| Language name: | VIETNAMESE |
| UPSID number: | 2303 |
| Alternate name(s): | |
| Classification: | Austro-Asiatic, Vietmuong |
| This language has | 36 segments |
| Its Frequency index is | 0.309559005 (average percentage of segments; 0.1: many very rare segments; 0.39: average; 0.7: many common segments) |
| The language has these sounds: | b< d< c k f v s z x gF m nj N ? h I e E UU U o( ^ O j w a 4 o uu^ u^ p tD tDh nD lD i^ |
| Comment: | Vietnamese is spoken primarily in Vietnam. Vietnamese (of Hanoi) has six tones distinguished by level, contour and laryngeal features. /p/ only occurs finally and can be analyzed as an allophone of implosive /b/, but no general rule that voiced initials pair with voiceless final stops can be formulated. Vowels in open syllables are followed by a consonantal offglide (/j/ after /i, e/ etc.). /j, w/ can follow most vowels, when no other consonant may appear, but some final consonants can follow the diphthongs with a low final element. |
| Source(s): | Canh, N-p. 1974. A contribution to the phonological interpretation of the diphthongs in modern Vietnamese. Acta Universitatis Carolinae-Philologica. Phonetica Pregensia IV: 133-142. Thompson, L.C. 1965. A Vietnamese Grammar. University of Washington Press, Seattle. |