Definition

1. Noun:
   • The heavy tone mark in Vietnamese: "dấu nặng" is a diacritical mark (.) placed below a vowel letter to indicate the "nặng" (heavy/drop) tone in the Vietnamese language. It is one of the six distinct tones in the language's phonology.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Chữ "học" có dấu nặng. (The word "học" has a heavy tone mark.)
  • Bạn phải đặt dấu nặng dưới nguyên âm "a" để viết chữ "ạ". (You must place the heavy tone mark below the vowel "a" to write the letter "ạ".)
  • Dấu nặng làm thay đổi nghĩa của từ. (The heavy tone mark changes the meaning of a word.)

Advanced Usage

• Tone Pairing: The "nặng" tone is a checked tone, often characterized by a glottal stop or creaky voice at the end. It is typically contrasted with other tones like "sắc" (high rising) or "huyền" (low falling).
  • Thanh nặng và thanh sắc là hai thanh điệu quan trọng trong tiếng Việt. (The heavy tone and the high-rising tone are two important tones in Vietnamese.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thanh nặng (n): The heavy/drop tone (the tonal feature itself, not the written mark).
  • Phát âm thanh nặng cần có sự ngắt giọng. (Pronouncing the heavy tone requires a glottal stop.)
• Dấu thanh (n): Tone mark (the general term for all diacritical marks indicating tone).
  • Tiếng Việt có năm dấu thanh. (Vietnamese has five tone marks.)

Synonyms

• Heavy tone mark: A direct descriptive translation.
• Drop tone mark: Another common translation, emphasizing its phonetic characteristic.

Related Phrases

• Đánh dấu nặng: To add the heavy tone mark.
  • Bạn cần đánh dấu nặng vào chữ "o" để thành "ọ". (You need to add the heavy tone mark to the letter "o" to make "ọ".)

Related Idioms

• Nói có dấu có chấm: (To speak with clear tone marks) - An idiom meaning to speak clearly, precisely, and authoritatively. It metaphorically references the importance of correct tones (like "dấu nặng") in Vietnamese speech.
  • Giáo viên luôn nói có dấu có chấm. (The teacher always speaks very clearly and precisely.)

1. drop tone