| Symbol |
Name |
Description |
Examples |
 a |
(ngang) |
Mid or high-mid trailing pitch, nearly level when syllable is not final
in pause group; in final syllables pitch falls to low range (citation forms often show
level pitch) |
ba - three |
| khoâng - not |
| aên - eat |
| tö - fourth |
| mô - dream |
| aø |
huyeàn |
Low
trailing pitch, often accompanied by breathy voice quality |
vaø - and |
| gaàn - near |
| baèng - made
of |
| côø - chess |
| aù |
saéc |
High rising pitch, often heard as nearly high level in rapid speech |
caù - fish |
| saùch - book |
| soá - number |
| baén - shoot |
| cöù - persit |
| lôùp - class |
| aï |
naëng |
Low
dropping pitch, abruptly falling to bottom of normal voice range; syllable ends in stop or
cut off abruptly by glottal stop |
maï - rice
seedling |
| naëng - heavy |
| chôï - market |
| ngöïa - horse |
| laïi - come |
| caäp - briefcase |
| vaät - thing |
| saïch - clean |
| ñöôïc - get |
| aû |
hoûi |
Mid-low dropping pitch, less abrupt than the tone ñust decribed
accompanied in citation forms by rise at end |
caû - elder |
| hoûi - ask |
| oå - nest |
| thöû - try out |
| aõ |
ngaõ |
High
rising pitch, accompanied by glottal stop or "strangulted" vowel quality |
ñaõ [anterior
tense marker] |
| moãi - each |
| chöõ - written
word |
| cuõng - likewise |