Unit 0 - Alphabet and Greetings
Quốc Ngữ (National Language)
- "romanisation" of Viet language - inventor: Alexander de Rhodes - Viet words borrowed from English and French - 17th century (not known much until after WW1)
- How many letters in Vietnamese alphabet? - How many vowels in the Vietnamese alphabet? - How many consonants? - What letters in the English Alphabet are NOT in the Vietnamese?
- 29 letters - 11/12 vowels - 17 consonants - f, j, w, z
Tonal
- Change in pitch levels - This can cause a change in the meaning of the word - There are 6 tones and 5 diacritical marks (dấu) - Placement of dấu depends on the # of vowels in a word
What are the 4 characteristics of the Vietnamese language?
- Dialectal - Monosyllabic (mono = one, syllabic = syllable) - Non-Inflectional - Tonal
6 tones
- Mid-Level Tone (Thanh Ngang/không dấu) _ - Falling Tone (Thanh Huyền) \ - Rising Tone (Thanh Sắc) / - Falling Rising Tone (Thanh Hỏi) \_/ or ? - High Broken Tone (Thanh Ngã) _/ or ~ - Low Falling Tone (Thanh Nặng) /\
Non-Inflectional
- NO change of forms to express gender, number, tense, mood - NO prefixes, suffixes, conjugation a. No "s, -es, -ies" b. No "ed, -ied" Word relies on context and time words
6 tones examples
- Thanh Ngang: ma (ghost) - Thanh Huyền: mà (but) - Thanh Sắc: má (cheek) - Thanh Hỏi: mả (tomb) - Thanh Ngã: mã (horse) - Thanh Nặng: mạ (young rice plant)
Tết Trung Thu
- other names: Mid-Autumn Festival, Children's Festival - appreciates/educates (encourage)/celebrates children - mooncakes, lanterns (candlelit lantern procession), folktales, traditional dances, temple prayers - lanterns represent brightness, procession symbolize success in school
Chữ Nôm (combination of 2 characters)
- use Chinese characters, but represent Vietnamese speech - none strict and fixed rules - different meanings, same wrd - created in 13h century - combine 2 Chinese characters
- Chữ Hán (Chinese characters) - a.k.a. Chữ Nho (scholars scripts)
- when under Chinese influence, the Vietnamese used the Chinese writing system (Chữ Nho) - used mainly by scholars - under influence for nearly 1000 years
Examples of Using Terms of Address
1) You speak English. (Mister) - Ông nói tiếng Mỹ. 2) I am an American. (Young Child) - Con là người Mỹ. 3) I study at UCLA. - Tôi/Em học ở UCLA. 4) Do you know Vietnamese? (Friend) - Bạn biết tiếng Việt không?
What is on the test? What to study for?
1. Alphabet (Vowels & Consonants) - number of letters, vowels, letters not in the VN alphabet 2. Dấu - identifying the tones, spelling the tones, showing the marks, number of tones 3. Tet Trung Thu - How it's celebrated 4. Characteristics of VN Language - the 4 traits 5. Stages of Language Development - What is each stage known for? 6. Greetings & Pronouns - Knowing the appropriate pronouns for each person, writing introduction of yourself and asking someone for their name
3 Stages of Development
1st: Chữ Hán 2nd: Chữ Nôm 3rd: Quốc Ngữ
Vowels
A - ah (fat) ă - ah?! (fact) â - uh? (plum) e - eh (mega) ê - ey (hey) i or y - ee (sheet) o - aw (hot) ô - oh (alone) ơ - uh (love) u - oo (moon) ư - ooh? (good)
Dialogue Practice
A: Tên của bạn là gì? B: Tên của tôi là ____. Còn bạn, bạn tên là gì? A: Tên của tôi là ____. Họ của bạn là gì? B: Họ của tôi là ____. Còn bạn, họ của bạn là gì? A: Họ của tôi là ____.
2nd person to 3rd person
Add "ấy" after pronoun to change from 2nd person to 3rd person. Ex: Anh → Anh ấy You → He - "Anh" đi học ở trường Santiago, phải không? a. "You" go to school at Santiago, right? - "Anh ấy" đi học ở trường Santiago, phải không? a. "He" goes to school at Santiago, right?
Monosyllabic
All words = 1 syllable - Many words are compound words (2 words put together) a. called polysyllable words
Consonants
Bb - buh Cc - cuh Dd - yuh Đđ - duh Gg - guh Hh - hak Kk - ca Ll - luh Mm - muh Nn - nuh Pp - puh Qq - kwi/kwuh Rr - ruh Ss - shuh Tt - tuh Vv - vuh Xx - suh/shuh Yy - e-yie/e-carret
Tên - given name Họ - Last name Họ tên - full name Tên đệm/ tên lót - middle name bạn - friend
Còn bạn - as for you Của - of Là - to be Gì - what? Là gì - is what?
Khoanh Tay - fold arms
Cúi đầu - bow head
Singular/Plural Ex
Ex: Chị → Chị ấy → Các chị ấy You → She → They (Misses) - "Chị" biết viết tiếng Anh. a. "I/You" know how to write in English. (older sis) - "Chị ấy" biết viết tiếng Anh. a. "She" knows how to write in English. (older sis) - "Các chị ấy" biết viết tiếng Anh. a. "They" know how to write in English.
Chào Hỏi
Greetings
Chào ______ - ____ tên là _____
Hello ____ My name is _____
Xin chào! (fancy/polite way) Chào!
Hello!
Họ của ___ là ____
My last name is ___
Tên của ___ là ___ tôi/em/con/cháo
My name is ____
Placement of Dấu
One Vowel: Place dấu above/below the single vowel - lò, bốn Two Vowels: Place dấu above/below the first vowel - cửu, mái Two Vowels + Consonant: Place dấu above/below the second vowel - muốn, hoãn Three Vowels: Place dấu above/below the middle vowel - xoài, hiều
Non-Inflectional Ex
Phrase: "a word" vs. "many words" Vietnamese: "một chữ" vs. "nhiều Chữ" Phrase: I am "studying" vs. I "studied" Vietnamese: tôi "đang" học vs. tôi "đã" học
Vietnamese Pronouns
Pronouns are I, You, He/She, We, They Vietnamese pronouns: - reflect relationships (often kinship) - English often do not age difference - indicate gender
Singular to Plural
To change a personal pronoun from singular to plural, add the plural quantifier - "các", "mấy" or "những" before pronoun + "ấy"
Dialectal
Vietnam consists of 3 regions (dialects) - bắc (north) - trung (central) - nam (south) - pronunciation, vocabulary, & tone differ b/c of region
Bạn
friend/acquaintance
Thầy
male teacher
Cô
middle age lady/teacher
Ông
old man
Bà
old woman
Em
refer to yourself/young
Chị
young lady/sister/acquaintance
Anh
young man/brother/acquaintance
