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Vietnamese (Ting Vit)
Chapter January 2014

DOI: 10.1163/9789004283572_019
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The Handbook of
Austroasiatic Languages
VOLUME 2
Edited by
Mathias Jenny and Paul Sidwell
LEIDEN | BOSTON
This is a digital offfprint for restricted use only | 2015 Koninklijke Brill NV
Contents
volume 1
Acknowledgementsix
List of Mapsx
Abbreviationsxi
Notes on Contributorsxiv
Part 1
General Chapters
1 Editors Introduction3
Mathias Jenny and Paul Sidwell
2 The Austroasiatic Languages: A Typological Overview13

Mathias Jenny, Tobias Weber and Rachel Weymuth
3 Austroasiatic Classification144
Paul Sidwell
4 Austroasiatic Comparative-Historical Reconstruction:

An Overview221
Paul Sidwell and Felix Rau
5 Overview of the Munda Languages364

Gregory D. S. Anderson
part 2
Grammar Sketches
Section 1
Aslian
1 Northern Aslian419
Nicole Kruspe, Niclas Burenhult and Ewelina Wnuk
vi Contents
2 Semaq Beri475
Nicole Kruspe
Section 2
Monic
3 Old Mon519
Mathias Jenny and Patrick McCormick
4 Modern Mon553
Mathias Jenny
Section 3
Pearic
5 Chong603
Suwilai Premsrirat and Nattamon Rojanakul
Section 4
Khmeric
6 Old Khmer643
Paul Sidwell
7 Modern Khmer677
Walter Bisang
volume 2
Section 5
Bahnaric
8 Bunong719
Becky Butler
9 Kho-Sre746
Neil H. Olsen
Contents vii
10 Sedang789
Kenneth Smith and Paul Sidwell
Section 6
Katuic
11 Kui Ntua837
Kees Jan Bos and Paul Sidwell
12 Pacoh881
Mark J. Alves
Section 7
Vietic
13 Vietnamese (Ting Vit)909

Marc Brunelle
Section 8
Khmuic
14 Kammu957
Jan-Olof Svantesson and Arthur Holmer
15 Mlabri1003
Kevin Btscher
Section 9
Mangic
16 Bugan1033
Jinfang Li and Yongxian Luo
Section 10
Palaungic
17 Daraang Palaung 1065

Sujaritlak Deepadung, Ampika Rattanapitak and Supakit Buakaw
viii Contents
18 Danau1104
Aung Si
Section 11
Khasian
19 Standard Khasi1145
K.S. Nagaraja
20 Pnar1186
Hiram Ring
Section 12
Nicobarese
21 Car Nicobarese1229
Paul Sidwell
ppendix1266
Index of Languages1320
Index of Subjects1326
section 7
Vietic
chapter 13
Vietnamese (Ting Vit)

Marc Brunelle
1 Background
Vietnamese, the offficial language of Vietnam, belongs to the Vietic branch of

the Austroasiatic family. It is by far the largest Austroasiatic language, with
about 80 million native speakers and 510 million second language speakers
(based on the ethnic minority figures in the 2009 Vietnamese census). Among
these, 23 million speakers live abroad, including about 1 million in the US
(2000 US census) and probably close to half a million in Cambodia.
Paradoxically, the largest Austroasiatic language is typologically very diver-
gent from its Austroasiatic neighbors because intensive contact with Chinese
dramatically restructured its lexicon and afffected its phonology. Vietnamese
was also written in a Chinese derived script, ch nm, from the 14th to the
early 20th century, but is now exclusively written in quc ng, a Latin script
developed by Portuguese Catholic missionaries from the 16th century and first
fully codified in Alexandre De Rhodes (1651)s Vietnamese-Latin-Portuguese
dictionary.
Vietnamese exhibits strong dialectal variation (Hong 1989). Although it is
often described as having three main dialects (northern, central and south-
ern), the linguistic reality is far more complex. The northern dialect (from
Thanh Ho province to the Chinese border) and southern dialect (from Khnh
Ho province to the southern tip) are relatively homogeneous, but the area
in between is a patchwork of often mutually unintelligible dialects that can-
not be lumped together as a unified Central Vietnamese. In practice, mutual
intelligibility is insured by the existence of interlocked national and regional
standards. The national standard promoted by the national media is based on
the Hanoi variety, but it is competing with a southern standard, based on the
H Ch Minh City variety, that extends its influence all the way to central Viet-
nam and is used in southern-based media broadcast nationwide. To these two
major standards, one must add a number of regional standards, often based on
the variety of the largest city in a given area.
In this article, examples will be given in quc ng, alongside narrow IPA
transcriptions representing the surface form of the standard northern dialect
(peculiarities of the southern phonological system will be briefly discussed in
koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015|doi 10.1163/9789004283572_019

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the phonology section). Phonetic transcriptions are given in IPA, except tone
notation, because IPA tone marks do not allow a precise notation of the com-
plex Vietnamese tone contours and of their voice qualities. Instead, I follow
an alphanumerical system developed in Tai and Chinese historical linguistics.1
Glossing follows the Leipzig conventions, but I use a dot to link the elements
of polysyllabic words (including opaque compounds), which are separated by
a space in the native orthography.
Vietnamese is a well-described language, with several dictionaries and
comprehensive grammars. The first systematic grammars date back to the 19th
century (Aubaret 1867; Trng 1883) and influential grammars in English were
published in the second half of the 20th century (Emeneau 1951; Nguyn 1997;
Thompson 1965). Since this is a reference book, the citation strategy I adopt
is to privilege recent work published in English, the language of this volume,
sometimes at the expenses of seminal but less up-to-date work or materials
published in other languages. I would nonetheless emphasize that exhaustive
research on Vietnamese also requires a good knowledge of the considerable
literature published in Vietnamese, French and even Russian.
2 Phonetics/Phonology
2.1 Word/Syllable Structure

Vietnamese is often described as the stereotypical monosyllabic language.
This is a gross oversimplification. Besides monosyllables (1), it also comprises a
large number of transparent native compounds (2) and of semi-opaque Sino-
Vietnamese compounds (3). There is also a small, but significant number of
polysyllabic loanwords (4).
(1) Monosyllabic words

a.sn [s nA1] yard c.my [mjB1] machine
b.bay [jA1] to fly d.bn [anA2] table
1 In this system each tone receives a combination of a letter and a number. A tones derive
from originally open syllables, B tones derive from creaky syllables and syllables originally
closed by a glottal stop, and C tones stem from syllables originally closed by an h. D tones
are found in checked syllables. 1 is used for tones found on syllables that originally had a
voiceless onset, while 2 is used for syllables that originally had a voiced onset.
vietnamese ( ting vit ) 911
(2) Native disyllabic compounds (semantically transparent)

a.sn bay [s nA1 ajA1] yard + to fly airport
b.qun n [kwanB1 nA1] shop + eat restaurant
c.bn gh [anA2 eB1] table + chair furniture
d.cy c [kjA1 kC1] tree + grass vegetation
(3) Semi-opaque Sino-Vietnamese disyllabic compounds

a.tiu h [tiewC1.hoC1] to be small + tiger cat (esp. cat meat)
b.H Ni [haA2.nojB2] river + interior Hanoi
c.tham gia [tamA1.zaA1] to attend + to add to participate
d.khu bit [xuA1.ietD2] area + to part to distinguish, distinctive
(4) Polysyllabic loanwords

a.Si Gn [sajA2.nA2] < Khm. prej nokor (forest city) Saigon
b.ban cng [anA1.kowmA1] < Fr. balcon balcony
c.ph t cp pi [foA1.toA1.kpD1.piA1] < Fr. photocopie photocopy
d.Niu Di Ln [niwA1.ziA1.lnA1] < Engl. New
Zealand
Native disyllabic compounds (2) can be either subordinative (2ab) or coordi-

native (2cd). These categories will be further defined in 3.1, but what mat-
ters here is that both of these types are semantically transparent. Polysyllabic
loanwords (4), on the other hand, are opaque, e.g. cannot be decomposed
into morphemes or roots. Sino-Vietnamese compounds (3) fall somewhere
in between and thus have an interesting status in the language. While they
obey Chinese constituent structure (modifier + head rather than native head +
modifier) and are mostly composed of units that cannot be normally used as
free standing words (exceptions here: h in 3a and khu in 3d), they are not
necessarily semantically opaque (or at least not for educated speakers). Their
status is very similar to Greek and Latin roots in Western languages, which are
not productive morphemes, but whose meaning can be uncovered or at least
guessed from their occurrence in sets of semantically related words.
There is little evidence of word stress in subordinative compounds. In fact,
the prominence structure of such compounds is phonetically indistinguish-
able from that of phrases in natural conditions (Nguyn & Ingram 2007a).
Evidence for a greater prominence of the final syllable has been found in
coordinative compounds and reduplicated forms (Nguyn & Ingram 2007a;
Nguyn & Ingram 2007b), but at this point it is diffficult to know for certain if
this relatively small efffect is due to word stress or word-final lengthening.
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The syllable (5) is composed of an obligatory simple onset (which can be a

glottal stop), followed by an optional medial glide -w-. The rhyme consists of
a monophthong or diphthong that can be closed by a coda. A minimal weight
requirement forces rhymes to have at least two moras, which prevents the
occurrence of short vowels in open syllables. All syllables must bear tone.
(5) T
C(w)V(V)(C)
2.2 Phoneme Inventory and Phonotactics

The inventory of onsets is given in (6).
(6) Vietnamese onsets
Northern standard Southern standard

t k t / c k
t t
g
f s x h f s () x h
v z v
m n m n
l r, l j
There are significant diffferences between the main two dialects. Southern
Vietnamese maintains a contrast between a slightly afffricated retroflex stop
(spelled tr-) and a palatal stop (spelled ch-) that are merged in the Northern
dialect. This contrast between palatals and postalveolars is also maintained
for voiceless fricatives in hyper-formal speech: a contrast between /s-/ (spelled
x-) and /-/ (spelled s-) is taught in schools and relatively frequent in southern
media. A second important diffference is that the Northern Vietnamese voiced
velar fricative /-/ is realized as [g-] in Southern Vietnamese. The last impor-
tant diffference is that Southern Vietnamese /r-/ and /j-/ are merged into /z-/ in
Northern Vietnamese. There is also a strong tendency to realize /v-/ as [j-] in
Southern dialects, but this is substandard.
The medial glide /-w-/ has two allophonic variants, [--] before front vowels
and [-w-] before other vowels. It is phonotactically banned after labial onsets
in both dialects (except in a handful of French loanwords). There is a tendency
to reduce Cw- sequences in Southern dialects by deleting the glide (in /sw-/
and /tw-/), deleting the onset (in /kw-/, /gw-/ and /hw-/) or merging the two
elements of the cluster (/xw/ [f]).
Codas are a subset of onsets, as shown in (7). The only significant departure
to this generalization is the presence of a voiceless bilabial stop /p/, absent in
onsets.
(7) Vietnamese codas

Northern dialect Southern dialect
p t k p t~k
m n m n~
w j w j
The two velar codas undergo significant allophonic variation. In Northern

Vietnamese, they become palatalized as [-jk, -j] after front monophthongs
and labio-velarized as [-kp, -m] after back monophthongs. The only excep-
tion to this generalization are the rhymes [-jk, -j], in which palatalized
consonants surface after a central vowel. This has led Haudricourt (1952) to
reanalyze these rhymes as underlying /k, /, thus acounting for the other-
wise unexplained absence of palatal and velar codas after the vowel // and
shedding light on the behavior of long // and // in loanwords. Southern
Vietnamese has an even more complex allophonic distribution of codas. It
does not have palatals and has lost the contrast between alveodentals and
velars in favor of an allophonic distribution predictable from vowels. In a nut-
shell, front monophthongs can only co-occur with bilabial and alveodental
codas while central and back vowels can only be followed bilabials or velars.
This complicated phonotactic problem is a central issue in Vietnamese pho-
nology (reanalyzed in English in Phm 2006).
The Northern Vietnamese vowel system (8) has three contrastive heights
and three contrastive degrees of frontness. There are also three underlying offf-
gliding diphthongs and two pairs of vowels contrasting only in length: / ~
a/ and / ~ / (in further IPA transcriptions, a brevis is used for the contras-
tive short vowels [, ] and their allophones; length is otherwise unmarked).
Two additional long vowels, // and //, are rare and overwhelmingly found
in loanwords. A slightly controversial point is the exact place of articulation
of the central vowels, which are often claimed to be back. Although recent
acoustic evidence suggest a fairly backed place of articulation, which could
support the choice of the symbol /, / rather than /, / (Kirby 2011), articula-
tory evidence is still needed. Overall, vowels display relatively little allophonic
variation: /o/ and // have diphthongized variants, [ow] and [w~aw], before
velar codas and the diphthongs /ie, , uo/ are realized as [i, , u] in open
syllables.
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(8) Northern Vietnamese vowels

ie uo
i u
e / o
/() /a /()
The Southern Vietnamese vowel system is slightly diffferent from that of

Northern Vietnamese. The Northern diphthongs are realized as long vowels
/i, , u/ in the South and the short vowels // and / / merge to // except
before glides. There are also tendencies to high vowel laxing and diphthongiza-
tion of long vowels.
The last point that needs to be addressed is the phonotactic distribution
and allophonic realization of rhymes composed of a vowel and a coda glide.
First of all, /-j/ is never found after front vowels, while /-w/ is never attested
after back vowels, while central vowels can be followed by either. Moreover,
the contrasts between /j ~ j/ and /w ~ w/ tend to be neutralized in North-
ern Vietnamese: this results in [j, w]. In contrast, Southern Vietnamese /j/
and /w/ merge with /aj/ and /aw/, yielding [aj, aw].
2.3 Suprasegmentals
Northern Vietnamese has six phonemic tones in open syllables and syllables
closed by a sonorant. Only two tones are found in syllables closed by stops (or
checked syllables): they are often treated as allophonic variants of tones B1 and
B2which is reflected in the orthographyand have tone shapes that are very
similar to B1 and B2, though slightly shorter (V 1981; V 1982). A peculiarity
of Northern Vietnamese is the importance of phonation in the realization of
some tones (Brunelle et al. 2010; Michaud 2004; Nguyn & Edmondson 1997).
Besides the pitch contours given in (9), three tones have specific phonation
types: tone B2 ends in a dramatic glottal stop, C1 has a tense/slightly creaky
phonation towards its end and tone C2 has a strong glottal constriction at its
lowest point. Note that tone D2 shows no evidence of glottalisation, contrary
to B2, despite a similar contour (Michaud 2004).
Two of the tones represented in (9) have other, more conservative, variants.
Tone B1 is often realized as a high-rising tone (especially by older speakers and/
or outside Hanoi), while tone C1 is still often produced as a falling-rising tone
by more conservative speakers.
(9) Northern Vietnamese tone system in unchecked syllables, female speaker (from
Brunelle & Jannedy 2013)
Tone
350 C2 A1 (ngang)
A2 (huyn)
B1 (sc) /
B2 (nng)
300 C1 (hi)
Mean f0
A1 C2 (ng)
B1
B2
C1
250
A2
200
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (msec)
The importance of voice quality in Northern Vietnamese tones has led some
researchers to question the importance of pitch in this system (Phm 2001).
However, experimental studies conducted since have revealed that both prop-
erties are important for perception, even if pitch is less important than previ-
ously assumed (Brunelle 2009b; Kirby 2010).
The Southern Vietnamese tone system, by contrast, only has five tones in
unchecked syllables due to a merger of C1 and C2. It also has two checked
tones, D1 and D2, which are relatively similar to B1 and B2 (V 1981; V 1982).
Contrary to Northern Vietnamese, it makes no use of phonation contrasts.
The Southern Vietnamese tone system is given in (10). Note that the idiosyn-
cratic realization of tones B2 and C1/C2 shown in (10) are not typical in that
their final portions are flat. Most speakers have final rises at the end of these
tones.
Despite significant tonal coarticulation (Brunelle 2009a), no phonological
tone sandhis have been reported in Vietnamese dialects. However, some types
of reduplication provide evidence that tones are organized into phonological
classes (see 3.3).
916 brunelle
(10) Southern Vietnamese tone system in unchecked syllables, one male speaker
(from Brunelle & Jannedy 2013)
Tone
180
A1 (ngang)
B1 A2 (huyn)
160 B1 (sc)
B2 (nng) /
C1-C2 (hi-ng) /
Mean f0
140 A1
A2
120
C1-C2
100
B2
80
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (msec)
3 Word Formation
3.1 Compounding
As already briefly mentioned in 2.1, there are two major types of native com-
pounds, coordinative and subordinative (Nguyn 1997). Coordinative com-
pounds (11) are composed of two juxtaposed lexical words of the same class
that have no syntactic relationship. Semantically, coordinative compounds
usually designate a class of objects of which the two members of the com-
pound are a subset. Examples of coordinate compounds made up of the three
lexical parts of speech are given in (11).
(11) Coordinative compounds (N = noun, SV = stative verb, V = action verb)
N+N
a.cha m [aA1 mB2] father + mother parents
b.qun o [kw nA2 awB1] pant + shirt clothes
SV+SV
c.li bing [ljA2 ieB1] to be lazy + to be lazy lazy
d.ngho kh [wA2 xoC1] to be poor + to be miserable extremely poor
V+V
e.mua bn [muA1 anB2] to buy + to sell to trade
f.i qua i li [iA1 kwaA1 iA1 lajB2] go+cross+go+come to keep coming and going
It has been proposed (Nguyn 1997) to distinguish generalizing compounds,

e.g. compounds composed of two members of a set but which denote the
entire set (like 11b), from other coordinative compounds. However, there is no
special reason to establish a clear theoretical distinction between these two
types: the semantic scope of given compounds is largely lexicalized and even
sometimes open to interpretation. While some speakers perceive bn gh (2c)
table + chairs as meaning furniture in general, other speakers insist that it
only means tables, chairs and stools. Interestingly, there is a small number of
quadrisyllabic compounds, like (11f), which are composed of two juxtaposed
short phrases.
There is also a rich array of subordinative compounds (12). These follow the
usual constituent order of native Vietnamese (5.1), in which heads precede
modifiers.
(12) Subordinative compounds (N = noun, SV = stative verb, V = action verb)
N+N
a.c heo [kaB1 hwA1] fish + pig dolphin
b.m gi [miA2 ojB1] wheat noodle + pack instant noodle
N+V
c.ngi lm [jA2 lamA2] person + work maid
d.bi ht [ajA2 hatD1] written piece + to sing song
N+SV
e.thuc ty [tuokD1 tjA1] drug + to be western Western medicine
f.canh chua [kjA1 uA1] soup + to be sour k.o. soup
V+V
g.lm thu [lamA2 teA1] to work + to rent to work as hired hand
h.kim n [kiemB1 nA1] to look for + to eat to earn a living
V+SV
i.n chay [nA1 tjA1] to eat + to be vegetarian to be vegetarian
j.coi thng [kjA1 tA2] to watch + to be ordinary to underestimate
918 brunelle
SV+N
k.chn i [anB1 jA2] to be bored + life extremely bored
l.m ch [muA2 C2] to be blind + letter illiterate
SV+SV
m.ti m [tojB1 muA2] to be dark + to be blind pitch dark
n.cht i [etD1 jB1] to be dead + to be hungry starving
The same headedness structure is also found in longer compounds, as shown

in (13). In these compounds, not only does the main head precede the modifier,
but the embedded compound also follows that structure.
(13) Complex native compounds

a.my ht bi [mjB1 hutD1 ujB2] machine + (to suck + dust)
vacuum cleaner
b.xe p in [sA1 apD2 ienB2] (vehicle + to trample) + electricity
electric bicycle
Based on this, it has been argued that Vietnamese compounds are nothing
more than lexicalized phrases (Noyer 1998). In fact, in the absence of clear
word-level stress or of regular cliticization phenomena, there is little evidence
for the existence of the prosodic word in Vietnamese (but see Phm 2008).
Besides semantically transparent native compounds, there is a large category
of Sino-Vietnamese compounds that, as discussed in 2.1, are semi-opaque. Since
a large majority of the Vietnamese lexicon is composed of Chinese loanwords,
it is important to define what a Sino-Vietnamese compound is. However, this
is not a trivial issue (Cao 1985). Stereotypical Sino-Vietnamese compounds
contain at least one Sino-Vietnamese bound morpheme (where a bound mor-
pheme is a syllable that cannot be a free standing word), like gii phng [zajC1.
fmB1] liberation, in which neither gii nor phng can be free-standing. By
that definition, Sino-Vietnamese compounds would not be real compounds,
but would be polysyllabic words. The problem is that some compounds are
semantically transparent, while obeying the Sino-Vietnamese order of constit-
uents, in which the modifier precedes the head rather than the opposite native
order. An example is bnh vin [ejC2-vienC2] hospital, which is composed
of free-standing words (bnh = disease, vin = institute), but has a modifier-
head order. On the one hand, such words do not follow regular compound for-
mation rules and should thus be treated as polysyllables. On the other, they
are composed of roots that can be free-standing words, which suggests they
are compounds. If we add to this conundrum individual variation in the rich-
ness and structure of the lexicon, we are left with a problem that is unlikely
to be solved by a categorical classification. In the end, even if the meaning of
their constituting morphemes is not obvious to (most) speakers, the fact that
morphemes and syllables coincide makes Sino-Vietnamese morphemes more
easily parsable than Latin or Greek roots in Western languages: few native
English speakers are aware of the internal morphemic structure of a word like
con+cep+tion, but all Vietnamese speakers are aware that gii phng libera-
tion, is composed of two morphemes, even if their meanings are especially
opaque.
Whenever complex compounds (14) are composed of one native monosyl-
labic and one Sino-Vietnamese disyllabic word, the Sino-Vietnamese element
is treated as a single word and the compound follows native order.
(14) Hybrid compounds (Sino-Vietnamese compounds are underlined)

a.th in t [tB1 ienB2-tC1] letter + (electricity + seed)
email (electronic letter)
b.hoa n [hwaA1-nA1 C1] (to return + bill) + red
offficial (red) receipt
3.2 Derivational Morphology

A few morphemes are occasionally treated as afffixes in Vietnamese linguistics
(Nguyn 1997: 6066). However, as they are phonologically and morphologi-
cal indistinguishable from other Sino-Vietnamese monosyllabic morphemes,
the reasons to label them as afffixes seem to be 1) their fixed position as the
initial or final edge of the word, 2) their transparent semantics and 3) their
productivity. Examples of productive prefixes include tin [tienA2] pre-, bn
[anB1] semi- and siu [siewA1] super-, while examples of productive sufffixes
include hc [hwkpD2] -logy and ho [hwaB1] -ize. Thus presyllable is tin
m tit [tienA2 mA1-tietD1] and nominalization is danh t ha [zjA1-tA2
hwaB1]. Overall, the main derivational processes in Vietnamese are, once again,
akin to compounding.
3.2.1 Deriving Nouns

A few morphemes can be used to derive nouns from active and stative verbs.
The first one is the noun vic [viekD2] business, matter, which can be appended
to any verb to nominalize it. Thus, sa cha [sC2 C1] to repair, can be nom-
inalized into vic sa cha [viekD2 sC1 C2] repair. Another nominalizer is
the bound prefix s, [sB2] which derives abstract nouns from stative verbs.
For instance, kin nhn [kienA1- nC2] to be patient can be nominalized into
s kin nhn [sB2 kienA1- nC2] patience. Besides vic and s, the normal
strategy to derive nouns from verbs is to use a classifier that defines them as
a countable unit. More details are given in the section dealing with classifiers
(4.2.3), but classifiers used to nominalize verbs include cuc [kuokD2] period
of time and sut [swtD1] unit of occurrence, while those used to nominalize
920 brunelle
stative verbs include ci [kajB1] abstract noun, ni [nojC2] unit of negative

emotion, nim [niemA2] unit of positive emotion, and tnh [tijB1] character.
3.2.2 Deriving Verbs

Aside from the sufffix ho (3.2), that can be used to derive verbs in -ize
from any noun or stative verb, there are no strategies for deriving verbs in
Vietnamese.
3.3 Reduplication
Vietnamese has a rich array of reduplication strategies that have been exten-
sively described and classified (for instance, Emeneau 1951). They consist in
reduplicating a syllable, while changing one or more of its constituents (onset,
whole rhyme, tone or vowel). A few examples are given in (15).
(15) Examples of reduplication (from Emeneau 1951)

vi [vojB2] to be hurried vi vng [vojB2-vaA2] to be hurried
chm [omA2] to spring up chm chm [omA2-omC2] to crouch down
vp [v pD1] to stumble vp vp [v pD1-vpD1] to meet diffficulties
cp [kopD2] to knock lp cp [lopD2-kopD2] to make noise with
shoes walking
A crucial observation here is that reduplication strategies are largely lexical-

ized. They are usually limited to a handful of words (sometimes a single one),
rarely have clear derivational semantics and are not normally applied to new
words. Only a few strategies seem to have real productivity. A quasi-exhaustive
list (there might be individual and dialectal variation) is given in (16).
(16) Productive reduplication strategies

a.Full reduplication: Attenuation of stative verbs
[C1] red [C1-C1] reddish
nh [B2] light nh nh [B2-B2] rather light
b.Tone changes to pair A: Attenuation of stative verbs (same meaning as 16a)

[C1] red o [A1-C1] reddish
nh [B2] light nh nh [A2-B2] rather light
c.Tone changes to pair A, coda stop nasalizes (checked syllable variant of 16b):
Attenuation of stative verbs
mt [matD1] fresh man mt [manA1-matD1] rather fresh
sch [sjkD2] clean snh sch [sjA2-sjkD2] rather clean
d.Rhyme changes to -/ [-CX]: Intensification of stative verbs

vui [vujA1] happy vui v [vujA1-vC1] very happy
mnh [mjB2] strong mnh m [mjB2-mC2] very strong
e.Rhyme changes to -ic/ic [-iekDX]: Sarcastic generalizing noun reduplication

sch [sajkA1] book sch sic [sajkA1-siekD1] damned books and stufff
ko [kwB2] candy ko kic [kwB2-kiekD2] damned candies and sweets
Most of the tone alternations involved in reduplication (especially the pro-

ductive reduplication strategies in (16) follow well-defined tone classes.
Vietnamese tones are organized along several phonological classes that corre-
spond to their diachronic sources but no longer match their phonetic shapes.
There are two registers, grouping together tones A1, B1, C1, D1 vs. A2, B2, C2, D2,
and four tone pairs, A1-A2, B1-B2, C1-C2 and D1-D2. In reduplication strategies
(16b) and (16c), the tone of the base changes to pair A, without changing reg-
ister. In strategy (16d), the tone is changed to pair C, again without changing
register. A similar process happens in (16e), where the tone of the reduplicant
must belong to pair D, but keeps the same register as the base (although here
many speakers seem to always prefer tone D1).
Reduplicated forms can occasionally alternate with other words in complex
expressives. An example formed along strategy (16e) is m [miA2 iB1] spa-
ghetti (noodle + to be Italian), which can be turned into m m ic [miA2 iB1
miA2 iekD1] damned pastas.
3.4 Sound Symbolism

Sound symbolic expressions are very prevalent in Vietnamese (for a summary,
see Brunelle & L 2013). Besides reduplication, the language has a number of
phonesthemes, e.g. arbitrary sound sequences that occur repeatedly in words
with a similar connotation (17), and a large quantity of ideophones. Ideo-
phones are onomatopoeic expressions that can be used as action verbs or
stative verbs to express physical or psychological states. For instance, the ideo-
phone om op [wamA2 wapD2] conveys the sound that waves make as they
break on the shore. There are even a few ideophonic expressions where minute
sound changes correlate with changes in the intensity of an action, as in (18).
(17) Rhyme ep [p]: to compress, to squeeze, to flatten

p [pD1] to press, to crush bp [pD2] flattened
dp [zpD2] flat lp [lpD1] flat
kp [kpD2] to pinch khp [xpD1] to close gently
922 brunelle
np [npD2] splint np [npD1] to crouch

p [pD2] to deflate, to flatten xp [spD2] to flatten, to deflate
hp [hpD2] narrowly delimited, confined
(18) Varying degrees of intensity in [k- -] sequence denoting to complain

cu nhu [kwA2-wA2] to complain (mildly irritating)
cn nhn [knA2-nA2] to complain (more irritating)
cu nhu [kwC1-wC1] to complain (very irritating)
4 Phrase and Clause Structure
To follow the same structure as other chapters, we will discuss phrase structure
before addressing the question of word classes (5). More details on parts of
speech can be found in that section. Note that from this point on, to (and to
be for stative verbs) will be omitted from word-to-word glosses to facilitate
parsing and alignement.
4.1 Noun Phrases

Based on Nguyn (1997) and Nguyn (2013), the noun phrase can be described
as having up to ten slots, as in (19).
(19)
TOT QUANT FOC CLF/MEAS NOUN MAT COL/SIZE ATTRIB
C by ci con c g cao b mt
[kaC1 ajC1 kajB1 knA1 kA2 oC2 kawA1 iB2 m tD1
all seven foc clf crane wood tall pass lost
DEM POSS
ny ca bc
njA2 kuC1 akD1]
prox poss uncle2
All these seven lost tall wooden cranes of yours.
The ten slots are the following:

1. TOT is a totality marker, which in practice, can only be tt c [t tD1 kaC1]
or c [kaC1] all.
2 See 5.2.1 for the use of kinship terms as pronouns.
2. QUANT is a quantifier, which can be either a numeral or the pluralizers

nhng [C2] or cc [kakD1] (5.2.3).
3. FOC can only be ci [kajB1], which although homophonous with a classi-
fier, is here used as a focus marker (Nguyn 2013).
4. CLF/MEAS is used for sortal or mensural noun (nouns behaving syntacti-
cally like classifiers).
5. NOUN is the noun itself.
6. MAT is the material from which the noun is made.
7. COL/SIZE is a slot reserved for stative verbs denoting color or size.
8. ATTRIB is used for other stative verbs or for relative clauses modifying
the noun. Relative sentences can be introduced by the complementizer
m, but this is optional, as exemplified by the relative b mt in (36).
9. DEM is used for demonstratives (5.2.1).
10. POSS is the slot containing possessor phrases. Possessors are headed by
the preposition ca [kuC1] of, but it can occasionally be omitted when
the possessed noun is a kinship term.
A noun phrase must contain at least a noun (20a), a classifier or a mensural

noun followed by any post nominal modifier (20b). Nounless NPs are also pos-
sible: they must contain a numeral sequence composed of c and a numeral
(20c) or of a quantifier followed by a classifier or mensural noun (20d).
(20) a.C sn xut Trung Quc.

[kA2 sanC1.sw tD1 C1 umA1.kwokD1]
crane produce reside China
Cranes are produced in China.
b.Con g sn xut Trung Quc.

[knA1 oC2 sanC1.sw tD1 C1 umA1.kwokD1]
clf wood produce reside China
The wooden ones are produced in China.
c.C by sn xut Trung Quc.

[kaC1 jC1 sanC1.sw tD1 C1 umA1.kwokD1]
all seven produce reside China
All seven are produced in China.
d.By con sn xut Trung Quc.

[jC1 knA1 sanC1.sw tD1 C1 umA1.kwokD1]
seven clf produce reside China
Seven ones are produced in China.
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4.2 Verb Phrases

4.2.1 Preverbal Markers
The function words that are directly part of the verb phrase (as opposed to
phrase-final ones) are all preverbal. Nguyn (1997) grouped them into seven
slots, shown in (21).
(21) cng u vn/cn TENSE/ASP/MD rt NEGATION hay/nng VERB
Most of these slots can only be occupied by a single (or two semantically iden-
tical) function word(s). This is the case with cng [kumC2] also, u [ewA2]
equally, vn/cn [v nC2/knA2] still, rt [z tD1] very, hay/nng [hjA1/nA1]
often. TENSE/ASPECT/MOOD can be filled in by a variety of tense-aspect-
mood markers like thng [tA2] habitual, s [sC2] future, sp [spD1]
immediate future, ang [aA1] progressive, [aC2] perfective, va/mi
[vA2/mjB1] recent perfective (more details in 5.2.4). Occasionally, two
tense-aspect markers can co-occur in that slot, like ang to be in the pro-
cess of V already and s ang will be in the process of V. NEGATION can be
filled in by khng [xowmA1] negative, chng/ch emphatic negative [C1/
aC1], cha [A1] negative perfective and VERB can contain any stative or
action verb.
Although this template does capture the order of preverbal markers, it is
important to note that many of them cannot co-occur for semantic reasons.
Further, there seems to be a pragmatic limit of four or five markers after which
the interpretation of the verbal phrase becomes impossible.
4.2.2 Complements
Besides preverbal markers, action verbs can be followed by several types of
complements, as in (22).
(22) VERB (NP) (PREP/V2 NP)
Depending on their transitivity, verbs can take zero, one or two complements.
Although most bivalent verbs require a direct and an indirect object, there is
a handful a ditransitive verbs, like cho [A1] to give, tng [tB2] to offfer, k
[keC1] to narrate, vit [vietD1] to write. The basic order of arguments can be
reversed (23), in which case a preposition (5.2.5), or more frequently a co-verb
with a prepositional use, must introduce the second NP complement. Note
that the argument closest to the verb seems to be mildly focalized.
(23) a.Mi khi v Vit Nam, Hng tng h hng

[moiC2 xiA1 veA2 vietD2.namA1 hA1 tB2 hB2.haA2
each moment return Vietnam Hng offfer relatives
thuc khng sinh.

tuokD1 xaB1.sijA1]
drug antibiotics
Every time she goes back to Vietnam, Hng offfers relatives antibiotics.
b.Mi khi v Vit Nam, Hng tng thuc

[moiC2 xiA1 veA2 vietD2.namA1 hA1 tB2 tuokD1
each moment return Vietnam Hng offfer drug
khng sinh cho h hng.

xaB1.sijA1 A1 hB2.haA2]
antibiotics give relatives
Every time she goes back to Vietnam, Hng offfers antibiotics to relatives.
Interestingly, inversion is ruled out with cho [A1] to give in (24), because it is
impossible to use it both as a main verb and as a co-verb with a prepositional
meaning.
(24) a.Hng cho h hng thuc.

[hA1 A1 hB2.haA2 tuokD1]
Hng give relatives drug
Hng gives relatives drugs.
b.*Hng cho thuc h hng.

[hA1 A1 tuokD1 hB2.haA2]
Hng give drug relatives
Hng gives drugs to relatives.
4.2.3 Adverbial Modifiers

The verb can also take adverbial modifiers. If the adverbial modifier is a stative
verb, it must be positioned immediately after the verb (25a). Placement after
the first NP is questionable (25bc), perhaps because a stative verb can be
syntactically interpreted as modifying the preceding noun. The final posi-
tion is probably ruled out for the same reason (25de), although it gets stron-
ger ungrammaticality judgments. Interestingly, if the adverbial modifier is a
926 brunelle
phrasal adverb, like mt cch min cng [motD2 kajkD1 mienC2-kC2] (one
+ manner + reluctant) in a reluctant way, (25de) become grammatical. This
is probably because phrasal adverbs cannot be confused with noun modifiers,
contrary to stative verbs.
(25) a.Hng tng min cng mt hp thuc khng sinh

[hA1 tB2 mienC2.kC2 motD2 hopD2 tuokD1 xaB1.sijA1
Hng offfer reluctant one box drug antibiotics
cho h hng.
A1 hB2.haA2]
give relatives
Hng reluctantly offfers a box of antibiotics to relatives.
b.?Hng tng mt hp thuc khng sinh min cng

[hA1 tB2 motD2 hopD2 tuokD1 xaB1.sijA1 mienC2.kC2
Hng offfer one box drug antibiotics reluctant
cho h hng.
A1 hB2.haA2]
give relatives
Hng offfers a box of antibiotics reluctantly to relatives.
c.?Hng tng cho h hng min cng mt hp thuc

[hA1 tB2 A1 hB2.haA2 mienC2.kC2 motD2 hopD2 tuokD1
Hng offfer give relatives reluctant one box drug
khng sinh.
xaB1.sijA1]
antibiotics
Hng offfers relatives reluctantly a box of antibiotics.
d.*Hng tng mt hp thuc khng sinh cho h hng

[hA1 tB2 motD2 hopD2 tuokD1 xaB1.sijA1 A1 hB2.haA2
Hng offfer one box drug antibiotics give relatives
min cng.
mienC2.kC2]
reluctant
Hng offfers a box of antibiotics to relatives reluctantly.
e.*Hng tng cho h hng mt hp thuc khng sinh

[hA1 tB2 A1 hB2.haA2 motD2 hopD2 tuokD1 xaB1.sijA1
Hng offfer give relatives one box drug antibiotics
min cng.
mienC2.kC2]
reluctant
Hng offfers relatives a box of antibiotics reluctantly.
Unlike action verbs, stative verbs can only be modified by a complement that
defines their scope (Nguyn 1997). This is exemplified in (26).
(26) a.Lm thng minh nhng rt dt lch s ng.

[l mA1 towmA1.mijA1 A1 z tD1 zotD1 lijkD2.sC1 aC1]
Lm intelligent but very ignorant history party
Lm is intelligent, but really bad at Party history.
b.Mng ct mc m d bn.
[mA1.kutB2 mkD1 maA2 zeC2 anB1]
mangosteen expensive but easy sell
Mangosteen are expensive, but easy to sell.
Adverbial modifiers can also be adverbial clauses, which are introduced by a

preposition. Although these are technically sentential adjuncts rather than
a part of the verb phrase, they are discussed here to be coherent with other
chapters. Important types of adverbial clauses are introduced by function
words like nu [newB1] for conditional clauses, [eC1] for purposive clauses,
ti v [tajC2 viA2] for causal clauses, etc. A number of markers can be used for
time clauses, like khi [xiA1] and lc [lukpD1], and hi [hojA2], which is used for
past time clauses only.
4.2.4 Serial Verb Constructions

A crucial aspect of Vietnamese verb phrases is the omnipresence of serial verb
constructions. A first type of such constructions is illustrated in (23b), where
the verb tng selects the coverb cho to introduce its indirect object. Other
relatively lexicalized co-verbs are also used to express aspects, as mentioned
in (5.2.4). Examples of such verbs include th [tC1] to try, xem [smA1] to
watch, b [uA2] to compensate. This is illustrated in (27).
928 brunelle
(27) a.Huyn phi hc b v lm bing

[hwienA2 fajC1 hwkpD2 uA2 viA2 lamA2 ieB1
Huyn ought study compensate because make lazy
c tun.
kaC1 tw nA2]
all week
Huyn must catch up on her studying because shes been lazy all week.
b.Ti hm qua c lp mi gio vin M i

[tojB1 homA1-kwaA1 kaC1 lpD1 mjA2 zawB1.vienA1 miC2 iA1
night day-past all class invite teacher USA go
n th tht ch.
nA1 tC1 titD2 B1]
eat try meat dog
Last night, the whole class invited the American teacher to go try dog meat.
Another frequent type of serial construction consists of a V1, the main verb,
and a V2, a movement verb used as a co-verb to indicate the direction, physical
or figurative, of the action (Hanske 2013), as in (28). The directional co-verbs
are ra [zaA1] go out, vo [vawA2] enter, ln [lenA1] go up, xung [suoB1] go
down, i [iA1] go, li [lajB2] come back, v [veA2] return.
(28) a.Tr em leo ln i ct .

[C2 mA1 lw A1 len A1 ojA2 katD1 C1]
young younger.sibling climb go.up hill sand red
Kids climb up the red sand dunes.
b.C c quan i vo Si Gn chi.

[kaC1 kA1.kwanA1 iA1 vawA2 sajA2.nA2 jA1]
all offfice go enter Saigon play
The whole offfice goes on a trip to Saigon.
However, serial verb constructions can also be composed of several main verbs
with a temporal sequence (lexicalized compound verbs like nu n [nwB1
nA1] (cook + eat) to cook are not analyzed as serial verb constructions here).
These structures are used to express a sequence of tightly related events, but
also causality and purpose. When verbs are action verbs, they can either share
complements or each have their own complements. In any case, objects must
follow the first verb. In (29a), for instance, mua and em share a single object,
which must follow mua. In (29b), each object follows the verb that heads it.
There are also complex sentences in which nouns phrases can be the object of
one verb and the subject of another. In (29c), not only is tin the object of t
and the subject of xung, but t tin is one of the objects of cho (the other, tin,
is not repeated) and the subject of mua.
(29) a.Dng i mua bo em v cho ng.

[zumC2 iA1 muA1 awB1 mA1 veA2 A1 owmA1]
Dng go buy newspaper bring return give grandfather
Dng goes to buy the newspaper and bring it back for her grandfather.
b.Dng ly bo An Ninh Th Gii gi c.

[zumC2 ljB1 awB1 anA1.nijA1 teB1.zjB1 jB1 kaB1]
Dng take newspaper security world wrap fish
Dng takes the newspaper The Worlds Security to wrap fish.
c.M Dng t tin xung cho t tin mua .

[mB2 zumC2 otD1 tienA2 suoB1 A1 toC1.tienA1 muA1 oA2]
Mother Dng burn money go.down give ancestor buy thing
Dngs mother burns money to the ancestors so that they can buy things.
Finally, serial verb constructions can also be composed of an action verb and
a stative verb. In such cases, the stative verb specifies the result of the action
verb or the manner in which it is realized. This is illustrated by the sequences
nh cht and ng khng su in (30ab).
(30) a.Nh bc kh v st nh cht c

[aA2 akD1 xoC1 viA2 stD1 jB1 etD1 kaC1
House aunt miserable because lightning hit dead all
n tru.
anA2 w A1]
herd bufffalo
My family is miserable because lightning killed the whole bufffalo herd.
b.Duy ng khng su v hng xm ang xy nh.

[ziA1 uC1 xowmA1 sw A1 viA2 haA2.smB1 aA1 sjA1 aA2]
Duy sleep neg deep because neighbor prog build house
Duy does not sleep well because the neighbors are building a house.
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4.3 Sentence Structure

Vietnamese root sentences can be composed of a subject noun phrase and
a verb phrase (along with optional adjuncts). This is the case of sentences
(2330) above. However, contrary to what is depicted in most examples above,
Vietnamese is heavily pro-drop. Subjects and objects can both be dropped if
they can be inferred from the context, which is a way of encoding givenness.
Another aspect in which previous examples are not representative is that
most Vietnamese natural utterances follow a theme-rheme scheme (also topic-
comment), where a sentence-initial theme, which can be either a noun phrase
or a verb phrase, is modified by a rheme, which can be either a noun phrase, a
verb phrase or a root sentence (Cao 1992). As shown in (31), the rheme is gener-
ally, but not obligatorily, introduced by the equative copula l [laA2] or by the
copula th [tiA2], which puts special focus on the theme.
(31) a.Li xe an ton l hnh phc ca mi

[lajB1 sA1 anA1.twanA2 laA2 hjB2.fukpD1 kuC1 mjB2
drive vehicle safe cop happiness poss each
gia nh.
zaA1.ijA2]
family
Driving safe is the happiness of all families.
b.Bn riu (th) ai cng thch.

[unB1-ziewA1 tiA2 ajA1 kumC2 tijkB1]
vermicelli-crab cop who also like
Everybody likes crab vermicelli soup (as opposed to other dishes).
Some sentences only consist of a rheme (Cao 1992), as in (32).
(32) Mt qu!
[metD2 kwaB1]
tired too.much
Too tired!
While other sentences have multiple embedded themes and rhemes (Cao
1992), as shown in (33).
(33) a.Bn riu ai cng thch th em n

[unB1-ziewA1 ajA1 kumC2 tijkD1 tiA2 mA1 nA1
vermicelli-crab who also like cop younger.sibling eat
mt bt na.
motD2 atD1 nC2]
one bowl again
Everybody likes crab vermicelli soup, so you have another bowl.
While the importance of the theme-rheme configuration in Vietnamese is not

controversial, trying to reduce all sentences to such a template is problematic.
Such a solution would involve reinterpreting subject-verb sentences as theme-
rheme sequences, even if they do not contain clause linkers. This has been the
subject of considerable debate in Vietnamese linguistics.
4.4 Complex Sentences Structures

4.4.1 Sentence Types
As shown by the non-exhaustive examples in (34), yes-no questions are
derived by adding a final particle to the end of the sentence. Open questions
are formed by replacing a constituent with an in situ wh-word.
(34) Base sentence:

Lan tp th dc.
[lanA1 t pD2 theB1.zukpD2]
Lan practice exercise
Lan works out.
a.Khng [xomA1] not: yes-no question

Lan tp th dc khng? Is Lan working out?
b.Cha [A1] not yet: yet-question

Lan tp th dc cha? Has Lan worked out yet?
c. [aA2] isnt it: confirmation question

Lan tp th dc ? Lan is working out?
Variation in intonation is also used for marking interrogatives, as well as

imperatives and the emotional content of a sentence (summary in Brunelle
et al. 2012). However, intonational strategies seem to be highly idiosyncratic
and optional. Final particles are a much more reliable cue (5.2.7).
932 brunelle
4.4.2 Superlatives and Comparatives

Superlatives are formed by adding nht [ tD1] first to a stative verb. Infe-
riority superlatives can be formed by adding t...nht [itD1... tD1] to the
same stative verbs. Action verb phrases can also be turned into superlatives
by adding nhiu nht [iewA2 tD1] the most / t nht [itD1 tD1] the least.
Examples are given in (35).
(35) a.Thnh ph ln nht Vit Nam l Si Gn.

[tjA2.foB1 lnB1 tD1 vietD2.namA1 laA2 sajA2.nA2]
city large first Vietnam cop Saigon
The largest city in Vietnam is Saigon.
b.Thnh ph t nng nht Vit Nam l Lo Cai.

[tjA2.foB1 itD1 nwmB1 tD1 vietD2.namA1 laA2 lawA2.kajA1]
city little hot first Vietnam cop Lo Cai
The coolest city in Vietnam is Lao Cai.
c.Thnh ph c h nhiu / t nht l H Ni.

[tjA2.foB1 kB1 hoA2 iewA2 / itD1 tD1 laA2 haA2.nojB2]
city exist lake lot / little first cop Hanoi
The city that has the most / fewest lakes is Hanoi.
d.Thnh ph c nhiu / t h nht l H Ni.

[tjA2.foB1 kB1 iewA2 / itD1 hoA2 tD1 laA2 haA2.nojB2]
city exist lot / little lake first cop Hanoi
The city that has the most / fewest lakes is Hanoi.
Comparatives are formed by adding hn [hnA1] / t hn [itB1 hnA1] after a

stative verb. As with superlatives, the only way to form a comparative with an
action verb phrase is to first modify it with the stative verbs nhiu or t. This is
shown in (36).
(36) a.Si Gn ng hn H Ni / t ng hn
[sajA2.nA2 omA1 hnA1 haA2.nojB2 / itD1 omA1 hnA1
Saigon crowded more Hanoi few crowded more
H Ni.
haA2.nojB2]
Hanoi
Saigon is more/less crowded than Hanoi.
b.H Ni c nhiu / t h hn Si Gn.

[haA2.nojB2 kB1 iewA2 / itD1 hob2 hnA1 sajA2.nA2]
Hanoi exist lot / few lake more Saigon
Hanoi has more/fewer lakes than Saigon.
c.H Ni c h nhiu / t hn Si Gn.

[haA2.nojB2 kB1 hoB2 iewA2 / itD1 hnA1 sajA2.nA2]
Hanoi exist lake lot / few more Saigon
Hanoi has more/fewer lakes than Saigon.
4.4.3 Relatives and Subordinate Clauses

As mentioned in 4.1, relative clauses can be headed by the complementizer
m [maA2] or just be juxtaposed to the noun phrase they modify, as in (37). The
modified noun phrase is gapped in the relative, as in most Western languages.
(37) a.Nh (m) bn gich u

[aA2 maA2 anB1 zA2-aC1 C1 wA2
house comp sell boiled.sausage-fried.sausage reside head
ng giu.
A2 zwA2]
street rich
The family that sells sausage at the beginning of the street is rich.
b.Gi ch (m) h bn hi bo.

[zA2-aC1 maA2 hD2 anB1 hjA1 wB1]
boiled.sausage-fried.sausage comp they sell slightly fat
The sausage that they sell is a bit fat.
Subordinate clauses introduced by verbs are normally headed by the equative

l [laA2] which acts as a complementizer (38a). The only exceptions to this are
verbs that can also take the quotative complementizer rng [zA2], like ni
[njB1] to say, bo [awC1] to tell, k [keC1] to narrate, bit [ietD1] to know,
ngh [iC2] to think and tng [tC1] to think wrongly. This is shown
in (38b).
(38) a.Nhiu ngi H Ni gc thy l mnh tinh t

[iewA2 jA2 haA2.nojB2 owkpD1 tjB1 laA2 mijA2 tijA2.teB1
many clf Hanoi root see cop oneself sophisticated
934 brunelle
hn ngi khc.
hnA1 jA2 xakD1]
more clf diffferent
Many old-time Hanoians think that they are more sophisticated than other
people.
b.Ngi H Ty li ngh rng ngi H Ni gc

[jA2 haA2.tjA1 lajB2 iC2 zA2 jA2 haA2.nojB2 owkpD1
clf H.Ty again think comp clf Hanoi root
hi kiu ngo.
hjA1 kiewA1.awB2]
slightly arrogant
As for H Ty people, they think that old-time Hanoians are a bit arrogant.
4.4.4 Passives
There are a few passive-like constructions in Vietnamese. The first two, l and
do, have an obligatory agent (39ab). Once again, l is behaving as a default
copula that links a theme and a rheme. Do is similar but puts emphasis on the
agent (l do is also possible, with the same meaning). c and b, on the other
hand, are used for describing actions in which the patient undergoes negative
and positive experiences, respectively (39cd). Contrary to do and l, they do
not require an agent.
(39) a.Quyn sch ny l *(V Trng Phng) vit

[kienC1 sjkD1 njA2 laA2 vuC2 wmB2 fumB2 vietD1 C1
clf book prox cop V Trng Phng write reside
H Ni.
haA2.nojB2]
Hanoi
This book was written by V Trng Phng in Hanoi.
b.Quyn sch ny do *(V Trng Phng) vit

[kienC1 sjkD1 njA2 zA1 vuC2 wmB2 fumB2 vietD1 C1
clf book prox pass V Trng Phng write reside
H Ni.
haA2.nojB2]
Hanoi
c.Quyn sch ny c (V Trng Phng) vit

[kienC1 sjkD1 njA2 kD2 vuC2 wmB2 fumB2 vietD1
clf book prox pass V Trng Phng write
H Ni.
C1 haA2.nojB2]
reside Hanoi
d.Quyn sch ny b (V Trng Phng) t

[kienC1 sjkD1 njA2 iB2 vuC2 wmB2 fumB2 otD1 C1
clf book prox pass V Trng Phng write reside
H Ni.
haA2.nojB2]
Hanoi
This book was burned by V Trng Phng in Hanoi.
Another diffference between l/do and c/b is that the latter can head
clauses with a subject gap (40) or even precede nouns or stative verbs (41). This
wide range of complements makes c and b somewhat untypical for passive
constructions (Simpson & H 2013).
(40) a. Lan c chn vo ng.

[lanA1 kD2 nB2 vawA2 aC1]
Lan pass choose enter party
Lan was chosen to enter the Party.
b. Lan b bt vo ng
[lanA1 iB2 tD1 vawA2 aC1]
Lan pass catch enter party
Lan got forced to enter the Party.
(41) a. Tun c bng khen / vui.

[twnB1 kD2 A2 xnA1 / vujA1]
Tun pass certificate praise happy
Tun receives a certificate of praise / Tun is happy.
b. Tun b tai nn / t.
[twnB1 iB2 tajA1.nanB2 / tD1]
Tun pass accident wet]
Tun has an accident / Tun gets wet.
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5 Word Classes
5.1 Lexical Words

Vietnamese distinguishes three types of lexical words: nouns, action verbs and
stative verbs (adjectives).
5.1.1 Nouns
Nouns refer to physical entities or abstract concepts. They can be modified by
demonstratives. Vietnamese nouns can be divided into count nouns and mass
nouns; mass nouns are far more common than count nouns (Cao 2003 [1980]).3
The class of count nouns includes time expressions (ngy [jA2] day, nm
[nmA1] year, etc.) and a number of nouns that are diffficult to attribute to
well-defined semantic categories (tnh [tijC1] province, mu [mwA2] color ,
bi [ajA2] text, etc.). All other nouns need to be individualized by a classifier
before being countable (5.2.2). Interestingly, the use of a classifier is optional
with kinship terms (bc [akD1] uncle, c [koA1] aunt, chu [wB1] nephew,
grandchild, etc.), making them diffficult to classify as count or mass nouns.
5.1.2 Verbs
Verbs can be divided into two categories: action verbs and stative verbs. Action
verbs denote actions while stative verbs denote states, like adjectives in West-
ern languages. The decision to lump the latter category with verbs derives from
their verb-like properties. Stative verbs can appear as predicates in the same
way as action verbs, as shown in (42).
(42) a.Phng n.
[fA1 nA1]
Phng eat
Phng eats.
b.Phng cao.
[fA1 kawA1]
Phng tall
Phng is tall.
3 Alternatively, Nguyn (2013) considers that most Vietnamese nouns are mass-like or
non-individuated.
However, the two categories are syntactically distinct in that some adverbs can
only modify one of the two categories and in that imperative markers can only
modify action verbs, as illustrated in (43).
(43) a.Phng ng nhiu. b.*Phng rt ng. c.Phng ng i!

[fA1 uC1 iewA2] [fA1 z tD1 uC1] [fA1 uC1 iA1]
Phng sleep much Phng very sleep Phng sleep imp
Phng sleeps a lot. Phng very sleeps. Sleep, Phng!
d.*Phng cao nhiu e.Phng rt cao f.*Phng cao i!

[fA1 kawA1 iewA2] [fA1 z tD1 kawA1] [fA1 kawA1 iA1]
Phng tall much Phng very tall Phng tall imp
Phng is tall a lot. Phng is very tall Be tall, Phng!
Stative verbs can also modify verbs, thus having adverb-like behavior, as
in (44b). In fact, Vietnamese does not have an independent class of lexical
adverbs.
(44) a.Phng vui- v. b.Phng i chi vui- v.

[fA1 vujA- vC1] [fA1 iA1 jA1 vujA1- vC1]
Phng happy- red Phng go play happy- red
Phng is very happy. Phng goes out happily.
Vietnamese also has two verb-like copulas, c [kB1], an existential or possessive cop-
ula, and l [laA2], an equative. C can either mean there is or to have, as shown in (45).
It behaves just like a verb in every respect. L has a more complex behavior. Although it
must be used as an equative copula between a subject and a nominal predicate (46a),
it can also be used as a non-verbal connector linking a theme to a rheme (see 4.3
and 5.2.6) and does not behave as a regular verb with respect to verbal modifiers
(contrast 46b with 46c).
(45) a.C mt con chut qua ng.

[kB1 motD2 knA1 uotD2 kwaA1 A2]
cop one clf rat cross street
There is a rat crossing the street.
b.Tho c mt ci xe my mi.
[tawC1 kB1 motD2 kajB1 sA1 mjB1 mjB1]
Tho cop one clf vehicle machine new
Tho has a new moped.
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(46) a.Tho l cnb ca khoa.

[tawC1 laA2 kanB1.oB2 kuC1 xwaA1]
Tho cop cadre poss faculty
Tho is an employee of the faculty.
b.Tho khng phi l cn b ca khoa.

[tawC1 xomA1 fajC1 laA2 kanB1.oB2 kuC1 xwaA1]
Tho neg ought cop cadre poss faculty
Tho is not an employee of the faculty.
c.Tho khng lm khoa.

[tawC1 xomA1 lamA2 C1 xwaA1]
Tho neg work reside faculty
Tho does not work at the faculty.
5.2 Function Words

5.2.1 Pronouns
There is a relatively limited set of personal pronouns. The most common are
given in (47).
(47) Common pronouns

ti [tojA1] neutral 1SG
ta [taA1] 1SG or 1PL inclusive, familiar/3SG impersonal
mnh [mijA2] 1SG or 1PL inclusive, familiar
tao [tawA1] 1SG used with social equals or inferiors (or as an insult)
my [mjA2] 2SG used with social equals or inferiors (or as an insult)
n [nB1] 3SG or 3PL for inanimate objects, animals or social
inferiors
chng [umB1] 3PL for inanimate objects, animals or social inferiors
chng ti [umB1 tojA1] 1PL exclusive
chng ta [umB1 taA1] 1PL inclusive
h [hB2] 3PL used for people
However, Vietnamese normally uses non-shifting kinship terms instead of

pronouns. For example, the normal way of addressing an elderly woman for
a young speaker would be to use b [aA2] grandmother, while referring to
oneself as chu [wB1] grandchild. As such, the normal way of expressing
the third person is not pronominal but consists in using a kinship term with a
demonstrative: ng y [omA1 jB1] means that grandfather (he), ch ny [iB2
njA2] means this older sister (she). Kinship terms can be combined with the
demonstratives used for any of three degrees of distance. Proximal demonstra-

tives are ny/ y [njA2/jA1], medial are /y/y [B1/ jB1/ jB1] and
distal are kia [kiA1] and n [nB2].
There are also three pronouns that can be used both as WH-words and
as indefinite pronouns: ai [ajA1] who?; anybody, everybody, u [wA1]
where?; anywhere, everywhere, g [ziA2] what?; anything, everything (Trn
& Bruening 2013).
5.2.2 Classifiers
Vietnamese has a small set of sortal classifiers, like ci [kajB1] (inanimate
objects), con [knA1] (animal, some objects), chic [iekD1] (vehicles and furni-
ture), nim [niemA2] (positive emotions), but regular nouns are also frequently
used as classifiers, like cun [kuonB1] roll, cy [kjA1] tree, qu [kwaC1] sphere,
fruit. The function of classifiers is to individualize the noun they precede. In
(48a), an unspecified mass of chicken is referred to. In (48b), specific chickens
are being killed.
(48) a.Uyn m g trong lavab.

[ienA1 moC1 aA2 mA1 laA1.vaA1.boA1]
Uyn cut.open chicken inside sink
Uyn kills (a) chicken(s) in the sink.
b.Uyn m con g trong lavab.

[ienA1 moC1 knA1 aA2 mA1 laA1.vaA1.boA1]
Uyn cut.open clf chicken inside sink
Uyn kills the chicken(s) in the sink.
Classifiers are normally used between nouns and numerals or pluralizers

(although they can optionally be dropped in lists or repetitive tasks). This is
exemplified in (49).
(49) a. Uyn m ba con g trong lavab.

[ienA1 moC1 aA1 knA1 aA2 mA1 laA1.vaA1.boA1]
Uyn cut.open three clf chicken inside sink
Uyn kills three chickens in the sink.
b. Uyn m cc con g trong lavab.

[ienA1 mo C1 kakD1 knA1 aA2 mA1 laA1.vaA1.boA1]
Uyn cut.open PL clf chicken inside sink
Uyn kills the chickens in the sink.
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Whenever the context is clear, classifiers can substitute with the nouns they
refer to, as in (50).
(50) Nh Uyn c hai con tru: mt con c

[aA2 ienA1 kB1 hajA1 knA1 w A1 motD2 knA1 kD2
house Uyn cop two clf bufffalo one clf male
v mt con ci.
vaA2 motD2 knA1 kajB1]
and one clf female
Uyns family has two bufffaloes: one male and one female.
Con c ngu nh b.
[knA1 kD2 uA1 A1 A2]
clf male stupid like cow
The male one is as stupid as a cow.
5.2.3 Numerals, Quantifiers and Intensifiers

The Vietnamese numeral system shows no traces of non-decimal bases. Basic
numbers are given in table (51). Numbers above ten are compositional. Thus
13 is mi ba [mjA2 aA1] ten three and 286 is hai trm tm mi su [hajA1
mA1 tamB1 mjA1 swB1] two hundred eight ten six. Complex numbers are
subject to minor tone and onset changes. For instance, mi ten changes to
mi in tens and the number 5 goes from nm [nmA1] to lm [lmA1] after
tens. Besides regular Mon-Khmer numbers, there is a Sino-Vietnamese parallel
set that is used in Sino-Vietnamese compounds (and in some games).
(51) Basic numerals

one mt motD2
two hai hajA1
three ba aA1
four bn onB1
five nm nmA1
six su swB1
seven by jC1
eight tm tamB1
nine chn inB1
ten mi mjA2
twenty hai mi hajA2 mjA1
hundred trm mA1

thousand nghn (N), ngn (S) inA2, anA2
million triu iewB2
billion t tiC1
Plural is only optionally marked in Vietnamese. They are two nominal plural-
izers: cc [kakD1] and nhng [C2]. Cc refers to an entire set of elements,
while nhng [C2] refers to a subset of a larger set. While count nouns can be
immediately preceded by these two pluralizers, pluralized mass nouns need to
be individualized by classifiers. Pronouns and kinship terms can also be plural-
ized by adding cc [kakD1], chng [umA1], bn [nB2] or a numeral before
them. Thus, cc anh [kakD1 jA1] or bn anh [nB2 jA1], mean you (older
brothers).
Since an exhaustive description of quantifiers is impossible in this short
sketch, universal quantifiers will be used as an illustration. When used between
a verb and a subject, indefinite pronoun or indefinite expression (marked with
no [nawA2] which), cng [kumC2] also takes on the meaning all (52ab).
Another option is to use the universal quantifier tt c [t tD1 kaC1] before the
subject (52c). To express all in other positions, one needs to use tt c (52d).
(52) a.Ai cng mun i n Tun sn bay.

[ajA1 kumC2 muonB1 iA1 nB1 tw nB1 C1 s nA1 jA1]
who also want go pick.up Tun reside yard fly
Everybody wants to go pick up Tun at the airport.
b.Bc no cng mun i n Tun

[akD1 nawA2 kumC2 muonB1 iA1 nB1 tw nB1 C1
older.uncle.aunt which also want go pick.up Tun reside
sn bay.
s nA1 jA1]
yard fly
All the uncles and aunts want to go pick up Tun at the airport.
c.Tt c h hng mun i n Tun sn bay.

[t tB1.kaC1 hB2.haA2 muonB1 iA1 nB1 tw nB1 C1 s nA1 jA1]
every relatives want go pick.up Tun reside yard fly
All the relatives want to go pick up Tun at the airport.
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d.Tun phi i n tt c h hng sn bay.

[tw nB1 fajC1 iA1 nB1 t tB1.kaC1 hB2.haA2 C1 s nA1 jA1]
Tun ought go pick.up every relatives reside yard fly
Tun must go pick up all the relatives at the airport.
Every, with a focus on a whole group, is mi [mjB2], whereas each, with a

focus on individual elements of the group is mi [mojC2]. Tng [tA2] is used
to express the idea of each, in turn. These are illustrated with an example
modified from Thompson (1965) in (53).
(53) a.Cng an i n mi nh iu tra.

[kowmA1.anA1 iA1 enB1 mjB2 aA2 eC1 iewA2.aA1]
police go arrive every house in.order.to investigate
The police goes to every house to investigate.
b.Cng an i n mi nh iu tra.
[kowmA1.anA1 iA1 enB1 mojC2 aA2 eC1 iewA2.aA1]
police go arrive each house in.order.to investigate
The police goes to each house to investigate.
c.Cng an i n tng nh
[kowmA1.anA1 iA1 enB1 tA2 aA2 eC1
police go arrive each.in.turn house in.order.to
iu tra.
iewA2.aA1]
investigate
The police goes to each house in turn to investigate.
As shown in (54), intensifiers include nhiu [iewA2] much, a lot and t [itD1]
few, little, which mostly behave like stative verbs in that they can modify both
nouns and action verbs (t also means rarely, in which case it is preverbal).
However, contrary to other stative verbs, they precede the noun they modify
when they are not used as the main predicate (54c)
(54) a.Tun n nhiu / t.

[tw nB1 nA1 iewA2 / itD1]
Tun eat much / little
Tun eats a lot / little.
b.Qun o ca Tun nhiu/ t.

[kw nA2 awB1 kuC1 tw nB1 iewA2 / itD1]
pant shirt poss Tun much / little
Tun has many / few clothes.
c.Tun c nhiu / t bn i du hc
[tw nB1 kB1 iewA2 / itD1 anB2 iA1 zuA1.hwkpD2]
Tun exist much / little friend go study.abroad
Tun has many / few friends who went to study abroad.
The intensifier rt [z tD1] very modifies (and precedes) either stative or action
verbs, as in (55). Hi [hjA1] little, follows the same syntactic placement as rt.
The fact that rt and hi can modify t and nhiu, as in (55c) is additional evi-
dence that the latter are actually stative verbs.
(55) a.Tun rt thch i nhu.

[tw nB1 z tD1 tijkD1 iA1 w B2]
Tun very like go drink.alcohol.and.eat.light.food
Tun likes going out for drinks very much.
b.a bn rt vui tnh ca Tun cng

[B1 anB2 z tD1 vujA1 tijB1 kuC1 tw nB1 kumC2
clf friend very happy character poss Tun also
i nhu.
iA1 w B2]
go drink.alcohol.and.eat
Tuns very fun friend also goes out for drinks.
c.Tun nhu rt nhiu / t!

[tw nB1 w B2 z tD1 iewA2 / itD1]
Tun drink.alcohol very much / little
Tun drinks very little / much.
On the other hand, lm [lmB1] very and qu [kwaB1] too much, extremely
are always phrase-final and modify the entire predicate, as in (56a). As shown
is (56b), they cannot have scope over a stative verb only, contrary to rt.
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(56) a.Tun thch i chi lm / qu!

[tw nB1 tijkD1 iA1 jA1 lmB1 / kwaB1]
Tun like go play very / too.much
Tun likes to go out a lot!
b.*a bn cao lm / qu ca Tun l ngi

[B1 anB2 kawA1 lmB1 / kwaB1 kuC1 tw nB1 laA2 jA2
clf friend tall very / too.much poss Tun cop clf
H Mng.
hA1.mowA1]
Hmong
Tuns very tall friend is Hmong.
5.2.4 Tense, Aspect and Mood Markers

Tense, aspect and mood marking is optional in Vietnamese and is not marked
through afffixation. However, there are a number of verbal particles that encode
tense, aspect and mood (-Hurinville 2009b). A subset is given in (57). TAM
markers can either immediately precede the verb (4.2.1) or stand at the end
of the sentence (5.2.7). Note that there is significant debate about the exact
semantics of many of these TAM markers, and that proposed translations are
indicative only. Overall, (57ae) seem to convey aspectual distinctions, while
(57fh) also convey some notion of tense. Examples (57il) mark moods. As
mentioned in 4.2.1, combinations of TAM markers are possible, although sub-
ject to semantic restrictions.
(57) Base sentence:

Lan v qu.
[lanA1 veA2 kweA1]
Lan go.back hometown
Lan goes back to her hometown.
a.ang [aA1] (preverbal): progressive

Lan ang v qu Lan is going back to her hometown.
b. Ri [zojA2] (clause-final): accomplished, with currently relevant state

Lan v qu ri Lan is back in her hometown.
c. [aC2] (preverbal): perfective, accomplished

Lan v qu (ri) Lan went back to her hometown.
d. [aC2] (clause-final): the action must be completed before the realization of

another action
Lan v qu Lan goes back to her hometown first.
e. Vn [v nC2] (preverbal): continuative

Lan vn v qu Lan still goes back to her hometown.
f. Va [vA2], mi [mjB1] (preverbal): recent past

Lan va/mi v qu Lan just went back to her hometown.
g. Sp [spD1] (preverbal): immediate future

Lan sp v qu Lan is on the verge going back to her hometown.
h. S [sC2] (preverbal): incertain future/conditional

Lan s v qu Lan will/would go back to her hometown.
i. Hy [hjC2] (preverbal): mild imperative

Lan hy v qu Lan should go back to her hometown.
j. i [iA1] (clause-final): imperative

Lan v qu i! Lan, go back to your hometown!
k. ng [A2] (preverbal): prohibitive

Lan ng v qu! Lan, dont go back to your hometown!
l. c [kD2] (clause-final): ability/permission/success (Enfield 2001)

Lan v qu c. Lan can go back to her hometown. / Lan is allowed to go back to
her hometown. / Lan is able to go back to her hometown.
Many of these final particles can also occupy other syntactic positions, a multi-
functionality that has been analyzed as a consequence of syntactic movement
(Dufffield 2013). Besides these verbal particles, a number of verbs frequently co-
occur as co-verbs in lexicalized serial verb constructions. Many of these verbs
have taken on a lexicalized meaning, like cn [knA2] to continue to V, th
[tC1] to try to V, xem [smA1] to V and see. They are treated in more detail
in 4.2.
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5.2.5 Prepositions
Vietnamese has prepositions, but no postpositions. Prepositions listed in
Nguyn (1997) include ca [kuC1] of (possessive), bng [A2] by means
of, made of, vi [vjB1] with, ti [tajB2] at, v [viA2] / ti v [tajB2 viA2] / bi
[jC1] / bi v [jC1 viA2] because, in favor of, t [tA2] since, from, do [zA1]
by, because of. However, a number of prepositions also listed by Nguyn
(1997) are actually verbs, and as such, can be treated as co-verbs in serial verbs
constructions (4.2). The most frequent such verbs are [C1] to stay, to be
at, n [enB1] / ti [tjB1] to arrive, cho [A1] to give. Examples are given
in (58ac). Some other verbs, like v [veA2] to go back and [eC1] to put,
seem to be more grammaticalized in that their prepositional meaning is fairly
diffferent from their main verbal meaning (58de). A discussion of the gram-
maticalization processes involved in formation of prepositions can be found
in -Hurinville (2010).
(58) a.Lan b tai nn xe u?

[lanA1 biB2 tajA1.nanB2 sA1 C1 w A1]
Lan neg.exp accident vehicle reside where
Where did Lan have an accident?
b.Lan ng tra t mt gi n ba gi.

[lanA1 uC1 A1 tA2 motD2 zA2 enB1 aA1 zA2]
Lan sleep noon from one hour arrive three hour
Lan naps from one to three.
c.Lan nu rau mung cho chng n.

[lanA1 nw B1 zwA1.muoB1 A1 omA2 nB1]
Lan cook morning.glories give husband 3
Lan cooks morning glories for her husband.
d.Lan k chuyn v hng xm.

[lanA1 keC1 wienB2 veA2 haA2.somB1]
Lan tell story go.back neighbor
Lan is telling stories about the neighbors.
e. Chng n n tin nui con.

[tumB1 nB1 nA1 tienA2 eC1 nuojA1 knA1]
pl 3p eat money put feed child
They take bribes to feed their children.
There is also a class of preposition-like spatial elements (trong [wmA1]

inside, ngoi [wajA2] outside, di [zjB1] bottom, trn [enA1] top, gia
[zC2] middle, etc.) that are sometimes analyzed as a special sub-class of
nouns (-Hurinville 2010; Nguyn 1997; Thompson 1965). They are optional
in the main predicate and emphasize the physical location of the action, as
in (59a). Otherwise, they function as prepositions and are obligatory, as in
(59bc). In the latter examples, the presence of the verb ln to go up before
trn top would entail a second event.
(59) a.Kin ln (trn) gc.

[kienA1 lenA1 enA1 akD1]
Kin go.up top rooftop
Kin goes up to the rooftop.
b.Kin phi o trn gc.

[kienA1 fjA1 awB1 enA1 akD1]
Kin dry shirt top rooftop
Kin dries shirts on the rooftop.
c.Trn gc Kin phi o.

[enA1 akD1 kienA1 fjA1 awB1]
top rooftop Kin dry shirt
On the rooftop, Kin dries shirts.
5.2.6 Conjunctions, Linkers and Discourse Markers

Vietnamese has conjunctions (Paris & L 2013) like v [vaA2] and, hay [hjA1]
or, hoc [hwkD2] either, nhng [A1] / m [maA2] but and markers of
clausal subordination like nu [newB1], if, d [zuA2] / tuy [tiA1] although,
cho nn [A1 nenA1] / nn [nenA1] for this reason. It also has two linkers which
are used to concatenate themes and rhemes (4.3): l [laA2], the default equa-
tive copula and th [tiA2], an attributive copula, which have been claimed
to respectively background and focus the theme (Clark 1996; -Hurinville
2009a). Besides these, there are also discourse markers such as backchannel
utterances and repair initiation markers (H 2012).
5.2.7 Final Particles

There is a rich array of clause final particles that are used to express emotional
nuances. A small set of examples is given in (60). Note that many of the sen-
tence type markers (4.4.1) and of the tense-aspect-mood markers (5.2.4)
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could be analyzed as final particles, but they are not repeated here. Some of the
intensifiers in 5.2.3 (qu, lm) could also arguably be treated as final particles.
(60) Base sentence:

Anh n cm
[jA1 nA1 kmA1]
older.brother eat cooked.rice
You eat a meal.
a.Nh [B1]: invitation

Anh n cm nh! Go ahead and eat your meal.
b.Th [theB1]: thus, interrogative reinforcement (Southern Vietnamese vy)

Sao anh n cm th? Why do you eat your meal like that?
c. [aB2]: politeness, deference (Northern Vietnamese)

Anh n cm . You eat your meal.
d.Ch [tB1]: of course

Anh n cm ch! You eat your meal, of course!
6 Semantics and Pragmatics
6.1 Specialized Vocabulary

An exhaustive description of Vietnamese specialized lexicon is obviously out
of the question here, but two areas of the vocabulary have been chosen as illus-
trations. The first one is the lexicon related to rice, in (61).
(61) rung [zuoB2] irrigated rice field ry [zjC2] dry (rice) field
m [maB2] rice seedling la [luB1] rice plant
rm [zmA1] rice straw thc [thwkpD1] unhusked rice
tru [w B1] rice husk lt [ltD1] whole rice
cm [kamB1] rice bran go [awB2] husked rice
t [tC1] normal rice np [nepD1] sticky rice
cm [komB1] young sticky rice xi [sojA1] steamed sticky rice
cm [kmA1] cooked rice cho [awB1] rice porridge
bn [unB1] rice vermicelli
Another representative part of the specialized lexicon is communist formu-

laic terms that have been bleached of their political connotations and are now
used in everyday life (61).
(62) Original meaning Bleached meaning

c quan [kA1-kwanA1] administrative organ offfice
cn b [kanB1-oB2] cadre employee
bo co [awB1-kawB1] to report to state, to declare
nht tr [ tD1-iB1] to be unanimous to agree
thnh tch [tjA2-tijkD1] achievement fake achievements
phong tro [fwmA1-awA2] movement fashion, fad
6.2 Language Use

As the national language of Vietnam, Vietnamese is used in all spheres of life,
both in speech and writing, by the overwhelming majority of the population
(UNESCO estimates literacy at 92.8%). A large majority of Vietnamese speak-
ers are monolingual, but a number of foreign languages are also spoken. Eng-
lish is the second language taught in schools in most provinces; there does
not seem to be a serious assessment of the actual number of its speakers, but
their level of fluency is usually extremely low. French has lost a lot of ground
since the colonial period, but is still spoken by 623,000 people, generally fairly
fluently (OIF 2010). Languages of the Soviet bloc (Russian, German, Czech,
Hungarian...) are still spoken to various degrees by former guest workers and
exchange students. Interestingly, Korean and Japanese have become increas-
ingly popular foreign languages in recent years, because of growing Northeast
Asian economic and cultural influence. Chinese is probably spoken by close
to one million people, but it is more than a foreign language: while there is
an important number of second language speakers, due to longstanding Chi-
nese cultural and political influence, a large proportion of the 823,000 ethnic
Chinese (2009 Vietnamese census), who mostly live in H Ch Minh City, still
speak southern Chinese varieties (Cantonese, Hokkien, Hainanese) as their
first language.
There is a significant number of ethnic minority people for which Vietnam-
ese is a second language (1015% of the population). For them, Vietnamese is
the language of education, the media and bureaucracy. Some ethnic minority
languages are losing ground to Vietnamese, like the Tai-speaking Ty and Nng
of Northern Vietnam. There is a strong Vietnamese influence on many minor-
ity languages, especially on their lexicon.
950 brunelle
6.3 Focus Marking

A final issue that has not yet been satisfactorily explored, but deserves men-
tioning, is information structure in Vietnamese. The order of presentation of
focused and backgrounded information not only underlies the syntactic orga-
nization of theme-rheme alternations (4.3) and the ellipsis of arguments
(4.4.2), but is also crucial in determining the use of classifiers (5.2.2), quanti-
fiers (5.2.3) and focus particles (Hole 2013).
7 Sample Glossed Text
Excerpt from the novel S (Dumb Luck), chapter 5, by V Trng Phng

(1936)
Cm i, ngu! Khi ngi ta c ng n

[k mA1 iA1 oA2 uA1 xiA1 jA2.taA1 koC1.owmB2 anA2
mute imp thing stupid moment one propagandize flock
b
aA2]
grandmother
Shut up, stupid thing! When one campaigns for women...
th phi bit l cng c nm by th n b!

[tiA2 fajC1 bietD1 laA2 kumC2 kA1 nmA1 jC1 tB1 anA2 aA2]
cop ought know cop also exist five seven kind flock grandmother
One has to know that there are several kinds of women!
Khi ngi ta ni ph n...

[xiA1 jA2.taA1 njB1 fuB2.nC2]
moment one speak women
When one says women...
l ni v con ch em ngi khc,

[laA2 njB1 vB2 knA1 iB2 mA1 jA2 xakD1]
cop speak wife child older.sister younger.sibling person diffferent
One is talking about other peoples wives, sisters and children,...
ch khng phi v con ch em ca ta!

[B1 xowmA1 fajC1 vB2 knA1 iB2 mA1 kuC1 taA1]
but neg ought wife child older.sister younger.sibling poss one
but not their own wives, sisters and children!
M hiu cha? Ngi khc th c, m

[mB2 aC2 hiewC1 A1 jA2 xakD1 tiA2 kD2 maA2
mother ant understand not.yet person diffferent cop allowed but
m,
mB2]
mother
Do you understand? Its fine for other people, but you...
m l v ti,
[mB2 laA2 vB2 tojA1]
mother cop wife I
you are my wife
th m khng th tn thi nh ngi khc c!

[tiA2 mA1 xowmA1 teC1 t nA1.tjA2 A1 jA2 xakD1 kD2]
cop mother neg possible modern like person diffferent allowed
so you cant be modern like other people!
8 Bibliography
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Vietnamese (Ting Vit)

Chapter January 2014

Mathias Jenny and Paul Sidwell

2 The Austroasiatic Languages: A Typological Overview13

4 Austroasiatic Comparative-Historical Reconstruction:

5 Overview of the Munda Languages364

13 Vietnamese (Ting Vit)909

17 Daraang Palaung 1065

Vietnamese (Ting Vit)

Vietnamese, the offficial language of Vietnam, belongs to the Vietic branch of

koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015|doi 10.1163/9789004283572_019

2.1 Word/Syllable Structure

(1) Monosyllabic words

(2) Native disyllabic compounds (semantically transparent)

(3) Semi-opaque Sino-Vietnamese disyllabic compounds

(4) Polysyllabic loanwords

Native disyllabic compounds (2) can be either subordinative (2ab) or coordi-

The syllable (5) is composed of an obligatory simple onset (which can be a

2.2 Phoneme Inventory and Phonotactics

(6) Vietnamese onsets

Northern standard Southern standard

(7) Vietnamese codas

The two velar codas undergo significant allophonic variation. In Northern

(8) Northern Vietnamese vowels

The Southern Vietnamese vowel system is slightly diffferent from that of

(11) Coordinative compounds (N = noun, SV = stative verb, V = action verb)

It has been proposed (Nguyn 1997) to distinguish generalizing compounds,

(12) Subordinative compounds (N = noun, SV = stative verb, V = action verb)

The same headedness structure is also found in longer compounds, as shown

(13) Complex native compounds

(14) Hybrid compounds (Sino-Vietnamese compounds are underlined)

3.2 Derivational Morphology

3.2.1 Deriving Nouns

stative verbs include ci [kajB1] abstract noun, ni [nojC2] unit of negative

3.2.2 Deriving Verbs

(15) Examples of reduplication (from Emeneau 1951)

A crucial observation here is that reduplication strategies are largely lexical-

(16) Productive reduplication strategies

b.Tone changes to pair A: Attenuation of stative verbs (same meaning as 16a)

d.Rhyme changes to -/ [-CX]: Intensification of stative verbs

e.Rhyme changes to -ic/ic [-iekDX]: Sarcastic generalizing noun reduplication

Most of the tone alternations involved in reduplication (especially the pro-

3.4 Sound Symbolism

(17) Rhyme ep [p]: to compress, to squeeze, to flatten

np [npD2] splint np [npD1] to crouch

(18) Varying degrees of intensity in [k- -] sequence denoting to complain

4 Phrase and Clause Structure

4.1 Noun Phrases

The ten slots are the following:

2 See 5.2.1 for the use of kinship terms as pronouns.

2. QUANT is a quantifier, which can be either a numeral or the pluralizers

A noun phrase must contain at least a noun (20a), a classifier or a mensural

(20) a.C sn xut Trung Quc.

b.Con g sn xut Trung Quc.

c.C by sn xut Trung Quc.

d.By con sn xut Trung Quc.

4.2 Verb Phrases

(21) cng u vn/cn TENSE/ASP/MD rt NEGATION hay/nng VERB

(22) VERB (NP) (PREP/V2 NP)

(23) a.Mi khi v Vit Nam, Hng tng h hng

thuc khng sinh.

b.Mi khi v Vit Nam, Hng tng thuc

khng sinh cho h hng.

d.Phng cao nhiu e.Phng rt cao f.Phng cao i!