The Vietnamese Writing and Numeral System: An In-Depth Study

Introduction

Vietnamese is the official and national language of Vietnam, spoken by nearly 100 million people worldwide. The writing system of this Austroasiatic language has experienced various transformations throughout history, undergoing adaptations from Chinese characters to Latin-based scripts. In this article, we will delve deep into the writing and numeral system of the Vietnamese language, examining its historical evolution, the orthography and diacritics, as well as its modern-day utilization in the digital era.

Historical Evolution

Chữ Nôm

Before the Latin-based script, Vietnamese was primarily written in a logographic script known as “Chữ Nôm” (字喃). This system utilized adapted Chinese characters, with some characters even created to accommodate the Vietnamese lexicon. Although the system captured the essence of the spoken language, it was intricate and not easily accessible to the common populace.

Romanization and Latinization

The turning point in the Vietnamese writing system came with the arrival of Portuguese and French Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century. They developed a Romanized system to transcribe Vietnamese sounds, known as “quốc ngữ” or national language. Over time, this system gained prominence and eventually replaced Chữ Nôm as the standard writing system.

The Vietnamese Alphabet and Orthography

Alphabet

The Vietnamese alphabet consists of 29 letters. It includes all the 26 letters found in the Latin alphabet, excluding the letters F, J, W, and Z. Additionally, it adds the letters “Ă,” “Â,” “Đ,” “Ê,” “Ô,” “Ơ,” and “Ư.”

Diacritical Marks

What sets the Vietnamese script apart from many other Latin-based languages is its extensive use of diacritical marks. There are five tones in Vietnamese, each marked with a different diacritical symbol:

1. No mark: ngang (level)
2. Acute accent: sắc (sharp)
3. Grave accent: huyền (hanging)
4. Tilde: ngã (tilting)
5. Question mark: hỏi (asking)
6. Dot below: nặng (heavy)

Punctuation and Syntax

Vietnamese uses the standard set of punctuation marks found in English and other languages that employ the Latin alphabet. These include the comma, period, question mark, and exclamation point. Sentences in Vietnamese usually follow the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure, but the language is relatively flexible in its syntax.

Numeral System

Arabic Numerals

Like many modern languages, Vietnamese uses Arabic numerals (0-9) for most numerical representations. This adoption facilitates global communication and is a standard in scientific, economic, and educational materials.

Native Numbering System

Vietnamese has its own set of words for numbers, and its numbering system is decimal-based. The words for numbers from one to nine are: ‘một’, ‘hai’, ‘ba’, ‘bốn’, ‘năm’, ‘sáu’, ‘bảy’, ‘tám’, ‘chín’. The language has specific terms for tens, hundreds, and thousands, allowing for easy construction of more complex numbers.

Ordinal Numbers

Vietnamese ordinal numbers are formed by adding the prefix “thứ-” to the cardinal number, except for the first and fourth ordinal numbers, which are “đầu tiên” and “thứ tư,” respectively.

Digital Adaptation and Modern Usage

The digital age has seen the Vietnamese writing system fully integrated into the Unicode standard, making it widely accessible and usable on modern computing systems. Text input is supported across platforms and devices, and there is increasing use of Vietnamese in digital communication, social media, and online literature.

Conclusion

The Vietnamese writing and numeral system serve as fascinating subjects of study, revealing the language’s resilience and adaptability over time. From its early days of complex logograms to its modern, streamlined, Latin-based script, the writing system captures the essence of Vietnamese history and culture. Its numeral system, too, is a blend of traditional elements and global standards. Together, they offer a comprehensive toolset for expressing the richness of the Vietnamese language, both in print and in the digital realm.