Comparison of tones in Northern and Southern Vietnamese

 


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Sentence-final particles in Vietnamese

1. ạ (NV) Politeness marker very prevalent in Northern Vietnamese. Used extensively by kids talking to adults A: Con thích món này không? B: Con thích lắm ạ! 2. cơ A particle to show affection - Con thương mẹ lắm cơ! Similar to the   spatial particles đó/đấy/ấy, for additional emphasis - Cái này là gì cơ?  - Bạn nói gì cơ? 3. chứ, chớ, chớ bộ (SV) The first usage of chứ and its variants is to ask for confirmation. It's similar to the question particle không in this case - Bạn thích món này chứ? The second case is to confirm that something is the case, and sometimes, to show disagreement - A: Bạn thấy ca sĩ hát hay không? B: Hay chứ! (confirmation) - A: Ca sĩ này hát không hay đâu. B: Hay chứ! (disagreement) 4. đã To express that something needs to be done before something else - Khoan đã! - A: Đi về đi! B: Phải tính tiền đã. 5. đâu A strong negation, like "not at all" in English. There are three forms: "không...đâu", "có...
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How to use chứ

The word chứ has various applications. In general, it is used to affirm or negate something with emphasis. Following are the various cases: 1. In conjunction with không or chẳng, chứ is used to express "X is the case, certainly not Y" Anh ấy là giám đốc, chứ không phải là nhân viên bình thường. He is the CEO, certainly not just a regular employee. 2. Chứ can appear at the end of a sentence, either as a question or in a statement. If the sentence is a question, chứ is similar to "..., right?" or "..., isn't it?" in English Phim này hay chứ? This movie is good, isn't it? If chứ appears at the end of a statement, it may either affirm or deny that something is the case. Consider... A: Em thấy phim này có hay không? ( Do you think this movie is good? ) B: Hay chứ! ( Definitely! ) ...versus... A: Phim này dở quá, chị không thích. ( This movie is really bad, I don't like it. ) B: Hay chứ! ( No, it's good! ) 3. Another...
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Creaky voice, breathy voice and glottal stop

One of the most distinguishing features of the Northern accent is the sounds that speakers make when pronouncing dấu nặng and dấu ngã. These "charring" sounds are generated by constricting the vocal folds - the same organs in your throat that you use every day to talk. For example, when you say a vowel like "a" in a regular voice, your vocal folds vibrate. If you whisper that "a", on the other hand, the vocal folds don't exhibit this vibration (You can feel the difference if you put your hand on your throat while making these sounds). Finally, if you have those vocal folds vibrate at a really low frequency, that's when you get a creaky voice. All these various types of producing voice are known as phonation. Although I think in reality it's a bit more complicated, but in the simplest form, phonation can be thought of as a range from whispering to glottal stop. This range is usually divided into three sub-sections, called breathy, modal and crea...
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