là đau đâu!" (meaning "My head hurts somewhere!") can be tricky for new learners because "đâu" and "đau" sound very similar if you don't use the correct tone.

Foreign Letters in Vietnamese

The world is connected, and Vietnam uses many English words. So, letters like 'j, f, w, and z' are now seen in many places, like on billboards or T-shirts. However, in official documents or for government use, these letters might not be used as much.

Vietnamese was once written using Chinese characters. You can still see this in traditional culture. Many Chinese speakers find Vietnamese easy to learn because some word combinations are similar.

Combined Vowel Sounds

Diphthongs and triphthongs are important in Vietnamese. These are combinations of two or three vowel sounds that blend together. For example, 'ai' or 'oai'. These combinations make Vietnamese a very fast language to speak. It can be hard for English speakers to hear and follow these blended vowel sounds at first.

The Alphabet and Computers

Most people in Vietnam use a standard QWERTY computer keyboard. To type Vietnamese characters, they use special software programs or virtual keyboards. You can't usually buy a physical keyboard just for Vietnamese.

Vietnamese on Webpages

When you see Vietnamese text on a webpage, it usually uses a special code called UTF-8. This code helps make sure all the unique Vietnamese characters show up correctly. If the characters look strange, the website designer might set the font to a common one like "Arial" or use special fonts made for Vietnamese.

Free Software for Vietnamese

There are many free (open-source) software programs available that let you type Vietnamese characters. You can also download virtual keyboard systems to help you write in Vietnamese.

Images for kids

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  A page from Alexandre de Rhodes' 1651 dictionary

See also

In Spanish: Alfabeto vietnamita para niños