The Vietnamese Language

737 Words2 Pages

The Vietnamese Language

The Vietnamese Language is comprised of a few separate languages as well as its own original dialects. Like Many languages today, some words get added to the vocabulary of another group. The region of a place can also determine how the language is spoken, and looked at. When people move from one place to another, they bring with them their own language from their region, and it gets mixed in with the current language, increasing the vocabulary. This applies to both spoken and written languages. These are all aspects of the Vietnamese language; it has its basic parts, Genetic relationships, and its different writing styles.

The Vietnamese language is the mother tongue of over sixty million people that mainly live in the low lands of Vietnam (Churilla, 2000). Cultures that live adjacent to Vietnam use this language in their constant dealings and interactions with them. There are many other people outside of Vietnam that have moved away, and still try to preserve their own native tongue. Compared to other languages, modern day Vietnamese is still quite young, it’s only been around for a little over a century (Tu Dinh Nguyen, 1995).

The language is based from the Roman alphabets, and is composed from monosyllabic words (Tu Dinh Nguyen, ’95). Each syllable has only one or two rhymes which determines the meaning. Vietnamese words are thus short and thus fairly simple to learn and memorize (Tu Dinh Nguyen, ’95).

The language started to become diversified during its rule by china. Over 10 centuries of Chinese rule, the Vietnamese language itself had added “loaner words” from then Chinese (Churilla, 2000). Even though today Chinese and Vietnamese sound very similar, due to the infl...

... middle of paper ...

... and 1919 for the central part of Vietnam (Janse, 1997).

The Vietnamese language, although may not be all of its own creation, it is specifically different, and its own language. Its language is, in effect, its history. During China’s rule the language shifted to have a Chinese dialect, and has not changed back. The different writing systems are even based on the culture. After China’s rule, they wanted to make their written language more their own by changing how things are written.

Works Cited:

Olow T. Janse (1997). Vietnamese Culture. Retrieved October 10, 2002, from http://vietcatholic.net/culture/language.htm

Kenneth R. Churilla (2000). Vietnamese. October 10, 2002, from http://mentorms.best.vwh.net/viet/language.htm

Dr. Hoa Dinh Nguyen (1995). Vietnamese Lexicography. October 10, 2002, from http://www.saigon.com/%7Enguyent/tu_vn1.html

Open Document