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 Home●Languages |
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Introduction |
The
Viętnamese language belongs to a language group which was
established a long time ago in East Asia. Changes in material conditions over
many centuries and the increasing demands of cultural life have influenced the
Viętnamese language.
Viętnamese
(also known as Annamese) is a tonal language with nearly half its
vocabulary deriving from Chinese following centuries of Chinese rule.
Originally Viętnamese was written with a variation of Chinese characters and
it is from this a written system evolved, based on Chinese characters called chu nom,
developed during the Medieval period and whilst adopting many elements of the
Chinese language, the Viętnamese people changed many Chinese words, gradually
creating Han-Vięt (Chinese-Viętnamese) which incorporated purely
Viętnamese words.
Then in the Seventeenth Century Western missionaries developed a Romanised
script called chu quoc ngu.
Although this script was not widely used until the early 20th Century, it
has survived to the present day and has been successful - unlike many
attempts elsewhere in Asia to introduce Romanised writing.
While 'Viętnamisation' not only applied to
the Chinese language, but also to French and other language groups, creating a
diverse vocabulary for the Viętnamese language. |
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Written Language |
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When the multi-ethnic
Viętnamese nation was taking shape, a great monarchy was
established in the North, and it began a southward expansion. The Viętnamese
nation underwent thousands of years of Northern domination.
This was why Chinese
was used for a long time as the official written language. Local mandarins of
various levels were allowed to sit for examinations in the Northern Court
(China), and were recruited into the administrative machinery of foreign
invaders.
Based on Chinese characters, the Viętnamese worked out a unique writing system
of their own called Chu Nom. In Chu Nom, two Chinese characters were usually
combined, one of which indicated the meaning of the Viętnamese word, while the
other indicated pronunciation.
Chu Nom was welcomed and widely used by the
masses in their daily life, as well as in transcribing their national history
and literature. According to researchers, Chu Nom probably originated around the
end of the Northern domination period and early in the 10th Century (the
independence period).
The oldest evidence of Chu Nom currently available is a
stele in the Bao An Pagoda in Yen Lang, Vinh Phu province, dating back to 1209
AD (Ly Dynasty). It was not until the 13th Century under the Tarn dynasty that Chu Nom was systematized and used in literature.
Nguyen Thuyen (alias Han Thuyen) and Nguyen Si Co wrote poems in Chu Nom. Ho Quy
Ly (1400 AD) made Chinese textbooks which translated the Viętnamese language
using the Chu Nom writing system. He also used Chu Nom to write royal
proclamations and ordinances.
In the 15th Century, Nguyen Trai, a national hero,
used Chu Nom to write 250 poems in Quoc Am Thi Tap (Collection of Poems in the
National Language). The Chu Nom literature continued to be developed from the
16th Century onwards and totally dominated national literary circles.
Ba Huyen
Thanh Quan (the wife of the Chief of Thanh Quan district), Cao Ba Quat and Kieu
Story of Nguyen Du, and the translation of Chinh Phu Ngam (Lament of a Wife
Whose Husband has Gone to War) by Doan Thi Diem were quite noteworthy poems.
In conjunction with the development of the nation, the Viętnamese language was
constantly developed and improved.
Around the 17th Century, Western missionaries
came to Viętnam and learned Viętnamese in order to disseminate Catholicism. They
developed a romanced script to represent the Quoc Ngu (meaning national
language) in order to translate prayer books and catechisms.
A number of
Portuguese and Italian missionaries used Quoc Ngu to compile catechisms and
Portuguese-Viętnamese and Viętnamese-Portuguese dictionaries. Based on these
works, Alexandre de Rhodes, a French Jesuit missionary, published the Viętnamese
Portuguese-Latin dictionary which was a fundamental catechism in Rome from
1649-1651.
After Alexandre de Rhodes, Quoc Ngu was further improved by foreign
missionaries and Viętnamese scholars.
In 1867, some colonial schools began to teach Quoc Ngu. It was not until early
in the 20th Century that Quoc Ngu became widely used in the local primary
educational system.
The introduction of Quoc Ngu constituted a new step in the
development of the Viętnamese language.
While Romanisation received a reserved
welcome in other Asian countries, it recorded extraordinary success in Viętnam,
creating favorable conditions for cultural and intellectual development. |
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