VIETNAMESE WRITING SYMTEMS
Nguyễn Thị Quế Hương
Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Huyền
Phạm Thị Mỹ Loan
Trần Thị Như Thơ
Trần Thùy Tiên
Phạm Thị Thanh Trang

Instructor: Mr Lê Minh Hà
Group 8
Vietnamese writing system: where from and how
Where did Vietnamese writing systems come from?
Switching the national writing system from Chinese characters
Inventions about alphabet’s system of Jesuit missionaries

How was Vietnamese writing system developed ?
Chu Viet Co
Chu Han
Chu Nom
Chu Quoc Ngu
III. Summary


Where did Vietnamese writing system come from?
Vietnamese writing systems,
which was developed, based on:
Chinese
characters(Hán Nho)
The invention of alphabetic system
of Jesuit missionaries
Chinese characters

Vietnam: colonized around 200 B.C – about 12 centuries.
Chinese used in writing
Vietnamese unwritten.

A massive influence of Chinese on Vietnamese language and literature.
A huge proportion of the modern vocabulary has its origins in Chinese.
Example:
Bình Ngô đại cáo (chữ Hán: 平吳大誥)
1788-1802: The Tay Son Dynasty, under Nguyen Hue Quang Trung
Switched the national writing system from Han Nho (Chinese character) to the more Vietnamese writing system of Nom (Vietnamese character).
2. Inventions about alphabet’s system of Jesuit missionaries
At the beginning of the seventeen century, Jesuit missionaries devised an alphabetic system for Vietnamese.
Alexandre de Rhodes (15/3/1591-5/11/1660) and Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum
Introducing a system of Roman writing into vietnamese language.

To present rhythm, using signs of Greece.

Quoc ngu was affected by portuguese writing:

+ consonant sound:gi, ch,x,nh

+ vowel sound:â,ê,ô


=>
At times a society will change from one writing to another.
Today the system devised by the Jesuit is the only one in use for Vietnamese.

How was Vietnamese writing system developed ?
Chu Viet Co
Chu Han
Chu Nom
Chu quoc ngu
1. Chu Viet Co (chu khoa dau, chu Vua Hung)
According to Ha Van Tan, Le Trong Khanh, Buu Cam,and Do Quang Vinh professor
under Hung King, writing symstem is the same as tadpole shape.
Chu Viet Co was lost after Hai Ba Trung’s uprising was failed.
2. Chu Han

For much of Vietnam`s history the official written language was Classical Chinese, using, of course, Chinese characters.

Since 1st AD: using Chu Han record and comunication with China
From 7th to 11th century: using Chu Han more widely in Viet Nam (communication, trade, and economic exchanges with China)
After 10th century: Viet Nam’s independence.
Chu Han still used.( examination, literature...)
 
元宵
今夜元宵月正圓
春江春水接春天
煙波深處談軍事
夜半歸來月滿船

Nguyên tiêu
Kim dạ nguyên tiêu nguyệt chính viên,
Xuân giang, xuân thuỷ tiếp xuân thiên.
Yên ba thâm xứ đàm quân sự,
Dạ bán quy lai nguyệt mãn thuyền.

Rằm tháng riêng (Người dịch: Xuân Thuỷ)
Rằm xuân lồng lộng trăng soi,
Sông xuân nước lẫn màu trời thêm xuân.
Giữa dòng bàn bạc việc quân,
Khuya về bát ngát trăng ngân đầy thuyền.
Hồ Chí Minh (1948)
諭諸裨將檄文
(dự chư tỳ tướng hịch văn)
余常聞之
紀信以身代死而脫高帝
由于以背受戈而蔽招王
蓣讓吞炭而復主讎
申蒯断臂而赴國難
敬德一小生也身翼太宗而得免世充之圍
杲卿一遠臣也口罵禄山而不從逆賊之計

Ta thường nghe: Kỷ Tín đem mình chết thay, cứu thoát cho Cao Đế;
Do Vu chìa lưng chịu giáo che chở cho Chiêu Vương;
Dự Nhượng nuốt than để báo thù cho chủ;
Thân Khoái chặt tay cứu nạn cho nước;
Kính Đức, một chàng tuổi trẻ, thân phò Thái Tông thoát khỏi vòng vây Thế Sung;
Cảo Khanh, một bây tôi xa, miệng mắng Lộc Sơn, không theo mưu kế nghịch tặc.
Trần Quốc Tuấn (1284)
Even now, Vietnamese still borrows many words which belonged to Chinese writing system.
Examples:
The word sơn meaning `mountain` was written 山 (modern Chinese shān).
The word hỏa meaning `fire` was written 火 (modern Chinese huǒ).
The word vị meaning `flavour` was written 味 (modern Chinese wèi).

The King, mandarins, intellectuals,…using Chu Han in communication with China, literature,…
Vietnamese people using vietnamese language to communicate together (mon-kmer, mường…)
2. Chữ Nôm
Definition
Some of features of nôm character
How to create nôm character
a. Definition
Chữ Nôm, is the ancient ideographic vernacular script of the Vietnamese language.

The ideographic (n): a form of writing in which a written symbol represents an object rather than a word or speech sound.

Vernacular (adj): native or indigenous
b. Some features of Nôm character
A system developed to write Vietnamese.
Not be agreed at the actual date
Existing by the mid-13th century
Using a mixture of:
standard Chinese characters
and new characters invented (specifically for writing Vietnamese).

Not be a completely new system of writing.
The new characters:
Unwieldy than its origins
Complex
Combining 2 characters:
One gives the meaning
And another hints at the Vietnamese pronunciation.

c. How to create Nôm character

Using 3 way to create Nôm character
Chinese Character’s modification
Meaning + meaning
Meaning + sound



2.1 Combinition between a meaning element and a sound element
2.2 Combination of two meanings:
2.3 Modification of existing character chosen for its sound:
Using Chinese characters without change
Some examples about developing chu nom from Han Nho

Sample texts in Nôm characters

5. Chu Quoc Ngu

Quoc ngu
+ Being largely neglected
Until the 19th century
+ Be taken up by the French colonial government as a means of breaking the grip of Chinese culture
+ Fostering Western ways of thinking.
Modern Vietnamese is written with the Latin alphabet, known as quoc ngu in Vietnamese.
Quoc ngu consists of 29 letters.
There are:
The 26 letters of the English alphabet minus f, j, w, and z.
Seven modified letters using diacritics: đ, ă, â, ê, ô, ơ, and ư.

The first characters of Quoc ngu


" Con gno muon bau tlom laom Hoalaom chian ".

=> According to Christofora Borri: “Con nhỏ muốn vào trong lòng Hoa Lang chăng ?”
Onsaij : Ông sãi
Quignin : Qui Nhơn
Scin mocaij : xin một cái
Con gnoo : con nhỏ
Doij : đói
Nuocmon : nước mặn
Tui ciam biet : tui chẳng biết
Bũa : vua
Onsaij di lay : ông sãi đi lại
According to the report of João Roig was written by Portuguese at Austria on 20-11-1621
Annam : An Nam
Sinoa : Xứ Hóa
Ungne : Ông nghè
Ontrũ : Ông trùm
Nuocman : Nước Mặn
Bafu : Bà phủ
Banco : Bàn Cổ
Oundelinh : Ông Đề Lĩnh
Vietnamese is a tonal language with 6 tones. These tones are marked as follows:
Diphthongs and triphthongs
Single words and structure
● A single word signifies a single thing, action, condition, mood, state, etc
●A Vietnamese word is structured with four parts: initial, core, final and tone:

Example:
Tâm (t: initial part, â: core, m: final part)
-> this word has no tone.
Mình (m: initial part, i: core, nh: final part)
-> this word has low falling tone.
The final part can be one of the eight finals: -c, -ch, -m, -n, -ng, -nh, -p, -t or none.
Loan words:
long tradition Vietnamese of transforming foreign words into an acceptable Vietnamese form:
frein `brake‘ phanh
Film phim
café `coffee‘ cà phê
carotte `carrot‘ cà rốt
Modern borrowings:
`guitar` written ghi ta, ghi-ta, ghita, or guitar.
`video` may be written vi-đe-ô, vi-đi-ô, or video.
III. Summary
Vietnamese writing systems:
Spending a long time to establish and improve
Developing based on 3 elements:
Han character
Nom character
Alphabet’ system



Han character:
Used popularly in the examination, literature, communication in the court.
Still used after independent.
Nôm character:
More complicated
Based on Han character
Be the traditional Vietnamese’s culture
Quoc ngu:
Be shown by some missionaries at 17 centuries
Became the vietnamese writing system

Nowaday, this type of writing seem to be popular:

nhìu chiện : nhiều chuyện
wa’ : quá
hỉu bik : hiểu biết
“T.s a lại đx vs e nt, a có biết là hn e buồn lắm k? Có lẽ chúng ta sắp ct thật r`”.
=> “Tại sao anh lại đối xử với em như thế, anh có biết là hôm nay em buồn lắm không? Có lẽ chúng ta sắp chia tay thật rồi”
“Mai m` k đh đâu nha m.n”.
=> “mai mình không đi học đâu nha mọi người”
References

http://chimviet.free.fr/ngonngu/phuctrun/phul050.htm
http://www.cjvlang.com/Writing/writviet.html
http://www.cuocsongviet.com.vn/index.asp?act=detail&mabv=1636
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%E1%BB%8Bch_s%E1%BB%AD_ch%E1%BB%AF_Vi%E1%BB%87t_Nam