In general, a Vietnamese pronoun (, or ) can serve as a noun phrase. In Vietnamese, a pronoun usually connotes a degree of family relationship or kinship. In polite speech, the aspect of kinship terminology is used when referring to oneself, the audience, or a third party. These terms may vary by region. Many are derived from Chinese loanwords but have acquired the additional grammatical function of being pronouns.
Vietnamese terms of reference may imply the social relationship between the speaker and the person being referred to, differences in age, and even the attitude of the speaker toward that person. Thus a speaker must carefully assess these factors to decide the appropriate term. Strangers may ask each other about age when they first meet to establish proper terms of address. If the speaker does not know the listener, there are certain pronoun pairs to address oneself and the listener to sound respectful.
True pronouns True pronouns are categorized into two classes depending on if they can be preceded by the plural marker chúng, bọn, or các. Like some other Asian pronominal systems, Vietnamese pronouns indicate the social status between speakers and others in the conversation in addition to grammatical person and number.
The table below shows the first class of pronouns that can be preceded by a pluralizer. The parenthetical information next to these pronoun forms indicates information about the social status between the speaker and another person (or persons). Thus, "inferior to superior" indicates that the speaker is in an inferior or lower social status with respect another person (such as the hearer) who is in a superior or higher social status. The label "familiar" indicates that the speaker and another person are in a closer relationship such as between family members or between close friends. The label "intimate" refers to a very close relationship such as that between spouses or lovers.
Singular Plural First person tôi (could be formal) bọn tôi, chúng tôi (excluding the addressed subject) ta (neutral, non-formal) bọn ta, chúng ta (including the addressed subject) tao (superior to subordinate, familiar) bọn tao, chúng tao (vulgar, excluding the addressed subject) mình (intimate) mình, chúng mình, bọn mình (intimate, including the addressed subject) Second person mày or mi (superior to inferior, familiar) bay (or bây), chúng mày, tụi mày, bọn mày, chúng bay (or chúng bây) (superior to subordinate, familiar) Third person nó (superior to subordinate, familiar) chúng nó, bọn nó
Tôi was an archaic noun meaning "servant", as in vua tôi ("the monarch and his servants"). There are parallel self-deprecating first-person pronominalizations of words for "servant" in other languages, such as (nù) in Eastern Min and (boku) in Japanese. Tôi is often used formally and conveys the connotation of equal status, regardless of age. Another word with the same semantic development is tớ, although it is used informally among similarly aged peers.
Mình is still used as a noun with its original meaning, "body". It is also used as a reflexive pronoun in all persons. For example, Tôi biết mình không giỏi ("I know I (myself) am not good"), Nó tự hỏi mình ("They ask themselves").
The first person tôi is the only pronoun that can be used in polite speech. The first person ta is often used when talking to oneself as in a soliloquy, but also indicates a higher status of the speaker (such as that of a high official, etc.). The other superior-to-inferior forms in the first and second persons (tao, mày, mi, bay (or bây)) are commonly used in familiar social contexts, such as among family members (e.g. older sister to younger sister, etc.). These forms are otherwise considered impolite,Kinship terms are used instead in polite speech. and various forms of pronoun avoidance such as using kinship terms are used instead. The third person form nó (used to refer to animals, children, and scorned adults, such as criminals) is considerably less arrogant than the second person forms tao, mày, mi, bay (or bây). The pronoun mình, when referring to the singular first person, is used only in intimate relationships, such as between spouses.
The pronominal forms in the table above can be modified with chúng as in chúng mày, chúng nó. Exclusive/inclusive plural distinctions exist in the first person: chúng tôi and chúng tao are exclusive (i.e., me and them but not you), chúng ta and chúng mình are inclusive (i.e., you and me). Some of the forms (ta, mình, bay, bây) can be used to refer to a plural referent, resulting in pairs with overlapping reference (e.g., both ta and chúng ta mean "inclusive we").
The other class of pronouns are known as "absolute" pronouns.Thompson 1965 These cannot be modified with the pluralizer chúng. Many of these forms are literary and archaic, particularly in the first and second person.
Singular Plural First person min (familiar, literary) choa (literary) qua (male to female, literary) thiếp (female to male, literary) trẫm (sovereign to mandarins or subjects, archaic) Second Person mi (familiar, literary) – bậu (female to male, literary) ngài (respectful, hierarchic, formal) chàng (female to male, literary) Third Person y (familiar) người ta hắn (familiar) nghỉ (literary) vaThompson (1965) marks va as literary. (familiar, male)
Unlike the first type of pronoun, these absolute third person forms (y, hắn, va) refer only to animate referents (typically people). The form y can be preceded by the pluralizer in southern dialects in which case it is more respectful than nó. The absolute pronoun người ta has a wider range of reference as "they, people in general, (generic) one, we, someone".Compare Vietnamese người ta with the uses of French pronoun on, which is somewhat similar in function.
Kinship terms Kinship terms are the most popular ways to refer to oneself and others. Anyone can be referred to using kinship terms, not just the speaker's relatives. The Vietnamese kinship terms are quite complex. While there is some flexibility as to which kinship terms should be used for people not related to the speaker, often only one term applies to people related by blood or marriage for up to three generations, which may also differ based on dialect. Some kinship terms are:
{| class="wikitable" ! Term !! Reciprocal !! Literal meaning !! Non-kinship usage || Note |- | cha || con || father || a priest || May sound too literary for contemporary use. Preferred in literary contexts (folkloric tales, myths, proverbs, etc.), although have been found in certain contemporary television dramas set in modern times. Many other terms are preferred in actual use, depending on the dialect: ba, bố, tía, thầy. Archaic: bác, áng. |- | thầy || con || father || a male teacher; a monk; a deacon || Only the non-kinship sense is universal. The "father" sense is only dialectal in the north. |- | mẹ || con || mother || || mẹ is the Northern form, má the Southern. Many other terms are used, depending on the dialect: u, bầm, mạ, má. Archaic: nạ. |- |anh || em || older brother || a non-elderly man; a man who's a little older, like one's own "big brother"; can be used as a romantic term of endearment|| |- |chị || em || older sister || a non-elderly woman; a woman who's a little older, like one's own "big sister"; can be used as a romantic term of endearment|| |- |em || anh or chị || younger sibling || a person who's a little younger, like one's own "little sibling"; a student; can be used as a romantic term of endearment|| |- |con || cha, mẹ, bà, etc. || biological child or grandchild || a much younger person, usually in southern use || |- |cháu || ông, bà, bác, chú, etc. || grandchild, niece, or nephew || a much younger person, usually in northern use || |- |chắt || cụ || great-grandchild || || |- | ông || cháu or con || grandfather || an old man; formally, a middle-aged man || Paternal and maternal grandfathers are differentiated as ông nội (paternal grandfather) and ông ngoại (maternal grandfather), respectively. Nội (literally "inside") and ngoại (literally "outside", from the Chinese prefix for maternal relatives) are also used for short in the south. |- | bà || cháu or con || grandmother || an old woman; formally, a middle-aged woman || Paternal and maternal grandmothers are differentiated as bà nội (paternal grandmother) and bà ngoại (maternal grandmother), respectively. Nội (literally "inside") and ngoại (literally "outside", from the Chinese prefix for maternal relatives) are also used for short in the south. |- |cô || cháu || father's younger sister || a female teacher; a woman who's a little younger than one's parent, like their "little sister"; a young adult woman || In southern dialects, means father's sister, regardless of age. In some dialects, o is used instead. When paired with chú, always precedes it, as in cô chú. |- |chú || cháu || father's younger brother, or thíms husband || a man who's a little younger than one's parent, like their "little brother" || In some dialects, literal meaning is restricted to father's younger brother |- |thím || cháu || chús wife || informally, an effeminate man || dialectally also mợ or mự |- |bác || cháu || parent's older sibling and their spouse || a person who's a little older than one's parents || Like em, modified by trai (male) or gái (female). In southern dialects, literal meaning is restricted to father's older brother and his spouse |- |dì || cháu || mother's younger sister, or stepmother || || In southern dialects, means mother's sister, regardless of age |- |cậu || cháu || mother's younger brother || || In southern dialects, means mother's brother, regardless of age |- |cậu || tớ || friend || || In northern dialects, used for saying I,me and you to a colleague or a friend, similar to tôi and bạn in Southern dialects. |- |mợ || cháu || cậus wife || || In some dialects, used by the husband to refer to his wife, children to refer to mother, or parents-in-law to refer to a daughter-in-law |- |dượng || cháu || the husband of cô or dì, or stepfather |||| dialectally also trượng |- |cụ/cố || cháu || great-grandparent || a very old person || |- |sơ || cháu || || great-great-grandparent || This pronoun can be used for nuns (derived from French soeur), although the reciprocal is con. || |- |họ || || either the paternal or maternal extended family || they || third person plural
Except the terms for "father", "mother" and "child", all others, such as "elder brother", "elder sister", "younger sibling", "uncle", "aunt", "nephew/niece/grandchild", etc. are usable for cousins, and cousinship is inherited from older generations and through marriage. In this regard, grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, etc. are a kind of closer "cousins" to the speaker; the further a relative is, the further back the speaker has to trace in order to know exactly if they should use "grandpa", "grandma", "uncle", "aunt", etc. Distant cousins with "grandparent status" that are younger than the speaker may be referred to as ông/bà trẻ ("young grandpa/ma"). This phenomenon is highlighted in a Vietnamese proverb: Bé bằng củ khoai, cứ vai mà gọi (Small as a potato, but call by rank). In practice, age differences are commonplace, and some people may be hesitant to take advantage of their superior cousin status.
Despite this complicated system of kinship, when talking about cousins, even most Vietnamese are only concerned about anh họ, chị họ or em họ. Whether someone is "elder brother", "elder sister" or "younger sibling" depends on their relation to the speaker's parent's: for example, if the addressee is the younger brother of the speaker's mother's, his children are also always the speaker's "younger siblings" regardless of the ages of those cousins. If the speaker is married, they also inherit their spouse's cousinship, which means they will become an "older brother" or "older sister" regardless of their "younger sibling" cousins' ages.