Welcome to another interesting lesson of VinaPronuncia!

We’re almost half way of learning Vietnamese alphabets. How’s your progress? This week, we’ll learn 3 more consonants:

Lesson 6: Vietnamese consonants: L,M,N

1/L- en-lờ lờ

LÁ (leaf) LÊ (pear)

As Vietnamese does not have final sound, for “en-lờ”, the stress is on “en” and the sound of “lờ” is very subtle. In Vietnamese, L is pronounced quite distinctive from R, unlike Japanese where there is not distinction between L and R at all.

However, some Northerners, especially from the countryside, mix up L and N. So you may hear: “Tôi yêu Hà Lội nắm!”. Well, what they meant is “Tôi yêu Hà Nội lắm!” (I love Hanoi so much!).

I wonder what brought about this phenomenon. Is it a little influence from French language, where “L” is sometimes pronounced like “N”? A typical example is “Noel” is pronounced and written “Nô-en” in Vietnamese. If you know the answer, feel free to share with us!

2/M- em-mờ mờ

MẸ (mom) MỸ (US)

3/N- en-nờ nờ

NƠ (bow) NỮ (female)

Just like L, stress of M and N is on “em” and “en” respectively, the sound of “mờ” or “nờ” is very subtle. Didn’t you notice that the Vietnamese reading for L,M,N are the last sound of French reading?

Both M and N can accompany after one or two vowels to make more complex pronunciation. 

Only the elder brother- N can go with H to produce world combination NH that you may learn in further lessons.

I always see some relation between M and N. Because they are only 1 stroke different. 

Because M is pronounced like em (younger bro/sis) and N is pronounced like anh (elder bro/sis).

But strangely, “em” goes before “anh”.

M and N sometimes are used as codes for messaging. Do you understand this?

N ♥ M 

-> Anh Yêu Em- I love you (boy to girl)

Or M y N

-> Em Yêu Anh- I love you (girl to boy)

Well, now you know what to text your Vietnamese lover after reading this lesson?

See you next week!