Dấu Sắc và Dấu Nặng - Hard and Soft Syllables

Question 1

Soft Syllables

Answer 1

N, M, Ng, Nh, and any word ending in a Vowel
(about 80% of words)

Question 2

Hard Syllable

Answer 2

end is P, C, T, or Ch

can only be dấu sắc or dấu nặng

p, t, k, (ch in south) have no audible release (close the mouth)

Question 3

Pronouncing any word that ends in UC, ÔC, or OC

Answer 3

Close your mouth like you are making a P Sound, while at the same time making a C sound with your tongue

Ung/Ong are similar

Question 4

Sound ONG - Like Động or Không

Answer 4

Close your mouth like you are making an M sound, while making an NG sound with your tongue. With động, because it is a dấu nặng word, you have to add a glottal stop (not with Không)

Question 5

Soft Nặng Pronunciation

Answer 5

Tone Soft Nặng
Pitch Medium
Quality Slightly creaky at the end
Length Very short
Examples Bạn, nghiệm, động, mạnh

Question 6

Hard Nặng Pronunciation

Answer 6

Tone Hard Nặng
Pitch Low
Quality Smooth
Length Short
Examples Bạt, nghiệp, dộc

Question 7

Soft Sắc

Answer 7

Tone Soft Sắc
Pitch Starts low, gently rising, slow
Quality Smooth
Length Long
Examples Muốn, quá, bóng

Question 8

Hard Sắc

Answer 8

Tone Hard Sắc
Pitch High
Quality Smooth
Length Short – medium short
Examples Đít, bốc, cướp, sách

Question 9

Two kinds of Dấu Sắc

Answer 9

Hard Sắc
High Tone`
Soft Sắc
Low, Smooth, Rising Tone
Tất Nhiên - of course
Tất is a high sharp tone
Giáo Viên
Giáo is much lower than the Vien
(the low is much more important than the rising part)