NVL101 – Alphabet

SPELLING, LETTERS’ NAMES AND LETTERS’ PRONUNCIATIONS

There’re four columns in the chart. The first column lists the capitalized letters. The second the lower ones. The third describes the letters’ names in English pronunciation. And the last column shows the examples where the letters and their pronunciations can be found.

You may notice that in the third column, some letters have another secondary names, which are used to teach kids how to read the alphabet and show how the letters sound like in reality. You’d better not use this second name of the letter to read the abbreviations. For instance, HTV, which is short for Hochiminh City Television, is pronunced /hack tay vay/ instead of /huh tuh vuh/, which might sound very funny and childish. They’re just good for the little children.

And here you go with the Vietnamese Alphabet.

 

A         a          ah                                Ah, cAfé,

Ă         ă          ah                                Under, fUnd

         â          uh                               camerA

B          b          bay / buh                   Bay, Boy,

C         c          say / suh                    esCape, sCotland, sCout

D         d          yay / ya                      Yeah, Yes, Yummy

Đ         đ          day / duh                   Day, Develop,

E          e          air (with silent “r”)   dEfinite, Effort, vEry

Ê          ê          ay                                cafE, stAY

G         g          gay / guh                   Good, Game

H         h          hack / huh                  Hello, Home

I           i           ee                                Important,

K         k          cah                              sKi, sKite

L          l           e luh / luh                  Love, calcuLate

M        m         em muh / muh          My, laMb

N         n          en nuh / nuh              No, teN

O         o          aw                               lAW, mOral, lOyal

Ô         ô          o                                  Oh, sO,

Ơ         ơ          uh                               Uh, camerA

P          p          pay / puh                   sPin, sPouse

Q         q          wee                             We, Well

R         r           air ruh / ruh               Random, Roller

S          s          et suh / suh                See, Seventy-Six

T          t           tay / tuh                     sTay, sTop, sTep

U         u          oo                                yOU, tOO

Ư         ư          ugh                             Ugh (no English equivalent sound. Practice needed)

V         v          vay / vuh                   Victory, Velcro

X         x          it / it suh                    SuSan,

Y         y          ee yi                            skI, shE, wE

“To learn a language, it’s not enough to know so many words. They must be connected according to the particular laws of the particular language.” – Jesperson

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