page_title: Vietnamese phonology
section_title: Vowel nuclei
hierarchical_section_title: Vietnamese phonology / Vowels / Vowel nuclei
context_page_description: Two main varieties of Vietnamese, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, are described below.
context_section_description: The IPA chart of vowel nuclei above is based on the sounds in Hanoi Vietnamese; other regions may have different inventories. Vowel nuclei consist of monophthongs (simple vowels) and three centering diphthongs.
  All vowels are unrounded except for the four back rounded vowels: /u, o, ɔ, uə̯/.
  In the South, the high vowels /i, ɨ, u/ are all diphthongized in open syllables: [ɪi̯, ɯ̽ɯ̯, ʊu̯], Ba Vì [baː˧ vɪi̯˩] (listen).
  /ə̆/ and /ă/ are pronounced short — shorter than the other vowels.
  While there are small consistent spectral differences between /ə̆/ and /ə/, it has not been established that they are perceptually significant.
  /ɨ/: Many descriptions, such as Thompson, Nguyễn (1970), Nguyễn (1997), consider this vowel to be close back unrounded: [ɯ]. However, Han's instrumental analysis indicates that it is more central than back. Hoang (1965), Brunelle (2003) and Phạm (2006) also transcribe this vowel as central.
caption: Vowel chart of Hanoi diphthongs according to Kirby (2011:384)