INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS
1. Student's full name: Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: July 24, 1997 4. Place of birth: Hanoi
5. Decision No. 5626/QD-XHNV dated December 29, 2023, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, recognizing the student.
6. Changes in the training process: Extension of the study period according to Decision No. 9028/QD-XHNV dated December 23, 2025.
7. Thesis Title: A Comparative Study of Sound Combination Rules and Phonetic Change Phenomena in Chinese and Vietnamese
8. Major: Linguistics Code: 8229020
9. Scientific supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Trinh Cam Lan, Department of Linguistics, Vietnamese Language and Vietnamese Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
10. Summary of the thesis results:
This thesis comprehensively compares the phonetic systems of Chinese and Vietnamese on two levels: syllable structure and linguistic variation, thereby highlighting the typological characteristics of each language. In terms of structural system, Chinese classifies initial consonants based on shunt/unaspirated criteria, possesses a rich system of glides but a limited number of final consonants (only /-n, -ŋ/), leading to rigid, closed rhyme combinations and a system of four basic tones that favor pitch variation. Conversely, Vietnamese classifies initial consonants according to tone (voiced/voiceless), has an open rhyme structure with a diverse system of final consonants (including voiceless stop consonants /-p, -t, -k/), thus regulating the short-long vowel opposition and creating a complex system of six tones closely tied to syllable typology. Regarding phonetic changes, Chinese primarily employs reverse assimilation of final nasal sounds, applies obligatory tone dissimilation, and strongly tends towards syllable restructuring through weakening (creating light tones) and grammatical harmonization (creating new words). Meanwhile, Vietnamese adapts flexibly in both directions, profoundly dissimilating both tones and final consonants to create rhythm in its reduplicated word system, but simplification (removing sounds) is only superficial and does not break down the core phonetic structure of words. Finally, the unique ideographic character structure of Chinese characters gives rise to heterodoxy (Văn – Bạch, guessing sounds through radicals), which are completely absent in the clear phonetic Quốc ngữ system of Vietnamese. In short, Chinese is "closed" in its basic syllable structure but "open" in its linguistic variations, while Vietnamese is "open" in its rhyme structure but "conservative" in maintaining word boundaries.
11. Practical applications:
The research findings of this thesis have significant practical implications for teaching Chinese to Vietnamese speakers and Vietnamese to Chinese speakers. These findings provide an important basis for overcoming interference issues in the practical teaching and learning of the two languages.
12. Future research directions:
Firstly, the study applies experimental phonology: The current thesis primarily focuses on qualitative description and analysis based on phonological theory. Further research could utilize specialized audio analysis software (such as Praat) to quantitatively measure acoustic parameters (fundamental frequency F0, formants F1, F2, syllable duration). This experimental approach would provide tangible physical evidence to clarify differences in tonal contours, as well as the degree of weakening, dropping of sounds, or assimilation/dissimilation mechanisms in the natural speech of native speakers.
Secondly, in-depth research on phonetic interference errors in language acquisition is needed: Based on differences in syllable structure (such as the absence of final stop consonants /-p, -t, -k/ in Chinese or the complexity of light tones and inflections), future studies could conduct practical surveys on learner groups (Vietnamese learners of Chinese and Chinese learners of Vietnamese). The goal is to statistically classify specific pronunciation errors resulting from negative transfer from the mother tongue, thereby explaining the error mechanisms from a cognitive linguistic perspective.
Thirdly, expanding the scope of comparison to the dialectal and social variant level: Both Chinese and Vietnamese have profound dialectal differentiation. Further studies could compare phonetic changes not only in standard languages (Mandarin, standard Vietnamese) but also extend to specific dialects (for example, comparing Southern Chinese, which still retains final stop consonants, with Southern Vietnamese). This would make the typological picture more multifaceted and imbued with a deeper historical-sociological perspective on language.
Fourth, developing specialized teaching models and materials: The comparative results of this thesis provide a solid foundation for building practical phonetics curricula. A highly applicable development direction is to compile sets of phonetic exercises focusing on phonetic "blind spots" (such as training Chinese speakers to pronounce the final sounds of Vietnamese, or training Vietnamese speakers to identify chord and weakening phenomena in spoken Chinese), thereby optimizing foreign language teaching methods.
13. Published works related to the thesis: Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc (2025),Comparing the rules of sound combination in Chinese and Vietnamese from a teaching application perspective., Journal of Educational Equipment, No. 340 (2), 347-349.
INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
1. Full name: Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: July 24, 1997 4. Place of birth: Hanoi
5. Admission decision number 5626/QD-XHNV, Dated: December 29, 2023
6. Changes in academic process: Extension of the study period concerning to Decision No. 9028/QD-XHNV dated December 23, 2025.
7. Official thesis title: A Comparative Study of Phonotactic Rules and Phonological Change Phenomena in Chinese and Vietnamese.
8. Major: Linguistics 9. Code: 8229020
10. Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Trinh Cam Lan, Faculty of Linguistics, University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:
The thesis has comprehensively compared the phonetic systems of Chinese and Vietnamese across two dimensions: syllable structure and connected speech processes, thereby highlighting the typological identity of each language. In terms of systemic structure, Chinese categorizes initial consonants based on the aspiration/non-aspiration criterion; it possesses a rich system of medias but a restricted set of final consonants (limited to /-n, -ŋ/). This leads to rigidly molded, closed rhyme combinatory rules, along with a system of four basic tones that lean towards pitch variation. In contrast, Vietnamese categorizes initial consonants by voicing (voiced/voiceless) and features an open rhyme structure with a diverse system of final consonants (including the voiceless stops /-p, -t, -k/), which in turn dictates the short-long vowel opposition and forms a complex system of six tones closely tied to the syllable type. Regarding phonological processes, Chinese uses regressive assimilation in final nasal consonants, applies mandatory tone dissimilation (tone sandhi), and tends toward strong syllable restructuring through reduction (creating the neutral tone) and grammaticalized syllable contraction (creating new words). Meanwhile, Vietnamese flexibly adapts bi-directionally, profoundly dissimilating both tones and final consonants to create rhythm in its reduplicative words; however, its reduction phenomena (elision) are merely superficial colloquialisms that do not break the core phonetic shell of the word. Finally, the specific nature of phono-semantic characters in Chinese leads to the existence of variant readings (literary vs. colloquial readings, or phonetic guessing based on radicals), a phenomenon entirely absent in the transparent phonemic writing system (National Language) of Vietnamese. In summary, Chinese is “closed” in its basic syllable structure but “open” in connected speech modifications, whereas Vietnamese is “open” in rhyme combinations but “conservative” in maintaining word boundaries.
12. Practical applicability:
The research findings of this thesis hold significant practical value for teaching Chinese to Vietnamese learners and Vietnamese to Chinese learners. These findings provide a crucial foundation for overcoming language interference errors in the practical teaching and learning of both languages.
13. Further research directions:
First, applying experimental phonetics: The current thesis mainly focuses on qualitative description and analysis based on phonological theory. Future research could utilize specialized acoustic analysis software (such as Praat) to conduct quantitative measurements of acoustic parameters (fundamental frequency F0, formants F1 and F2, syllable duration). This empirical approach will provide direct physical evidence to clarify differences in tonal contours, as well as the degree of reduction, elision, or assimilation/dissimilation mechanisms in the natural speech of native speakers.
Second, conducting in-depth research on phonetic interference in language acquisition: Based on the structural differences of syllables (such as the absence of final stop consonants /-p, -t, -k/ in Chinese or the complexity of the neutral tone and tone sandhi), future studies could conduct empirical surveys on learner demographics (Vietnamese learners of Chinese and Chinese learners of Vietnamese). The objective is to compile statistics and categorize specific pronunciation errors caused by negative transfer from the mother tongue, explaining the error mechanisms from the perspective of cognitive linguistics.
Third, expanding the comparative scope to dialects and social variations: Both Chinese and Vietnamese exhibit profound dialectal variations. Subsequent research can compare phonological processes not only in the standard languages (Mandarin Chinese, Standard Vietnamese) but also expand to specific dialects (for instance, comparing Southern Chinese dialects, which still retain final stop consonants, with Southern Vietnamese). This will render the typological landscape more multidimensional and enrich it with historical-sociolinguistic characteristics.
Fourth, developing specialized teaching models and materials: The comparative results of this thesis provide a solid foundation for developing practical phonetics curricula. A highly applied development direction is the compilation of pronunciation exercise sets focusing on phonetic "blind spots" (such as training Chinese learners to pronounce Vietnamese final consonants, or training Vietnamese learners to recognize syllable contraction and reduction in spoken Chinese), which will help optimize foreign language teaching methods.
14. Thesis-related publications:Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc (2025),A Contrastive Analysis of Phonotactic Combination Rules in Chinese and Vietnamese from a Teaching Application Perspective, Journal of Educational Equipment, No. 340 (2), pp. 347–349.
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