Spelling: au vs. ao

[garfieldnate]

In this book, Nguyẽn Đình Hoà says at the bottom of page 24 that the /w/ sound is spelled -o following a or e, and is spelled u everywhere else. However, he gives as an example "máu (blood)" which breaks that rule, and the word "áo" also breaks that rule.

Is there a clear rule? If so what is it? There is something in his explanation that I am not understanding. I would have emailed me but he passed away in 2005.

[thusinhviet]

Hi garfieldnate,

In Vietnamese, when the letter o is at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced [w], but in other cases, it is not.

Any question ?

[garfieldnate]

Yes. My question is:

when do you spell a word with "ao", and when do you spell a word with "au".

[thusinhviet]

Let me add some information to my previous post.

Every Vietnamese words are combined by 3 parts: phụ âm đầu [the first consonant], vần and dấu thanh [tonal sign]. While vần and dấu thanh must be existed, phụ âm đầu can be absent.

Let's analyze the word Hoàng [a Vietnamese surname]. H is phụ âm đầu, oang is vần ,and dấu huyền (the grave accent) is the tonal sign.

Another case should be considered is words like uống (to drink). In this example, the word doesn't have phụ âm đầu, while its vần is uông and tonal sign is dấu sắc (the acute accent).

In cases that the letter O is at the beginning of a word's vần and inside the vần, it is followed by A or E, O should be pronounced like /w/ sound.

Some examples: Hoàng, khoe khoang, hoa loa kèn, khoác lác, etc.

But Os in words like mong chờ, phong phú, con voi are never pronounced like /w/ because they are not followed by an A or E.


Finally, I am not clear what you mean to the question "when do you spell a word with "ao", and when do you spell a word with "au". Can you explain it for me ?

[garfieldnate]

"au" and "ao" make exactly the same sound. If I learn a new word and it has that sound, is there a way for me to know how to spell it? "mao " is not spelled "mau", and "áo" is not spelled "áu". Is there a reason? Is there a spelling rule for that?

[thusinhviet]

I guess that you are learning Vietnamese southern voice. There is no different between the pronunciation of the vần "ao" and "au" in the southern accent Vietnamese. However, there is a slightly different in the pronunciation in the North of Vietnam. While the vần "ao" is pronounced exactly in the both accents, people in the North of Vietnam speak "au" like the way Southern people pronounce "âu".

If you are learning the southern voice of Vietnam, it is not necessary to differentiate the different in speaking the two vần.

I find that there are so many examples in English that we have the same pronunciation for different spelling. For example, you have the /f/ sound for both gh, ph and f in those words enough, photograph and fantastic.

Here is the tip for you to learn Vietnamese words for the "ao" and "au" case. Vietnamese vocabulary contains từ đơn (single words) and từ ghép (compound-words). Từ đơn are made by only one syllable and have and full meaning. Từ ghép are compounded by two or more từ đơn. Your job is only to learn từ đơn correctly and then, you will know how từ ghép are writen.

For example, when you learn the word áo, it is also easy for you to know how to write áo sơ mi (shirt), áo ấm (coat), áo mưa (rain coat), áo dài, áo đầm (dress), áo thun (T-shirt), quần áo (clothes), etc.

It would be very easy to write Vietnamese depends on the logic of the words you are writing and those you have already known.

[Ha Chau]

"au" and "ao" make exactly the same sound. If I learn a new word and it has that sound, is there a way for me to know how to spell it? "mao " is not spelled "mau", and "áo" is not spelled "áu". Is there a reason? Is there a spelling rule for that?

1: "au" and "ao" are different sounds. It's very, very difficult for foreign people to distinguish though. It's just like Vietnamese people cannot distinguish the difference between "world" and "world" without the "d" sound at the end (believe me, some think they can but they don't know they are wrong. Just ask some Vietnamese people and you will know!). I can pronounce "world" the right way (it's a long and hard effort), but I still cannot distinguish between the right pronunciation and the wrong one

2. Since they are different, there is no rule here. The think you need to do is to learn the way they are pronounced.

Hope this help

[garfieldnate]

Thanks for the tips! I actually took Vietnamese classes from a Northerner, and he went over pronunciation very precisely. I was just confused by the book I read, especially since it was written by a well-known and respected Vietnamese linguist.
The difference in pronunciation appearing in only one dialect happens in some contexts for American English, too. "Cot" and "caught", for example, are pronounced the same by most people, but not those with a Boston accent!

[daidg]

Prof. Hoà could have given a fuller treatment of the vowels ‘a’ and ‘ă’. You’re right, ‘máu’ broke the rule (‘o’ follows ‘a’ and ‘e’, ‘u’ the rest), but only because of quirks in Vietnamese spelling (otherwise very phonetic/regular). If the Vietnamese word for blood were phonetically spelled as ‘mắu’, then the stated rule would have been consistent. So you just have to remember that ‘()ao’ and ‘()au’ do sound different and have different meanings.

[paul_d]

"au" and "ao" are different sounds. It's very, very difficult for foreign people to distinguish

It's also difficult for some Vietnamese people as well

The difference between au and ao (for those speakers who make a distinction) is vowel length: the initial vowel sound (/a/) is longer in 'ao' than in 'au'.