spoken in Vietnam, Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Finland, France, Germany, Laos, Martinique, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Norway, Philippines, Senegal, Thailand, United Kingdom, USA, Vanuatu
Typological Information
11 vowels: a (low central), ă (short low central), â (short mid central), e (unrounded low front), ê (unrounded mid front), i (y) (unrounded high front), o (rounded low back), ô (rounded mid back), ơ (unrounded mid central), u (rounded high back), ư (unrounded high back)
6 tones (high/mid level, low falling `, high/mid rising ´, creaking-rising ~, low dipping-rising ̉, constricted .)
tonal harmony (see Nguyen 1997: 27): requires that within a reduplicative pattern the two repeated syllables carry tones of the same register ([upper]: high/mid level, high/mid rising, low dipping-rising vs. [lower]: low falling, constricted, creaking-rising)
SVO
isolating
poets take full advantage of reduplications - generally untranslatable - which help convey their feelings of vague melancholy, nostalgia, deep grief, or hesitation, etc. (cf. Nguyen 1997: 50; see also Nguyen 1997: 49-51, 56-57)