Tiếng Việt (Miền Trung)

Central Vietnamese

Austroasiatic (Vietic, Vietnamese)

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Central Vietnamese (tiếng Trung, tiếng miền Trung) is the regional variety of Vietnamese spoken across central Vietnam, including Huế (the imperial capital 1802-1945), Đà Nẵng, Quảng Nam, and the Quảng Trị-Quảng Bình-Quảng Ngãi-Bình Định corridor, by ~14M people. Central Vietnamese — especially the Huế dialect — is famously distinct in tone realization (a six-tone system with markedly lower pitch and shorter duration than Hanoi standard), retroflex consonants, and a vocabulary partially preserving the imperial-court register of the Nguyễn dynasty. Often perceived by other Vietnamese as 'difficult to understand'. Includes notable sub-dialects: Huế-ben (royal), Quảng-Nam-ben (with characteristic /ao/ vs. /au/ shifts), and Bình-Định-ben.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Central Vietnamese

Water

nước

/nɨːk˧˥/

Fire

lửa

/lɨə˧˩/

Sun

mặt trời

/maːk˨˨ ʈɤːj˧˨/

Moon

mặt trăng

/maːk˨˨ ʈaːŋ˥/

Star

sao

/saːw˧/

Mother

mạ

/maː˨˨/

Father

bọ

/ɓɔː˨˨/

I

tôi

/toj˧/

You

bạn

/ɓaːŋ˨˩ˀ/

Name

tên

/teːŋ˧/

Eye

mắt

/maːk˧˥/

Hand

tay

/taːj˥/

Heart

trái tim

/ʈaːj˩˧ tiːm˥/

Love

thương

/tʰɨəŋ˥/

Tree

cây

/kəːj˥/

House

nhà

/ɲaː˧˨/

Dog

chó

/tɕɔː˩˧/

Cat

mèo

/mɛːw˧˨/

Eat

ăn

/aːn˥/

Drink

uống

/uəŋ˩˧/

One

một

/moːk˨˨/

Two

hai

/haːj˧/

Hello

xin chào

/siːn˥ tɕaːw˧˨/

Thank you

cảm ơn

/kaːm˧˩ əːn˥/

Good

tốt

/toːk˧˥/

Cuckoo

cu cu

/ku˧ ku˧/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Austroasiatic (Vietic, Vietnamese) languages

Meaning Central VietnameseSouthern VietnameseVietnameseVietnamese (Chữ Nôm)Thai (Southern)Thai (Isan)Thai (Northern)
Water nước /nɨːk˧˥/ nước /nɨək˧˥/ nước /nɨək˧˥/ /nɨək˧˥/ น้ำ /nam˧˥/ น้ำ /nam˧˥/ น้ำ /nam˧˥/
Fire lửa /lɨə˧˩/ lửa /lɨə˨˩˥/ lửa /lɨə˧˩˧/ /lɨə˧˩˧/ ไฟ /faj˥/ ไฟ /faj˥/ ไฟ /faj˥/
Sun mặt trời /maːk˨˨ ʈɤːj˧˨/ mặt trời /mak˨˩˨ ʈɤːj˨˩/ mặt trời /mət˨˩ tɕɤːj˨˩/ 𩈘𡗶 /mət˨˩ tɕɤːj˨˩/ ตะวัน /ta˨˩wan˥/ ตะเว็น /ta˨˩wen˥/ ตะวัน /ta˨˩wan˥/
Moon mặt trăng /maːk˨˨ ʈaːŋ˥/ mặt trăng /mak˨˩˨ ʈaŋ˥/ mặt trăng /mət˨˩ tɕaŋ˧/ 𩈘𢁋 /mət˨˩ tɕaŋ˧/ เดือน /dɯːan˥/ เดือน /dɯːan˥/ เดือน /dɯːan˥/
Star sao /saːw˧/ sao /ʂaːw˧/ sao /saːw˧/ 𣋀 /saːw˧/ ดาว /daːw˧/ ดาว /daːw˧/ ดาว /daːw˧/
Mother mạ /maː˨˨/ /maː˧˥/ mẹ /mɛ˨˩/ /mɛ˨˩/ แม่ /mɛː˥˩/ แม่ /mɛː˥˩/ แม่ /mɛː˥˩/
Father bọ /ɓɔː˨˨/ ba /ɓaː˥/ bố /ɓo˧˥/ /ɓo˧˥/ พ่อ /pʰɔː˥˩/ พ่อ /pʰɔː˥˩/ พ่อ /pʰɔː˥˩/
I tôi /toj˧/ tôi /toj˧/ tôi /toj˧/ /toj˧/ ฉาน /tɕʰaːn˦/ ข้อย /kʰɔːj˧/ ตู /tuː˩/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Central Vietnamese
Tui muốn thử bộ vest tui đã chộ trong một cửa hàng đối diện khách sạn
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

Central Vietnamese
Tui muốn thử bộ vest tui đã chộ trong một cửa hàng đối diện khách sạn
ខ្ញុំ ចង់ សាកពាក់ ឈុត ដែល ខ្ញុំបានឃើញ ក្នុង ហាង ម្ខាង សណ្ឋាគារ
Tui muốn thử bộ vest tui đã thấy trong một tiệm đối diện khách sạn
Tôi muốn thử bộ vest tôi đã thấy trong một cửa hàng đối diện khách sạn
𦁸衣 𦓡 㐌𧡊 𥪝 𠬠𨷶行 對面 客棧

Han readings compared

Compared with related Austroasiatic (Vietic) languages

Character Central VietnameseSouthern VietnameseVietnameseCentral BaiEarly Mandarin (Yuan)Gan (Jiʼan)Gan Chinese (Fuzhou)
Nhất /ɲət˦˥/ Nhứt /ɲɨt˦˥/ Nhất /ɲət˧˥/ it6 /ʔit̚˨˨˨/ i3 /i˨˩˦/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ it⁵ /it̚˥/
Nhị /ɲi˨˩ˀ/ Nhị /ɲi˨˩˨/ Nhị /ɲi˧ˀ˨ʔ/ nox3 /no˨˩˦/ ʐï4 /ʐʅ˥˩/ oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/ oe²¹ /ɵ˨˩/
Tam /taːm˧˨/ Tam /taːm˧˧/ Tam /taːm˧˧/ sae1 /sæ˥/ sam1 /sam˥/ san⁴² /san˦˨/ san⁴² /san˦˨/
Tứ /tɨ˨˩˧/ Tứ /tɨ˧˥/ Tứ /tɨ˧˥/ sv4 /sɿ˨˩/ sï4 /sɿ˥˩/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/
Ngũ /ŋu˨˩ˀ/ Ngũ /ŋu˨˩˦/ Ngũ /ŋu˧ˀ˥/ ngux3 /ŋu˨˩˦/ u3 /u˨˩˦/ ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/ ng²¹³ /ŋ̩˨˩˧/
Lục /luk˨˩ʔ/ Lục /luk˨˩ʔ/ Lục /luk˧ˀ˨ʔ/ lox6 /lo˨˨˨/ lieu4 /liəu˥˩/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/
Thất /tʰət˦˥/ Thất /tʰət˦˥/ Thất /tʰət˧˥/ chi1 /tɕʰi˦˦/ tshi3 /tsʰi˨˩˦/ qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/ qhit⁵ /tɕʰit̚˥/
Bát /ɓaːt˦˥/ Bát /ɓaːt˦˥/ Bát /ɓaːt˧˥/ be2 /pe˧˥/ pa3 /pa˨˩˦/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/
Cửu /kɨw˧˩˨/ Cửu /kɨw˨˩˦/ Cửu /kɨw˧˩˧/ jiux3 /tɕiu˨˩˦/ kieu3 /kiəu˨˩˦/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiu˨˩˧/
Thập /tʰəp˨˩ʔ/ Thập /tʰəp˨˩ʔ/ Thập /tʰəp˧ˀ˨ʔ/ cix6 /tsʰɿ˨˨˨/ ʂï2 /ʂʅ˧˥/ sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/ sit⁵ /sɨt̚˥/
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