Vietnam's Evolution of Script
Melissa Woodman
The evolution of the Vietnamese writing system
December 16, 2011
Introduction to South East Asia 1,500 words
Vietnam has always been admired for maintaining its own identity after various foreign invasions from the Chinese and the French. However, one of Vietnam’s most identifying features is its unique writing system. Vietnam’s writing system has adapted throughout centuries due to outside influences and has even evolved into a particular Latin script. The fact that Vietnamese was reformed into a Roman script makes it the only South East Asian country that has done so. This essay will provide and analyse various historians’ accounts of the evolution of Vietnam’s writing system. The essay will begin by discussing China’s influential rule over the Vietnamese and its introduction of classical Chinese script. Consequently, the essay will elaborate on how the Vietnamese were able to create their own hybrid script, chu nom, in the midst of the Chinese millennium. Further on, the essay will illustrate the gradual influences of external Catholic missionaries and the reformation of the Vietnamese script into quoc ngu, or national language, through Jesuit missionary, Alexandre Des Rhodes. Moreover, the essay will then emphasize on the French invasion and its effects on the Vietnamese writing system. To sum up, the essay will analyse the further spread of quoc ngu through Vietnamese scholars, and how it has become the writing system that it is today including cognate words that will be presented to further exemplify the evolution of the Vietnamese writing system.
During Chinese millennium rule, dating from 2nd BC to 10th century AD, the Vietnamese were culturally imprinted by the Chinese (Sardesai pp. 34.) The Sinification of the Vietnamese brought forth the introduction of, “Chinese classics, Confucian ethical ideals, and Chinese ideographs.” (Sardesai pp.34) In Focus on South East Asia, ASEAN Focus Group further elaborates on the
The evolution of the Vietnamese writing system
December 16, 2011
Introduction to South East Asia 1,500 words
Vietnam has always been admired for maintaining its own identity after various foreign invasions from the Chinese and the French. However, one of Vietnam’s most identifying features is its unique writing system. Vietnam’s writing system has adapted throughout centuries due to outside influences and has even evolved into a particular Latin script. The fact that Vietnamese was reformed into a Roman script makes it the only South East Asian country that has done so. This essay will provide and analyse various historians’ accounts of the evolution of Vietnam’s writing system. The essay will begin by discussing China’s influential rule over the Vietnamese and its introduction of classical Chinese script. Consequently, the essay will elaborate on how the Vietnamese were able to create their own hybrid script, chu nom, in the midst of the Chinese millennium. Further on, the essay will illustrate the gradual influences of external Catholic missionaries and the reformation of the Vietnamese script into quoc ngu, or national language, through Jesuit missionary, Alexandre Des Rhodes. Moreover, the essay will then emphasize on the French invasion and its effects on the Vietnamese writing system. To sum up, the essay will analyse the further spread of quoc ngu through Vietnamese scholars, and how it has become the writing system that it is today including cognate words that will be presented to further exemplify the evolution of the Vietnamese writing system.
During Chinese millennium rule, dating from 2nd BC to 10th century AD, the Vietnamese were culturally imprinted by the Chinese (Sardesai pp. 34.) The Sinification of the Vietnamese brought forth the introduction of, “Chinese classics, Confucian ethical ideals, and Chinese ideographs.” (Sardesai pp.34) In Focus on South East Asia, ASEAN Focus Group further elaborates on the
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