Pronunciation

Place of articulation: bilabial (both lips touch)

Tongue position: relaxed; not used to block airflow

Mouth shape: lips are closed firmly but not tight

Voicing: voiced (vocal cords vibrate)

Airflow:

Air goes through the nose (nasal consonant)

No air escapes through the mouth because lips are fully closed

How to produce it

Close your lips completely.

Keep your tongue relaxed and low.

Let air flow only through your nose.

Vibrate your vocal cords.

Sound quality

Same as English “m” in my, mother, mark

Clear nasal resonance

Pronunciation

Sound type

Voiceless bilabial stop

Similar to English p, but without a release when it’s at the end of a syllable.

How to pronounce Vietnamese final “p”

Vietnamese final consonants (p, t, c(k), ch, m, n, ng) are special:

They are short, unreleased, and stop very abruptly.

For final p:

Mouth / Lip Position

Lips close tightly

Air pressure builds behind the lips

BUT you do NOT release the air

Tongue Position

Tongue is relaxed; does not touch anything

Only lips control the sound

Airflow

Air is stopped completely

No puff of air

No vowel after it

No release burst like English “pop”

Voicing

Voiceless (no vocal cord vibration)

How it sounds

It is like English “stop” but cutting the p halfway:

English: sto(p) → there is a little explosion

Vietnamese: sto(p̚) → no explosion; your lips just freeze

A symbol “p̚” often represents an unreleased p.

Pronunciation

Vietnamese b is a voiced bilabial stop, similar to English b in “bat”, but usually shorter, cleaner, and with less aspiration (less puff of air).

How to Pronounce Vietnamese “b”

Place of articulation

Bilabial: both lips come together firmly

Tongue position

Tongue stays relaxed

It does not touch anywhere specific

Tongue body is low and neutral

Mouth / Lips

Lips close completely

Immediately open again

No strong puff of air

Voicing

Voiced: vocal cords vibrate

Airflow

Air pressure builds behind the lips

When lips open, air is released

But the release is soft

→ Less explosive than English

Sound quality

Like English b but:

shorter

softer

no heavy puff

no long closure

Pronunciation

Vietnamese “ph” is pronounced exactly like the English “f” sound.

It is not “p” + “h.”

It is one single sound: a voiceless labiodental fricative.

How to Pronounce Vietnamese ph

Place of articulation

Labiodental

→ Lower lip lightly touches the upper front teeth

Tongue position

Tongue relaxed

Not touching the teeth

Middle / back of the tongue stays low

Mouth / Lips

Lower lip raises to touch the upper teeth

Very small gap is left for air to pass through

Airflow

Continuous airflow

Creates friction (the “ffff” sound)

No stopping of airflow like “p”

Voicing

Voiceless (vocal cords do not vibrate)

Sound quality

Exactly the same as English f in:

fine, coffee, find

Pronunciation

Vietnamese v is usually pronounced like English v, but in the South it often sounds closer to a /j/ (y) sound.

However, the standard pronunciation (Northern / Hanoi) is the labiodental voiced fricative like English v.

Standard Vietnamese “v” (Northern) = English “v”

Place of articulation

Labiodental

→ Lower lip touches the upper front teeth

Tongue position

Tongue is relaxed

Does NOT touch anything

Middle of the tongue is low

Mouth / Lips

Lower lip lightly touches the upper teeth

Small gap allows vibrating airflow

Airflow

Continuous airflow

Causes friction ("vvvvv")

Similar to English "very"

Voicing

Voiced (vocal cords vibrate)

Sound quality

Same as English v in:

very, victory, voice

Southern Vietnamese variation

Often pronounced closer to English y in yes

Example:

"về" (return) → Southern: [yê]-like sound

If you learn Northern pronunciation (more standard for learners), treat v as English v.