Do different varieties of Vietnamese constitute dialects, topolects, or accents?
Discuss.
While most would agree that the Central varieties of Vietnamese are distinctive dialects because they are less comprehensible to the rest of Vietnamese, there isn't a consensus on whether the Northern varieties and Southern varieties constitute dialects or merely accents because they are mutually intelligible most of the time.
After much contemplation, I think they are dialects rather than accents.
Definitions of accent:
- A distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language, especially one associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class.
- A distinct emphasis given to a syllable or word in speech by stress or pitch.
So accent = saying the same thing but with altered pitches or stresses.
An example of accent would be Saigon Vietnamese vs. Southwest Vietnamese. They say the same thing but with different modes, different vocal qualities.
Definitions of dialect:
- a particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
- Two varieties are said to be dialects of the same language if being a speaker of one variety confers sufficient knowledge to understand and be understood by a speaker of the other; otherwise, they are said to be different languages.
Northern Vietnamese and southern Vietnamese are dialects because:
1. They are mutually intelligible.
2. The words they say are actually different, not just mere alteration of pitches or stresses.
Examples:
Việt Nam (Vietnam)
Northerners say: Viet Nam
Southerners say: Yiek Nam
vườn hoa (flower garden)
Northerners says: vɨən hwa
Southerners says: yɯəng wa
sử dụng (to use)
Northerners says: sɨ zoong
Southerners says: shɯ yoong
đi ra (go out)
Northerners says: di za
Southerners says: di ra
gia đình (family)
Northerners says: za ding
Southerners says: ya din
bệnh viện (hospital)
Northerners says: being vien
Southerners says: bɜn yiəng
There are features that go beyond vocal qualities to distinguish Northern Vietnamese from Southern Vietnamese.
1. Northern Viet V ---> Southern Viet Y
2. Northern Viet Z ---> Southern Viet Y
3. Southern Viet R ---> Northern Viet Z
4. Southern Viet Sh ---> Northern Viet S
5. Southern Viet Tr ---> Northern Viet Ch
6. Northern Viet Hw and Kw ---> Southern Viet W
7. Northern Viet -N ---> Southern Viet -NG (Example: Northern Viet SAN --> Southern Viet SANG)
8. Northern Viet -T ---> Southern Viet -K (Example: Northern Viet SAT --> Southern Viet SAK)
9. Northern Viet -IK ---> Southern Viet -IT
10. Northern Viet - ING --> Southern Viet -IN
11. Northern Viet -AING ---> Southern Viet -AN
12. Northern Viet -ÊNG and -ÊN --> Southern Viet -ɜN
13. Northern Viet -ÊK and -ÊT ---> Southern Viet -ɜT
Yet the two varieties remain intelligible.
I think we can divide the Vietnamese language today into 3 main topolects
Definition of Topolect: A set of similar dialects that pertain to a larger distinct regional dialect.
- Northern topolect:
+++ Within the Northern topolect, we have the Red River Dialect and the Thanh Hoa dialect. These two are distinctive enough cause comprehension problems occasionally.
+++ One feature that distinguishes Thanh Hoa dialect from Red River dialect is that Thanh Hoa dialect has only 5 tones while Red River dialect has 6 tones.
+++ Within the Red River Dialect, you have the Hanoi accent, the coastal accent, the inland rural accent etc. Yes, they are different. Coastal northern Vietnam have the tendency to confuse L/N. Some rural northern Vietnamese accents have the tendency to diphthongize vowel E, turning -EM into -IEM (i.e. KEM --> KIEM). They also have a tendency to add medial -w- into vowel O, turning -OI into -WOI (i.e. COI --> CWOI) and -ON into -WON (i.e. CON --> CWON).
- Central topolect
This include a set of dialects that are often incomprehensible to average Vietnamese. They are:
+++ Nghệ An dialect
+++ Quang Binh dialect
+++ Hue dialect
etc.
- Southern topolect
This include all varieties of Vietnamese from the Hai Van Pass down. These can be divided into several dialects:
- Danang dialect or Quang Nam dialect (in south central Vietnam)
- Binh Dinh dialect (in south central Vietnam)
- Southern dialect (Saigon + Southwest)
+++Within the "Southern dialect", you have a variety of accent: Saigon accent, Upper Mekong accent, Lower Mekong accent etc.
P/S: I have not been exposed to all south central varieties of Vietnamese, but from my experience, they are similar to Southern dialect enough to be grouped within the Southern topolect rather than to the Central topolect.
Some distinctions between South Central dialect and Southern dialect include:
- Retention of initial V in South Central dialect (i.e. South Central folks would say VIEK NOM while Southern folks would say YIEK NAM for Vietnam)
- Changing of vowel A to O (i.e. South Central folks would say VONG while Southern folks would say YANG for yellow)
- Changing of vowel Ê to Ơ in some variety (ie. South Central folks would say WUH while Southern folks would say WAY for quê [officially pronounced: kway like in Northern variety])
Yet their tone systems are similar, making them sound more similar to each other than each is to the Central dialects.
Anyway, I think Vietnamese can be divided into 3 main topolects, which are then divided into a variety of dialects, which can be presented in different accents.
What's your opinion?