Can somebody tell me the proper (respectful) form of address when speaking with, or writing to, a Vietnamese woman? Something sort of equivalent to "Ms."

Are you writing Stephanie Murphy?

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

Are you writing your Florida Congresswoman?

You need to re-read my original post, in which I indicated that I wanted to be respectful, which would definitely NOT be the case if I were addressing our 7th district Congressional Representative.

Nope, I found a wallet in a parking lot (third time this has happened to me), and I just wanted to know the proper Vietnamese equivalent of "Ms. Nguyen" when I return it to the owner. Spelling, and a hint at pronunciation would be appreciated.

I can help with pronounciation. It is pronounced WIN. It is kind of the equivalent of Smith in Vietnamese. I am not sure about the title. It is clearly not Momma Son. My Asian neighbors are Korean and Chinese so they would be of no help.

I was older than the Vietnamese my wife and I helped resettle. The Viets always called us Mr. or Mrs.
They are a very respectful people.

I would think addressing any Vietnamese elder as Mr. or Mrs. would be understood and appreciated. The folks we helped were boat people a mixture of teens male & female & some elders. The kids preferred to be called by their first name. The elders always smiled when referred to as Mr.or Mrs. Good luck, just be yourself.

Google translate gives me some stuff, but I have no idea what these things mean, without context:

• Bệnh đa xơ cứng.

• Chị

• danh xưng cô

Where is David Truong when we need him?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=viet...ionary&t=ipad&ia=web

Hope it opens.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:...

Where is David Truong when we need him?

Email. He has always been prompt to reply.

you could use
Cô (when she is younger than you)

or

Bà (when she is older than you)

https://www.vietnam-culture.co...sing-Vietnamese.aspx

At the very bottom has some examples and pronunciations.

I would honestly just use Ms. or Mrs. especially if you're going to hold the conversation in english anyways.

quote:

Originally posted by sp226:

you could use Cô (when she is younger than you)

Thank you.

How do you pronounce "Cô?" -- I can't really remember the last time that I met somebody who was not younger than I am.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by sp226:

you could use Cô (when she is younger than you)

Thank you.

How do you pronounce "Cô?" -- I can't really remember the last time that I met somebody who was not younger than I am.

Pronounced exactly as the "Co" in Coca Cola.
Now, if you want to say Hi or Greetings to her, then it's "Chào cô". The "Chào" is pronounced the same as "Ciao".

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by sp226:

you could use Cô (when she is younger than you)

Thank you.

How do you pronounce "Cô?" -- I can't really remember the last time that I met somebody who was not younger than I am.

Pronounced exactly as the "Co" in Coca Cola.
Now, if you want to say Hi or Greetings to her, then it's "Chào cô". The "Chào" is pronounced the same as "Ciao".

So, if I wanted to say "Hello, Ms. Nguyen" it would be "Chào cô Nguyen" -- ¿correct?

Regardless of language barriers, you're a good person returning the wallet.

Vietnamese pronouns are more or less in the 3rd person and vary by gender and age:

Em - Use for person who are younger than you as your younger sisters or brothers
Bạn - Use for person who is as the same age as you or your friends
Anh - A young male who is a little older than you or your elder brothers
Chị - A young female who is a little older than you or your elder sisters
Cô - In formal case; to a young female (Miss )
Bà - Formal, an old female (Mrs., lady); informal, as your grandmother
Ông/ngài - Formal, an old male (Mr., gentleman); informal, as your grandfather
mày - Informal; people are younger than you

In general words of affection between males and females use Em and Anh (at least with the girls I have dated, who have been younger than me).

Translate apps have trouble with a lot of this because genderless 1st person pronouns in English (I, you) do not have enough context for the correct pronouns in Vietnamese.

Nguyen is not "win". The "Ng" phonem is something we don't have in English. To my ear it's sort of a slur between "m" and "w".

https://translate.google.com/?...=Nguyen&op=translate

Click the link and listen to the pronunciation.

But for V-Tail, just use "Miss". You aren't expected to know Vietnamese greetings. "Mrs." assumes she is married, and "Ms." assumes old and never married with a bad attitude. "Miss" implies youth which will go over better.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by sp226:

you could use Cô (when she is younger than you)

Thank you.

How do you pronounce "Cô?" -- I can't really remember the last time that I met somebody who was not younger than I am.

Pronounced exactly as the "Co" in Coca Cola.
Now, if you want to say Hi or Greetings to her, then it's "Chào cô". The "Chào" is pronounced the same as "Ciao".

So, if I wanted to say "Hello, Ms. Nguyen" it would be "Chào cô Nguyen" -- ¿correct?

You always go with the 1st name, as opposed to the last in the English language, when addressing someone in Vietnamese. For example, talking to me, you would say, "Chào ông Q". If the lady's 1st name is Mai, say, "Chào cô Mai".

I read this thread last night.

I’m curious why you don’t think she’s a regular American and speaks English?

quote:

Originally posted by PR64:
I read this thread last night.

I’m curious why you don’t think she’s a regular American and speaks English?

Maybe she has a picture of Ho Chi Min on her wall?

To address a female in your peer group, you would use "Chị". Roughly translated, it means "Respected Sister." To pronounce it, the "i" has a "gutteral stop" in the same way the i in "Chick" causes tension and an abrupt stop of diaphram and throat.

To address a female in your parent's peer group, you would use Cô. Roughly translated, it means "Auntie." To pronounce it, use a hard C and a long O, as in the *second* half of Cocoa.

There are two more female pronouns that are used in specific cases. Bác for someone who would be in your parent's peer group, but you are certain is older than your parents. Roughly, "Elder Auntie". Bà for someone who would be in your grandparents peer group. Roughly, "Madam".


To address a letter: Kính gửi Chị Mai,

Chào would be informal - "Hi" or "Hey". Xin Chao would be "Hello", where the extra "xin" would be roughly, "I ask leave to greet you"... Vietnamese language is full of flourishes like this that makes speaking fluently a pain in the ass. If you were to just listen to direct translations, everyone's a fucking poet--"I beg leave to make your greetings with you today respected Madam, for I wish to take depart for home with this fish I have purchased upon myself."