Pronunciation of Pho and Other Vietnamese Words and Phrases, Part 2

Updated 01-08-18. This is Part 2 of a multi-part article on the pronunciation of Vietnamese phrases and words. The very popular Part 1 is closed to requests but has more than 50 audios you can listen too. If you have a request please check there first as someone else may have requested it already. Follow this link to find Part 1 of Pronunciation of Pho and Other Vietnamese Words and Phrases.

Banh pho line 18I know there are folks out there who are looking for help with pronunciation of Vietnamese words and phrases, and are looking for accurate and easy to understand guidance and reference on how to properly pronounce certain words in Vietnamese. This post, which is Part 2 of this series, aims to help you with exactly what a word or phrase should sound like, in both Northern and Southern Vietnamese accents when appropriate.

Have a Vietnamese word or phrase you'd like to hear? Here's what you do: Leave a comment to this post with the word(s) you would like to hear pronounced, and I'll post a response with audio files demonstrating exactly how they should sound. Please include as much information about the words as you can, with maybe the context you found them in, their meanings (if you know), or where you encountered them. This is because with proper accent marks the same looking words may have different pronunciation and meanings altogether. This will help me say them correctly for you. This site is about pho first and foremost, but I'll post answers to whatever inquiry received.

If you're looking for more specific pronunciation, check out these posts:

A single sound can sometime confuse you even more than no sound at all. Therefore, I'm also providing full sentences to demonstrate how the words/phrases should really sound in everyday conversation. You should be able to recognize these sounds in both English and Vietnamese conversational sentences. I'll start with something requested by Luis from the last comment from Part 1.

  1. Pronounce: "Người Rừng" which literally means "jungle people."
    • Southern accent (twice, slower then faster) then Northern (twice.)
      Người Rừng.     
  2. Pronounce the lady's name: "Nguyệt."
    • Southern accent then Northern.
      Nguyệt.     
  3. Pronounce: "Tôi nấu ăn cho gia đình tôi" which means "I cook for my family."
    • Southern accent then Northern.
      Tôi nấu ăn cho gia đình tôi.     
  4. Pronounce: "Bún chả giò chay" which means "Vermicelli noodles with Vegetarian Spring rolls."
    • Southern accent then Northern.
      Bún chả giò chay.     
  5. Pronounce: "Heo xào xả ớt" which means "Pork sautéed in Hot and Spicy Lemongrass."
    • Southern accent then Northern.
      Heo xào xả ớt.     
  6. Pronounce: "Bò xào xả ớt" which means "Beef sautéed in Hot and Spicy Lemongrass."
    • Southern accent then Northern.
      Bò xào xả ớt.     
  7. Pronounce: "nước mắm" which means "fish sauce."
    • Southern similar to Northern, slow then faster.
      Nước mắm.     
  8. Pronounce: "con chó, con mèo, con khỉ" which means "the dog, the cat, the monkey."
    • Southern accent then Northern.
      Con chó - con mèo - con khỉ.     
  9. Pronounce: "Thiên Chúa của tôi" which means "my God"; Thiên Chúa is God, and của tôi is my or of mine.
    • Southern then Northern accent.
      Thiên Chúa của tôi.     
  10. Pronounce: "nước mía" which means "sugar juice."
    • Southern and Northern accents similar, repeated twice, slower then faster.
      Nước mía.     
  11. Pronounce: "soda xí muội" which means "salty plum with soda drink," also with sugar for sweetness.
    • Southern and Northern accents similar, repeated twice, slower then faster.
      Soda xí muội.     
  12. Pronounce: "bún bò nướng sả" which means "grilled lemongrass beef with vermicelli noodle."
    • Southern then Northern accent, each twice, slower then faster.
      Bún bò nướng sả.     
  13. Pronounce: "tô nhỏ, tô lớn" which means "small bowl, large bowl."
    • Southern then Northern accent, each twice.
      Tô nhỏ - tô lớn.     
  14. Pronounce: "chúc bình an" which means to wish someone to be safe and sound, to be at peace and secured.
    • Southern then Northern accent.
      Chúc bình an.     
  15. Pronounce: counting from 1 to 10 in Vietnamese; 1-một, 2-hai, 3-ba, 4-bốn, 5-năm, 6-sáu, 7-bẩy, 8-tám, 9-chín, 10-mười.
    • Southern then Northern accent.
      Counting from 1 to 10 in Vietnamese.     
  16. Pronounce: "cho một (1) tô phở bò, cho hai (2) tô phở bò, cho ba (3) tô phở bò," which means to order 1, 2, or 3 bowls of beef pho, respectively.
    • Southern then Northern accent.
      Ordering 1-2 or 3 bowls of beef pho.     
  17. Pronounce: "bún riêu" which means rice vermicelli usually served with tomato broth with crab or shrimp paste.
    • Southern then Northern accent.
      Bún riêu.     
  18. Pronounce: "Huỳnh Thị Thu Hằng" which is a female name.
    • Southern then Northern accent.
      Huỳnh Thị Thu Hằng.     
  19. Pronounce: "Ninh Đức Hoàng Long" which is a male name.
    • Southern then Northern accent.
      Ninh Đức Hoàng Long.     
  20. Pronounce: "Ba cô gái" which means "Three Girls" or "Three Ladies" as in rice paper brand "Ba Cô Gái".
    • Southern and Northern accents similar.
      Ba cô gái.     
  21. Pronounce: "Tú" which is a name of a male person.
    • Southern and Northern accents similar.
      Tú.     
  22. Pronounce: "Vân" which is a name of a female person, and literal translation is "cloud".
    • Southern and Northern accents, each twice.
      Vân.     
  23. Pronounce: "Bánh ít trần" or just "Bánh ít" which is a small stuffed glutinous rice flour balls or dumpling.
    • Southern and Northern accents, each twice.
      Bánh ít trần.     
  24. Pronounce: "Chúc Anh Chị một trăm năm hạnh phúc!" (Wishing you 100 years of happiness!) or just "Chúc Anh Chị một trăm năm hạnh phúc!".
    • Southern then Northern accents.
      Chúc Anh Chị một trăm năm hạnh phúc!     
    • Better way to say it. Southern then Northern accents.
      Chúc Anh Chị trăm năm hạnh phúc!     
  25. Pronounce: "Cửa Việt". Cửa means "door" or "entrance" depending on how it's used. Cửa Việt is the firth of a river in north of Quảng Trị province in central Vietnam, where a former U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base were located.
    • Southern then Northern accents.
      Cửa Việt.     
  26. Pronounce: "Kỳ Hà", a place in the town of Kỳ Anh, Hà Tĩnh province on the North Central Coast of Vietnam.
    • Normal rate then slower.
      Kỳ Hà.     

46 comments

  1. Debra 22 January, 2013 at 18:28 Reply

    I’m so glad I ran into this page! My mother is Vietnamese but never taught me more than the basics… My brother’s kids call me Co ook (sounds like oops but with a k instead of p) What does that label me. I know it means Aunt.

  2. Cuong Huynh 23 January, 2013 at 00:49 Reply

    Debra: “Cô Út” is what you are referring to, and it literally translates to “youngest aunt.” In Vietnam, it is traditional to call siblings (or even outsiders if you know them well) as Brother #2, Brother #3, Sister #4, and so on, instead of their real name based on oldest to youngest. For reasons unknown (and I apologize I can’t do much research right now) #2 is the oldest and there is no #1. The word “Út” (pronounced ook with a silent k in the South, and oot, as in boot, with a silent t in the North) means youngest. Of course Cô is aunt. For an uncle it would be Cậu (in the South) and Chú (in the North,) so youngest uncle is addressed as Cậu Út or Chú Út.

    By the way, just so we can stay out of trouble, this Cô and Cậu business does not apply to all uncles and aunts. Vietnamese use different ways to address uncles and aunts depending on whether one is from the North or South Vietnam, whether the uncle or aunt is older or younger than your parent, and of course, male or female. Hope this helps.

  3. Siobhan 25 April, 2013 at 11:36 Reply

    nước mía
    soda xi muõi

    When there is a choice between a large or small bowl of phở, how would one specify which size they want?

  4. Debra 30 April, 2013 at 19:47 Reply

    AWESOME. I knew the south and the north differences. I grew up with some kids that called their dad by a different name. I also knew depending on which side of the family you are one designates the name you get. lol My mother is the matriarch. I am the only sister and the baby of the 4 brothers. They grew up there me here I was 2 months old when I got here. I am basically treated like a queen in my brother’s home. His wife even does everything for me almost like she does for my mother. I just never knew what Cô Út meant other than Aunt. So what does Yee don’t know spelling but like we call all of my mom’s oldest friends who we consider family Yee Nga or Yee Thu.

  5. Cuong Huynh 3 May, 2013 at 23:32 Reply

    @Siobhan: You can find the audios for your request in #10, #11 and #12 above. Hope this helps. All 3 are some of my favorites. Great choices!

    Specifying the bowl size should be easy. In the U.S., it is very rare that an order taker does not understand “small” or “large” any more. While you can always point to the size you want, you may try “tô nhỏ” for small bowl, or “tô lớn” for large bowl. See #13 above.

    You can read additional discussion about bowl sizes in tip #4 in this post Tips on Ordering Pho Your Way: Just Tell Them What You Want.

  6. Cuong Huynh 3 May, 2013 at 23:54 Reply

    @Debra: So you grew up here in the states and are treated like a queen in your brothers’ homes? That’s one of the nice privileges of being “em út trong nhà” (youngest sibling in the house.) You must be spoiled!

    Now your Yee is actually “dì” as mentioned briefly in comment #7 above. It means “aunt” and is used all over the South (and maybe Central Vietnam too, I’m not sure.) The husband of “dì” is “dượng.” And the funny thing is, “dì” and “dượng” are supposed to be used by children in the family to address their uncles and aunts, but everyone in the family (including the elders, grandpas and grandmas, etc.) and even friends of the family, they all end up calling them “dì” and “dượng” as well. And when you add in “Dì Ba” (Third Aunt) or “Dượng Tư” (Fourth Uncle), many kids never knew their aunts’ and uncles’ real names. You’re lucky to be able to call yours Dì Nga and Dì Thu.

    Thanks for sharing. Awesome question and comment!

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