Here’s the link to the document.
When I started learning Vietnamese I found it interesting that every word was only one syllable. Each word is made up of 4 parts: the (optional) initial consonant, the vowel, the (optional) final consonant, and the tone. Each of these 4 elements only has a finite number of possibilities. There are about 27 initial consonants, 43 vowel combinations, 8 final sounds, and 6 tones. This meant that one could construct a “2 dimensional dictionary” of every Vietnamese word. Whereas a normal dictionary is linear, listing all words in alphabetical order, this vocabulary grid would be arranged alphabetically in two ways, by initial consonant in one dimension and by vowel sound in the other dimension. Such an arrangement makes it easy to see the difference between similar-sounding and similarly-spelled words. A student of Vietnamese could practice pronunciation using the chart, because every word in a given column would have the same initial consonant sound, and every word in a given row would have the same vowel sound. The words included in the project are the most essential words for a Vietnamese language student, particularly if living in Vietnam. The chart is fully editable, so feel free to add any other important words you know. Happy studying and good luck!
interopia 