Tones in the Southern dialect

The tones in the Southern dialect (Saigon a.k.a. HCM city) are pronounced quite differently from the standard tones.

Vietnamese all Southern tones

Regarding the tones in the Southern dialect, the good news is that there are no glottal stops. Another good news is that there are only five distinct tones in speech instead of six. However, the bad news is that more than half of them have a rising pitch, which means we can only distinguish between them based on their height.

Six basic tones

In speech, the Southern dialect only has five distinct tones because the second and fifth tones merge into one.

First tone and fourth tone

The first and fourth tones in the Southern dialect are the same as their standard counterparts.

Second tone and fifth tone

The second and fifth tones are pronounced the same in the Southern dialect: start with mid-low pitch and rise to mid-high pitch. They are very similar to the standard third tone, just one level lower.

Vietnamese Southern second and fifth tones

Third tone

The third tone is higher than its standard counterpart: starts with mid-high pitch and rises to high pitch.

Vietnamese Southern third tone

Sixth tone

The sixth tone starts with mid-low pitch and rises to middle pitch.

Vietnamese Southern sixth tone

All-in-one tone chart

Vietnamese all Southern tones in one

Checked tones

The checked tones are the same as their standard counterparts. Remember that the thing that matters when it comes to checked tones is their height, not pitch contour, so only highs and lows.

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