The alveolar s- [S] is pronounced like sh- in English as in she, sheet, show, ...

This letter is distinctly

pronounced by speakers in the Central, but it is merged with the x- [s] by many speakers in the North and the
South:
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s s

s lemon grass s will s baggy s wholesale s skull s notebook s fear, afraid s exuberant
s china s/s scholar sn to hunt sn coarse
The unaspirated alveolar t- [t|] in Vietnamese is like the English unarticulated t in the cluster st- as
in stay, steal, stamp.
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t

t dozen t fall t bad t tiny t apparent t nest t sheet t wardrobe t from t

billion tt turn off tc decimeter
The fricative labio-dental v- [v] is very much like English v- [v] in van, vice, vine, ... It is merged in
[j] or [bj] by speakers in the Saigon area and its vicinity. V_, v_ and v_ need final consonants:
v v
v
v
v v v v vy

v and v ticket v go home v because v bark (of tree) v clap v broken v incident v
great vn literature vn still vng stable
The alveolar x- [s] is pronounced like the English s- [s] in sing, son, soon, sung, ...
xa x
x
x
x x x xu x xy

xa far x to tear x past noon x leak x pierce x to relieve constipation x fiber xu cent x
country xy- (prefix) xy-lanh cylinder xt to slice xn push forward, cut down
The palatal ch- [c] is much softer than the English ch- since it is more gingival and implosive.
ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch -

ch to rub ch to split ch produce ch older sister ch dog ch location, site ch to wait ch

master, owner ch word chn even (number) chn stop someone/something) Chy does not exist.
This sound [c] merges with [] tr- that can be found in Northerners speech: ch [cA$] to rub > tr tea
ch to split > tr [cE] > young ch produce > tr [c] ch [c] older sister > tr punish, rule ch
dog > tr [c] basket ch [c] location, site > tr ch [c$] to wait > tr pull forward ch master,
owner ch word chn even (number) chn stop someone/ something)
The velar kh- [x] is like English [kh] as in key, can, cut, keen, ...
kh kh kh kh kho kh kh khu kh -

kh not bad kh softly kh starfruit kh air kho simmer kh miserable kh silly khu area kh
to go khn towel khn silent prayer
The velar ng- and ngh- share the same pronunciation [N] and their phonotactic constraints are similar
to those of g- and ghng - ng ng ng ngu ng
nghe ngh ngh ng ivory ng cilantro ng (bp) corn ng bewildered ngu stupid ng to sleep ng fish

ngn short ngn money, resound nghe hear ngh occupation ngh to think
The palatal nh- [] is similar to English -ny- [] as in canyon, Kenya.
nh -

nh nh nh

nh nh nh nhu nh -

nh house, home nh light, soft nh excessive nh second nh small, little nh emerge nh miss,
remember nh to bud nh well-stewed nhm to aim nhm mistake.