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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Although the first people of Viet Nam were of the Mongoloid race, Vietnamese culture was formed originally by a mix of Chinese and Indian.

They are thought to have originated in southern in the third century BCE. From the second century BCE to the 10th century CE, they mixed with the surrounding areas' people, Thais and Indonesians of the Red River Delta. Over time, the Vietnamese moved southward and dispossessed/assimilated the Hinduized people of the Funan kingdom. There, the Hindu kingdom of Champa appeared in the second century CE, but moved south to what is now Nha Trang, displacing the tribal people already there who were forced up into the mountains and highlands.

There are 54 ethnic minority groups inhabiting Viet Nam. The Kinh, or Viets, account for nearly 90 percent of the country's total population. Other major ethnic minority groups include the Tay, Muong, Thai, H'mong, Dao and Khmer. All of these groups have united in fighting against foreign invaders, defending their country, Viet Nam.

Other ethnic groups include the Chinese, a large group who settled around what is now (formerly Saigon), and the Khmer, who settled along the border with Kampuchea (formerly ). The montagnards, mountain tribes are of Mongolian extraction, while the southerners are Malayo-Polynesian and Mon-Khmer. It is because of the integration of so many diverse cultures and languages that Vietnamese is so unique compared to the other languages in its family.

Legend has it that Viet Nam's origin lay in the union of King Lac Long Quan, (also known as the "Dragon Lord of Lac" or "Dragon Lord of the Seas"), and Princess Au Co, Princess of the Mountains (a Chinese immortal, descended from the High Mountains). The princess bore him a hundred eggs, out of which a hundred sons were born. Lac Long Quan came to the Red River Detta from his sea home with his wife. They soon established a nation that stretched from southern China to northern Indonesia.

Lac Long Quan taught the Vietnamese how to cultivate rice. The fields were called Lac fields. However, the King and the Princess were convinced that their origins would ultimately make them unhappy, so they separated. Princess Au Co took 50 of their sons with her back into the mountains, while King Lac Long Quan took the others and ruled over the lowlands. After the King died in 2879 BCE, his eldest son, Hung Vuong, established the Hung dynasty. Hung Vuong is regarded as the founder of the Vietnamese nation and of the first Vietnamese dynasty.

In Chinese annals, Lac is the name used for the Vietnamese people.

This legend symbolizes the importance of uniting two main geographic and cultural areas of Viet Nam: the mountains (representing the north), and the lowlands (representing the south).

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) Pg. 1 It is a theme oft-repeated in Viet Nam's history, and it is also symbolized in the spelling of Viet Nam as two words, rather than one. However, the nation was not always known as Viet Nam. During the Hung dynasty, which produced 18 kings, each of whom ruled for 150 years, it was called Van Lang. This dynasty was then overthrown by a neighbouring king in 258 BCE, who established the new kingdom of Au Lac and built his capital at Phuc An, the remains of which still exist in the village of Co Loa, west of . A Chinese general, Trieu Da, conquered the kingdom 50 years later, and formed the new nation of Ham Viet. Many scholars consider this to be the end of the historical legend and beginning of modem Vietnamese history. The next hundred years saw much conflict between King Trieu Da and the Han emperors of China. Finally, in 111 BCE, Ham Viet was conquered and incorporated into the Chinese empire. For 19 centuries, the people of Viet Nam struggled continuously against the Chinese for independence. The first Vietnamese rebellion occurred in 39 CE, led by the legendary Trung sisters, who successfully drove out the Chinese. The nation lived free from Chinese rule until three years later when Viet Nam was reconquered. This next period of Chinese domination lasted until 539, when scholar, Ly Bon, once again drove out the Chinese rulers, only to be reinvaded a few years later. The Vietnamese continued to resist Chinese rule. While the Chinese introduced many important and beneficial agricultural, technical and educational innovations, the imposition of their culture, customs, language, political institutions, oppression and exploitation fueled the Vietnamese's fervent desire for freedom and independence. This desire was finally realized in 939 when General Ngo Quyen successfully drove out the Chinese, and established the first of the Great Dynasties of Viet Narn. These dynasties remained independent of foreign interference for nearly a millennium. During the peaceful Le dynasty (1427-1789), Viet Nam flourished. Major advances were made in administration. Literature and legal codes were based on Chinese models. Following this time period, power was shared by the great Trinh family of the North and the Nguyen family of the south. External control was imposed once again in the 19th century, when Viet Nam was occupied by the French. French rule lasted until World War II when the country was invaded by . At war's end, the Communist Viet Minh party, who had led the resistance movement against the Japanese, declared the countrys independence. The French Indo-china War continued until France conceded defeat in 1954. The Geneva Accord left Viet Nam divided into a Communist north and an anti-Communist south. By this time, the United States had replaced the French as the primary sponsor of the anti-Communist government. Tension between north and south mounted over the next few years, until in 1964, full scale war erupted. The conflict lasted for the next eight years, and involved hundreds of thousands of troops from the United States and other countries. In 1973, a cease-fire agreement allowed the United States the opportunity to withdraw her troops, and in 1975, the southern capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. Political repression followed, prompting massive emigration from the country. In 1991, with the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War, many western powers reestablished diplomatic and trade relations with Viet Nam.

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.2 Today, Hanoi has loosened restrictions on commerce. Small businesses have begun to be profitable, and those living abroad are now able to travel back to visit family and friends. Viet Nam is now attempting to find her way back to peace and rebuild the country. Viet Nam is predicted to become the next Asian tiger economy. LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND

Vietnamese is spoken by 75 million people or 86.7 percent of the population in Viet Nam who call themselves nguoi Viet or nguoi kinh and occupy mainly the delta lowlands. It is also spoken by three million others in Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, the Cote d'ivoire, Finland, France, Germany, Laos, Martinique, the Netherlands, New Caledonia, Norway, the , Senegal, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vanuatu.

The remaining 20 percent comprises more than 50 separate ethnic groups. About seven million of these ethnic minorities are members of the montagnards. Cambodians, Chinese and Indians also use Vietnamese as the mainstream language in their daily communication with the Vietnamese.

The origin of the Vietnamese language is the subject of debate among linguists. It is usually put into a language family by itself along with Muong, a language spoken by a group of highlanders in North Viet Nam. Thus, Vietnamese belongs to the Mon-Khmer, Viet-Muong, Vietnamese branch of the Austro-Asiatic family of languages. Unrelated to Chinese, Vietnamese belongs to the Mon-Khmer stock which comprises Mon (spoken in Burma), and Khmer (the language of Cambodia), as well as Khmu, Bahnar, Bru and other languages of Viet Nam's highlands. The monotonic Mon-Khmer language has given Vietnamese many of its basic words while the Tai languages have contributed to many aspects of tonality and grammar.

There is also a large number of compound words formed by linking two words with a hyphen. Because of this, some linguistics maintain that the Vietnamese language originates from an ancient polysyllabic root. The language's original polysyllabic words were later contracted due to the influence of the monosyllabic languages of continental Asia, most particularly, Chinese, a monosyllabic language. Words, which were polysyllabic in the 17th centUly, have become monosyllabic through contraction.

Even though Vietnamese did not originate from Chinese, the influence of China has always been strong in Viet Nam, and thousands of Chinese words have been incorporated into Vietnamese. As the Chinese dominated Vietnamese culture and history for close to a millennium, much of its political, literary, philosophical, military and religious vocabulary comes from Chinese. While adopting many elements of Chinese, Vietnamese added its own pronunciation of the imported Chinese vocabulary until the language gradually became Han-Viet, Chinese-Vietnamese, a blend of the two. Added to this mixture is a sprinkling of modem French and English vocabulary. Scripts: There are three distinct writing systems: • chu nho, chu Han - (scholars' script), Han or Chinese characters) • chu nom - Chinese characters (characters derived from Chinese) • quae ngu - Latin script • Chu Nho, the script used by Confucius Vietnamese was first written using the Chinese writing system, chu nho. Around the ninth century, following Chinese domination, all government and official transactions, education, correspondence and literature used Chinese characters. This system was still being used by scholars until quite

8th century CE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Mon-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.3 recently. Vietnamese still request the services of scholars skilled in ehu nho for lettering the banners and placards traditionally used for weddings, and festivals.

Chu nho was borrowed directly from Chinese, just as Latin was in Europe. Chu nho was the official written language of Viet Nam until French domination in the 19th century. • Chu Nom, vulgar system of writing/demotic script A great monarchy was established in the North which began a southward expansion. The Vietnamese nation underwent thousands of years of Northern domination. Local mandarins at various· levels were allowed to sit for examinations in the Northern Court (China), and were recruited into the administrative hierarchy.

Therefore, the first stage of Viet Nam's linguistic liberation from China began with the development of ehu nom, around the eighth century at the end of the Northern domination period, and ear1y in the 10th century. Although still based on Chinese characters, it was uniquely Vietnamese. Under this system, each Vietnamese word was transcribed into a combination of two Chinese ideograms, one used for phonetization purposes, the other to indicate the meaning in Vietnamese.

However, not until the 13th century under the Tran dynasty was ehu nom systematized and used in literature. Nguyen Thuyen (a.k.a. Han Thuyen), a mandarin and poet ofthe 13th century, was a pioneer in its literary use.

The ehu nom system, however, was extremely cumbersome and was used only in literature and non-official documents. A knowledge of Chinese was still necessary to understand ehu nom. Furthermore, there were no fixed, no strict rules in the combination of Chinese characters, which often led to several different possible interpretations of the same word.

In Japan, Hiragana and Katagana developed under similar circumstances. Yet, ehu nom did not receive support from the Vietnamese kings, as did Hiragana and Katagana which evolved into the Japanese written language, replacing Chinese characters.

Chu nom was never accorded recognition as an official written language.

In spite of all these shortcomings, for over six centuries, ehu nom was used as a literary language alongside ehu nho. Chu nom was welcomed and widely used by many in their daily life as well as in transcribing their national history and literature. • Quoe Ngu, national language The use of the Latin alphabet to record languages using Chinese characters, was probably tried for the first time in 1548 by Yajiro, a Japanese man who converted to Catholicism. Missionaries taught Catholicism to the Japanese liVing in Fatfoo, Central Viet Nam, using the Japanese language with romanized, romanji, books published by the Japanese Jesuit Press. It was only a short stretch from there to romanize Vietnamese. Thus, based on the pattern of the romanji, the quoe ngu was created.

Around the 17th century, European missionaries came to Viet Nam and learnt Vietnamese in order to disseminate Catholicism. Two Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, Gaspar d'Amiral and Antonio Barboza, romanized the language by developing a writing and spelling system using the Latin alphabet and several signs to represent the tonal accents of Vietnamese speech. They developed a modified Latin script to represent quae ngu in order to translate religious materials. Alexandre de Rhodes, a French Jesuit missionary, published the Vietnamese-Portuguese-Latin dictionary and a fundamental catechism based on previous work, in Rome in 1649-1651. The

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Mon-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.4 development of the new script was a collective undertaking, started in the early 16th century, by several generations of Catholic missionaries: Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian, as well as Vietnamese scholars.

In 1867, colonial schools began to teach using quae ngu. However, only in the 20th century was quae ngu widely used in the local primary educational system. Quoe ngu constituted a new step in the development of Vietnamese. While romanization of a Chinese script received only mild interest in other Asian counties, it was extraordinarily successful in Viet Nam.

However, quoe ngu originally met with resistance. For a long time, it remained within the sphere of the Catholic priests, and most others continued to ignore the new system of writing. Also, the knowledge of the traditional system of writing was essential for anyone who wanted to present himself for the triennial examinations. Thus, quoe ngu was adopted and officially became popular only when Viet Nam was under French domination (1864-1945).

At the beginning of the present century, Nguyen Truong To, a great Vietnamese reformer, presented the Royal Court with a petition requesting the adoption of quaengu as the official writing system. His request was not accepted because scholars of the time were reluctant to abandon the older traditions.

Yet, the most popular writers of North Viet Nam followed the example set by their colleagues in South Viet Nam by writing in quae ngu without waiting for the decision of the Royal Court. This movement on behalf of quoe ngu soon reached considerable proportions, especially when a famous letter of Phan Boi Chau was published. In this letter, the well-known nationalist revolutionary stressed the need for education. The patriotic sentiments of the Vietnamese, especially her youth, were stirred. Vietnamese revolutionaries also considered quoe ngu as a powerfUl vehicle to erase illiteracy, to educate the masses and to fight the French on a cultural front.

In 1906, the French administration organized the Council for Improvement of Education, ordering the study of quoe ngu as a secondary subject in schools. In 1908, the Royal Court of Hue created and charged the Ministry of Education with the task of applying the new school curriculum in quae ngu. At last, from 1915 to 1919, a series of decrees were issued abolishing triennial literary examinations tor the recruitment of governmental officials. From then on, quoe ngu became the accepted form of popular national writing, bringing to an end the use of Chinese-type ehu nom characters.

It was finally declared the official language of Viet Nam by the French in 1910. In 1919 the Royal Court recognized quoe ngu as the official written language. It ultimately replaced both ehu nho and ehu nom. It served as a catalyst for the revolutionary nationalist movements to overthrow French domination. Quoe ngu evolved into a driving force behind social, cultural and political revolutions in Viet Nam in the 20th century.

By the end of World War II, quae ngu was shown to be adaptable and well able to support the Vietnamese curriculum from grade school to college. The term quae ngu is now seldom used, replaced by the term tleng Viet (the Vietnamese language). When Viet Nam was divided, quae ngu was made the official language of both North and South Viet Nam. Since 1945, it has served as the conventional orthography throughout the country at all levels of education. Standard spoken Vietnamese is based on the Hanoi dialect.

8th century CE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Mon-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.5 Tones: Vietnamese is a monosyllabic language of six tones, which gives the language its melodious quality. A word can be repeated with anyone of the six tones to indicate six different meanings. Five diacritical marks differentiate these tones:

no mark flat tone , (sac) high-rising (huyen) low-falling ? (hoi) falling-rising, constricted ,.. (nga) high-rising broken . (nang) low-failing, short constricted Many Vietnamese words are almost identical, except for the marks mentioned before. These marks are essential for written Vietnamese because the words are pronounced differently and have different meanings.

For example: • ma • ma' mother (southern Viet Nam) or cheek • ma' who, which, that, whom • ma? tomb • rna,.. horse orappearance • rna. young rice seedling, or mother (central) Contemporary Vietnamese has three main dialects, differentiated by region: northern, central and southern. The northern dialect is marked by a crispness in sound, with greater attention paid to the distinction of tones. The southern dialect, which differs from the northern dialect in the pronunciation of consonants, does not distinguish between the hoi and nga tones and thus, produces a musical lilt to the speech. The dialect of the central Viet Nam is deep in sound due to its emphasis on low tones. LINGUISTIC COMPARISON

ENGLISH VIETNAMESE

LANGUAGE Indo-European Austro-Asiatic FAMILY (West Germanic branch) (Mon-Khmer, Viet-Muong branch) WRITING - alphabet, Latin script - alphabet, Latin script SYSTEM - non-phonetic - phonetic - written from left to - written from left to right right

# OF LETTERS 26 39

VOWELS 6 written, 15-16 spoken 12 - 6 written with accents, 6 without DIFFERENT th(this, the), w, ng(sing) - gh, ng, nh, ngh, cit CONSONANTS j, f, Z

CAPITALIZATION - begins new sentences - begins new sentences with capitals with capitals

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.6 COMBINATION - each syllable has a vowell - each syllable has a vowell consonant OF lETTERS consonant sound sound - many consonant clusters - no clusters - each syllable = 1 word NUMBERS - written from left to right - written from left to right ORDER • sentence - subject + verb + object - sUbject + verb + object - time words at end or - time words appear at the end or beginning of sentence beginning of the sentence

• adjective - adjective + noun - noun + adjective ARTICLES - a, anlthe + noun - no articles VERBS - subject is separate - each verb is independent - verb inflected only - no tenses for some verbs (to be) - no verb to be, EX: He man tal/. and in some tenses PRONOUNS • subject - always written - always written

• object - differs from subject - differs from subject - appears after the verb - appears after the verb

• possessive - differs from the above - differs from the above (adj) - appears before the noun - appears after the noun PLURALS - adds suffix s, es, ies - number indicates plural, 2 cat - has a few irregUlar forms - has no irregular forms TENSES - 3 forms of the verb, - no tenses - adverbs of time indicate tense present, past, past part. - tenses changed with ed, suffix, whole word, or with to be, to have, will COMMANDS - infinitive form of the verb - vocabulary indicates command ?FORM - question wordlauxiliary verb - question wordlverb + subject - verb + subject NEGATIVE - uses auxiliary verbs - adds khong = no before verb FORM - to be + not VERBI - verb+ to + infinitive - verb + verb 2ND VERB MODAlS - modal + infinitive (no to) - no modals

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.7 FORMALI1"Y - 3 levels - 3 levels LEVELS - levels changed by use - formal vocabulary/address of modals and longer sentence structures

SWEARING! - involves the subjects - involves the sUbjects of sex! OATHS of sexlbodily functions bodily functions

VOCABULARY! - higher level of writing, - French and Chinese FOREIGN GreeklLatin - ThaiIMon-Khmer 'for grammar, tonality from INFLUENCE Thai, vocabulary from Chinese and Mon­ Khmer

LEARNING OF - word recognition, - phonics, syllables WRITING! phonics, syllables READING

Literacy rate: 93.7%: 96% males, 91.2% females CULTURAL BACKGROUND

EDUCATION

School is compulsory for nine years for primary and junior high school, with three years of secondary school being optional. However, Viet Nam has difficulty keeping students in school, especially in remote areas.

All students must spend part of their school year doing manual labour: 15 percent for primary and 17 percent for secondary school. Primary education lasts for five years (Grades 1-V), with secondary school divided into four years of lower secondary school (Grades VI-IX) and three years of upper secondary school (Grades X­ XII). Technical and vocational secondary education has two levels: the lower level, simple trades: the upper level, students receive a diploma of ''skilled worker". At the end of secondary education, pupils sit the Bang Tot Nghiep Pho Thong Trung Hoc (universal graduation) examination.

School system: 1. Primary School (5 years), ages 6 to 11 • Certificate awarded: Certificate ofPrimary Education

2. Lower Secondary School (4 years), ages 11 to 15 • Certificate awarded: Certificate of Lower Secondary

3. Technical Secondary School (3 years), ages 12 to 15

4. Upper Secondary School (3 years), ages 15 to 18 • Certificate awarded: Bang Tot Nghiep Pho Tong Trung Hoc (Secondary School Graduation Certificate)

8th century CE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.8 Academic year: September to June Language of instruction: Vietnamese Admission to university: Secondary school credential required: Sang Tot Nghiep Pho Tong Trung Hoe Entrance exams required. Grading system in secondary school: Description: 1-10 For examinations: 8.0 or above: excellent; 7.0 or above: good; 5.0-6.5: fair/pass; below 5.0: bad Highest on scale: 10 Passlfaillevel: 5 NAMES Names are written surname, middle name and first name: Nguyen, Thi Ha. In school, children are addressed by their first names. Vietnamese names are usually composed of three elements: • the family or clan name, such as Nguyen, Tran, Le • the middle name, or cushion word, such as Van, Dinh, Huu, Thi • the first or given name, Ten, Ha

For example: Nguyen Van Nam • Nguyen is the family name, a remote clan ancestor, god or a hero. • Thi is the middle or "cushion" name. • Ha is the given name. Sometimes there is no middle name, but that occurs only for men's names, and represents only 22 percent of all names. First Boys' names commonly represent positive attributes in the form of adjectives, such as "brave", "strong", "courageous", for their first name. Girls are quite often named after colours that are considered lucky such as "red" or flowers. Mai is the name of a blossom.. Middle The middle name always reveals the gender of the individual. Girls' names have Thi while boys' have Van, Huu, Due, Dinh, Xuan, Ngoe, Quang, Congo Thus, siblings of the same sex can share the same middle name. One set of three middle elements indicates the ages of the siblings. Brothers with the middle names, manh, trong, qui, are the first, the second and the third in the family; all the following ones take gia. An older brother may be identified with ba, and his younger brother with thue. Surname Traditionally, there have been 100 surnames, yet, in reality there are probably 300. The most frequently used sumames are one-syllable names such as Nguyen, Tran, Le, Vu, Vo, Hoang, Huynh, Pham, Ngo, Truong, Phan, Doan, Thai, Trinh, Dang, Sui, Lam, Cao, Duong, Dinh, Do, Luu and Ly.

8th century CE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.9 The majority of these names can be traced back to Chinese clans and names that can be written in Chinese characters. In addition, there are family names such as Ong, Ma, Tra, Che, Lang and Sam, from the Cham people in the south.

Other family names may be compounded: Nguyen-Tan, Nguyen-Khoa, Ho-Dac. In such compounds, the first word indicates the family that has adopted the individual; the second denotes the family of origin. In other compound family names, the second element, originally, a middle name, joined the family name to identify members of one family among the numerous Nguyens or Trans once a clan broke up because of urbanization and displacement. Male members of the royal family who are not in direct line with the ruling Nguyen family take the name Ton-that "Revered Family". The women take the name Ton-nu. Upon marriage, a woman does not take her husband's sumame. Taboo - animal Names of animals are SUbject to various taboos. As a result, the usual animal's name is avoided, and a new "nickname" is chosen, using a kinship name followed by a pun or an expressive adverb describing it. For example, if "snake" were a taboo animal, it might be called Uncle Slither. Later the term is abbreviated, the original name is forgotten, and the new name, through overuse, becomes taboo, so that another name must be chosen. Taboo - first name After a person's , the person's name and words resembling it are avoided. Instead, metaphors or other euphemisms replace the person's name. RELIGION Viet Nam's belief systems include , Taoism, , Christianity and Tam Giao (triple re/~{}ion), a fusion of the philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, along with ancient Vietnamese animism. The Vietnamese attitude towards life, death and the wor1d beyond bears a deep imprint of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. All the religions in Viet Nam reflect ancestor worship and animism. More than 70 percent of Vietnamese practise Tam Giao, seven to 10 percent are Catholic, and about 400,000, Protestants. Most minorities consider themselves Muslims or Hindus. Buddhism: Buddhism was introduced to Viet Nam by Chinese immigrants and Indian preachers who arrived by sea during Chinese domination in the second century BCE. Theravada Buddhism arrived in Viet Nam via the Indian trade routes through Burma and Thailand. Mahayana Buddhism came later, during the Chinese domination, and eventually became the official state religion under the Ly dynasty. After Viet Nam regained her independence from China in the 10th century, Buddhist monks served as the king's counsellors. By the end of the 14th century, Buddhism, in both forms, began to show signs of decline. Since the Tran Dynasty, Buddhism has lost the status of a state religion, but nevertheless, it remains a dominant force in Viet Nam. Yet, its ideological influence remains very strong in social and cultural

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 10 Ute, as well as leaving its stamp on traditional literature and architecture. Many pagodas and temples were built during the Tran dynasty. At present, more than 70 percent of the population of Viet Nam are Mahayana Buddhists, or strongly influenced by Buddhist practices. Confucianism: Confucian philosophy emphasizes social behaviour, duty and hierarchy, more than religious practices. Its code of ethics demands loyalty of government to the emperor, obedience of children to parents, and submission of wives to husbands. FUl1hermore, it asserts that everyone has the same potential for experiencing happiness, best achieved by improvement through education. Confucian ideals also promote ancestor worship, the ritual expression of filial piety. Taoism: The Tao, meaning the Way, is a complex metaphysical system that worships the simplicity and harmony of nature. Founded by Lao Tzu, the sixth~century BCE Chinese philosopher, it promotes the belief that a person's fate is predetermined and that happiness can be achieved through establishing and maintaining the balance between contemplation and asceticism. Christianity: Catholicism was introduced to Viet Nam in the 17th century by Spanish, Portuguese, and French missionaries. Protestantism was introduced to Viet Nam around 1911 by American missionaries working in ,the southern region. Islam: Most of the Islamic followers in Viet Nam are those of the Cham ethnic minority group living, in the central coastal area. The number of Islamic followers in Viet Nam totals about 50,000.

Cao Dai, (Third Amnesty of God) and Hoa Hao, are Vietnamese religions that began in the early 20th century. These two religions are nationalistic and have even maintained their own militia. Cao Dai sect: First introduced to the country in 1926 by Ngo Minh Chieu, Caodaism attempts to bring all faiths under one supreme creator, the Creator of the Universe. Cao Dai is based on the ethical teachings of Buddha, Jesus, Confucius and Victor Hugo. The main tenets include the belief in one God, the existence of the soul, and the use of mediums to communicate with spiritual leaders who belong to many countries and cultures. The ultimate goal is to escape the cycle of by follOWing the prohibitions against killing, lying, stealing, luxurious living and sensuality. Practices include priestly celibacy, vegetarianism, meditation, ancestor worship, and communication with spirits through seances. The number of followers of this sect is estimated at two million. Hoa Hao sect: The sect was first introduced to Viet Nam in 1939. Hoa Hao is a "protestanf' Buddhism that believes there is no need for pagodas and priests to make the heavenly connection, but rather it can be made through self-directed prayer. More than a million Vietnamese are followers of this sect.

8th century CE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 11 TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE CUSTOMS Dating Traditionally, Vietnamese males and females are not allowed to date. They marry according to their parents' arrangements. Dating is considered to undermine traditions, encourage children to defy their parents' wishes, and, in that way bring shame to their family. Pleasing parents is a social priority, and, to do otherwise, would bring major dishonour. Nowadays, parents in Viet Nam are freer in allowing their children to date. However, pUblic displays of affection are still considered inappropriate. When couples decide to marry, they must first obtain their parents' permission. By custom, the young man's parents visit the woman's parents with gifts of fruit or wine, and together they discuss the wedding arrangements. Engagement The engagement is a festive occasion jnvolving the fiance's and fiancee's families, arranged by the parents. The engagement is considered very important and can be even more important than the wedding. Before the engagement day, the families choose two representatives from each side, who are usually a married couple. Ttle man requests the fiancee's hand in marriage on behalf of the fiance's family, exchanges gifts and controls the flow of the ceremony. The families also get together to negotiate a dowry, date and time for the ceremony. The date and time are chosen based on the fiance's and fiancee's dates and hours of birth. Days prior to the engagement, the fiance's parents prepare gifts to offer the fiancee's family. These gifts include betel leaves and areca nut fruit (trau cau), wine, tea, husband-wife cake (banh phu the), sticky rice, other food and jewelry. They are placed on trays and wrapped in red plastic paper, the colour of luck. A roasted pig is placed on a large tray, to be carried to the fiancee's home by two young men. On the engaQement day, the fiance's family bring the gifts to the fiancee's home and are greeted by the fiancee's family. Once inside, the fiance's representative once again asks the other representative for the fiancee's hand in marriage. The fiancee's representative accepts the gifts and presents the fiancee to her in-laws. Together, the engaged couple pray in front of the family altar and ask for approval from their ancestors. When the prayer is completed, the fiance places the engagement ring on his fiancee's finger. Then, the representatives formally introduce their party's family members. The fiance and fiancee are officially members of their in-law family, and should refer to their in-laws by their respective roles. The parents, in return, accept a new son or daughter into their family. After the ceremony, the families celebrate the occasion with a feast organized by the fiancee's family. Half of the food gifts are unwrapped and shared before the fiance's family leaves. The day after the engagement, the couple and parents visit their neighbours, friends, oo-workers and relatives who could not attend the ceremony. They bring betel leaves and areca nuts, tea and wine to share their good fortune. Wedding On the wedding day, the groom's family and relatives, carrying gifts wrapped in red paper, go to the bride's house. These gifts are similar to the engagement ones. The trays are carried by

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 12 married couples. Women are dressed in Ao Dai. Men wear suits or traditional Ao Dai. The wedding party usually is led by a couple who are the wealthiest and most successful among the relatives to wish the bridal couple a blessed life in the future. The groom's family stop in front of the bride's house. The leading couple enter the house first. bearing a tray with wine and tiny cups. They invite the bride's parents to imbibe. By accepting the toast, the bride's family agree to the groom's family's entrance to their house. A firecracker is set off to greet them. The groom's family introduce themselves and ask permission for their son to marry the bride. The Master of Ceremony instructs the bride's parents to present their daughter. The bride then follows her parents out. She is dressed in a traditional red wedding Ao Dai. The ceremony starts in front of the altar. The bride and the groom kneel down and pray. asking for their ancestors' permission to marry, asking for a blessing from their family-to-be. The couple then turn and bow down to the bride's parents to thank them for raising and protecting her since birth. They then bow to each other to show gratitude and respect toward their soon-to-be spouses. The Master of Ceremony gives the wedding couple advice, the groom and the bride's parents share their experiences and give their blessing, then, the groom and the bride exchange wedding rings. The ceremony ends with a round of applause. Nowadays, many couples have their wedding ceremony in temples or churches. However. they still preserve the traditional ceremony in the bride's home before heading to the temple or church. A wedding banquet is scheduled in the evening at a hotel or a big restaurant. At the banquet. the groom, bride and their families are once again introduced to the guests and everyone drinks a toast. Dinner is served at the tables. During the reception, the groom, bride and their parents stop by each table to thank their guests. The guests, in return, give the couple their blessing, along with envelopes containing cards and money. CALENDAR Viet Nam follows the Chinese lunar calendar, and so, the new year begins late January or early February. The calendar is divided into a 12-year cycle of animals. Along with many other Asian countries, both the Chinese and the Vietnamese recognize the Lunar calendar as part of their cultural tradition. The main difference between the Chinese and Vietnamese lunar calendars is that the Vietnamese replace the Ox, Rabbit and Sheep in the Chinese calendar with the Buffalo. Cat and Goat. CELEBRATIONS In addition to many village festivals, there are three national, Tet, festivals. • Tet Nguyen Dan, Lunar New Year, late January/early February Tet Nguyen Dan literally means the first morning of the first day of the new period. It is the biggest and most important holiday in Vietnamese culture. The Lunar Year holiday was originally brought to Viet Nam by the Chinese. Tet is the celebration of the beginning of spring as well as New Year. It is the time for family reunions, exchanging gifts, best wishes and New Year's greetings.

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Mon-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 13 Families believe that their activities during Tet must involve happiness, joy and good luck. Great care is given to starting the year out on the right foot as it is believed the first day and the first week of the new year will determine the fortunes or misfortunes for the rest of the year. Thus, before the beginning of Tet, it is customary for families to clean and paint their home, settle old debts and disputes and work hard in the new year. Great care is taken to avoid arguments. People, traditionally, buy new clothes to usher in the new year. Paying homage to one's ancestors is another important part of Tet. Families pray at temples, churches and pagodas. They visit the graves of their ancestors, and, in their homes, construct altars, containing photographs of their ancestors, offer gifts of food, flowers and . The night before, families perform a ritual where incense sticks are burned, inviting the spirits of their ancestors to join them in the celebration. It is also a time to bid farewell to the family's Kitchen God, Ong Tao, who returns to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the family's behaviour in the past year. Houses are decorated with Cay Neu, a New Year's Tree, a small bamboo tree planted in front of the house. It is stripped of its leaves, except for a tuft on top, decorated with red paper. The tree and red banners on the front door, ward off evil spirits from entering the house during the absence of the Kitchen God. A sprig of yellow blossom Hoa Mai, which represents spring, is used to decorate the home. Adults give children red envelopes full of LI Xi or lucky money, always in even denominations, as odd numbers are considered bad luck. At Le Tru Tich, the official start of Tet, people fill the streets, making as much noise as possible, using firecrackers, drums, bells, gongs, wooden instruments to ward off evil spirits. The first person who visits a family's house in the new year should be someone who has enjoyed good luck during the previous year so that his or her karma can also influence the family's fortune in the new year. Particular care is taken in advance to arrange to have such a rich, happy and prestigious visitor. MuaLan A masquerade parade with dancers mimics the movements of Mua Lan, a unicorn that more resembles a cross between a lion with a dragon, the traditional symbol of strength and thought to scare away evil spirits. According to ancient history, the unicorn made its first appearance during the Duong Dynasty in 600 CEo Emperor Duong Cao To, after a military Victory, popularized the dance of the unicorn to celebrate peace. Tradition has it that wherever a unicorn appears, people will have peace, happiness and prosperity. Originally, the dance came from China where it is called the dragon dance, but in Viet Nam it became accepted only after Emperor To's victory. There are two varieties of the Vietnamese version. In North Viet Nam, it is called the lion dance, and is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Lunar Year, around autumn. In South Viet Nam, the unicorn dance is held only during Tet holidays. The techniques are similar, although the dance varies a little. In North Viet Nam, the lion comes out at dusk and is accompanied by a group of children, holding paper lanterns suspended on long poles. The lanterns take the shape of various animals such as rabbits, dragons and fish or mul'U-winged stars. In the south, where the dances take place during the day and evening, many brightly-coloured square flags replace the lanterns in the procession of the unicorn. Leading this procession are the flag carriers. Because the Vietnamese believe that the unicorn is a symbol of wealth and prosperity, they are generous in donating to the unicorn dance teams. After the flags, comes the

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 14 unicorn. Big processions may have more than one. A mythical beast, called Dia, with a moon-like face mask, is accompanied by a man carrying a pole which is topped with a round ball, representing a piece of jade. At the end, come the drums and cymbals, mounted on a cart, which accompany the dance. Several men take turns manipulating the unicorn. They wear various-coloured uniforms, which identiJy where the dance takes place. Each unicorn procession covers a well-defined area. In Ho Chi Minh City, the unicorn procession begins early in the morning on the first day of Tet. The procession systematically Visits every home and shop in its area. First, the drums and cymbals salute the occupants of the house. The unicorn stoops down, bends its head several times before the entrance door, then steps back to repeat the same gesture five or six times before beginning the dance. The home owner or shopkeeper then presents his donations by suspending his gift from a first storey balcony or window at the end of a pole. To rise to the challenge, the unicorn dancers must be strong, agile, and, above all, good climbers. To achieve their goal, the unicorn must be elevated, via a human pyramid, to the height of the suspended gift, or through the use of a ladder. All the while, the unicorn dances to the rhythm of the drums, and the excited crowd shouts encouragement. The climax comes when the prize is "swallowed" by the unicorn, and the group moves slowly on to the next house. After the procession, families and friends feast on traditional dishes. Tet officially lasts for seven days and ends with the Le Khai Ha ritual dUring which the Cay Neu is taken down. • Tet Trung Thu, Mid-Autumn Festival, eighth month There are many different legends connected with this festival: the birthday of the moon; the Old Man in the Moon (the matchmaker) ties couples together with invisible red thread and Miss Hang's and Toad Circle's journey back to their home on the moon. This harvest celebration throughout South- occurs when the moon is at its fullest and brightest of the year. The full moon is greeted with much ceremony in feasting and rejoicing. The Mid-Autumn Festival is primarily a children's celebration. Moon cakes are sold, and if the year has been productive, there is great rejoicing. Presents are exchanged. • Tet Tao Quan, Kitchen Gods' Celestial Journey Festival, 23rd of the 12th month

This holiday marks the day on which the chief guardian spirit of the kitchen returns to heaven to Ngoc Hoang, the Jade Emperor, supreme divinity of the Taoist Heaven to report on the activities of the family. A new spirit is assigned to the household for the coming year to replace the previous one. Sacrificial gold paper is burnt, and a carp is provided for their journey to heaven. Each family pays tribute to their Kitchen Gods. Tao Quan, the Three Kitchen Gods, are present in the kitchen of every home. • Le Giao Thus, New Year's Eve, last day of the year OCCurring at midnight, Giao Thua is the time when a family ushers out the spirits of the old year in a ritual called Le Tru Tich. It is especially important to provide a warm welcome to the Spirit of the Hearth, Tao Quan, who has visited the Jade Emperor. Drums, gongs and firecrackers announce the hour of Le Giao Thua.

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Mon-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 15 LITERATUREICULTURE The Vietnamese language is flexible and lyrical, and, thus, poetry plays a strong role in both literature and the performing arts. Folk-art consists of beautiful woodcuts, village painting and block printing. Vietnamese lacquer art, another traditional medium, is commonly held to be the most original and sophisticated in the world. Music, dance and puppetry are also integral parts of the country's culture.

Cau Doi, sentence pair A literary art form of Chinese origin, a cau doi, consists of two sentences or lines. Each line corresponds to the other, in tone pattern, and individual word meaning. The cau doi is usually used to convey good wishes on Tet holidays. It is a highly specialized form of poetry. Vietnamese folk literature came into being very early. Beauty, humanism and the love of goodness contributed to the formation of a national identity. Written literature first appeared around the 1Oth century, when literary works were written in Han (classical Chinese) and chu nom. From the 16th century, chu nom literature became increasingly popular and held a primary position until the early 18th century. However, by the 20th century, works written in classical Chinese disappeared. Since the 19208, the country's literature has been written in Vietnamese quae ngu. Poets: Doan Thi Diem, Nguyen Du, Ho Xuan Huong, The Lu, Pham Huy Thong, Xuan Dieu, Luu Trong Lu, Huy Can, To Huu, Nguyen Thuyen (a.k.a. Han Thuyen), Nguyen Si Co, Nguyen Trai, Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, Cao Sa Quat Nguyen, Du was a poet well known for his epic poem, Kieu. It has been translated into English and French. Writers: Ngo Tat To, Nguyen Hong, Buoc Duong Cung , Nguyen Cong Hoan, , Giong To, Vu Trong Phung, Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Du, Ho Chi Minh Water puppetry: The art of water puppetry first appeared during the Ly dynasty (1010-1225), in lake and pond-rich areas of the Red River Delta. The surface of water serves as the stage while the audience sits at the water's edge. The puppeteers stand waist-deep in the water to manipulate the puppets, making them move and dance on the surface of the water. The surface of the water serves as a stage, which is full of reflection, and provides natural amplification for the singing puppeteers, percussion and firecrackers. Puppets are made of wood and painted with water-proof lacquer. The prominent character is the clown, Teu, who has a chubby body and a humorous smile. Architecture: It demonstrates a natural balance and harmony evident in the country's temples and monasteries. The preeminent architectural form is the pagoda, which symbolizes a desire to bridge the gap between a mundane earthly existence and the perfection of heaven. One of the most treasured is the Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue, consecrated in 1601, and completed more than 200 years later.

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 16 OTHER • Famous Dynasties Ly Dynasty, (1009-1225) According to tradition, the first emperor, Ly, had a dream of a dragon rising out of the ground and ascending into heaven. This inspired him to move the capital to the place where he dreamt the dragon had risen out of the ground, in the city of Thang Long, later renamed "Hanoi." This is also why Viet Nam is sometimes called the Land of the Rising Dragon. Tran Dynasty, (1225-1400) This dynasty successfully fought off invasion attempts of a larger Mongol army led by Kublai Khan. Marco Polo also travelled briefly t~lrough Viet Nam in 1295. Late Le Dynasty, (1428-1776) Le Loi formed a resistance movement successfully using guerrilla warfare tactics to drive out Chinese invaders. This strategy involved using brief, but frequent, surprise attacks targeting the enemy's weakest points, and avoiding direct combat against superior enemy forces, a tactic that would be used successfully throughout Viet Nam's early and modem history. This period also is considered to be the nation's Golden Age. Trinh and Nguyen Rulers, (1543-1776) Following many civil wars, the nation was divided in half in 1600. The Trinh lords ruled northern Viet Nam while the Nguyen lords controlled the south. During this period, the Le emperors had little real power. The Nguyen lords also incorporated the remaining Champa and eastern Khmer empires into Viet Nam. The nation reached her present size and shape by 1757 (except for the southernmost Soc Trang province). Nguyen Dynasty, (1792-1883) Despite continuing revolts, the nation was again unified. The capital was moved to Hue and gained imperial status. Political influence of French missionaries became more prominent. However, the Nguyen rulers became increasingly suspicious of the French, and ultimately, became hostile toward French interests.

• DRESS • Ao Dai (long dress) The national dress of Vietnamese women is a tailored, full-length dress, worn over black or white loose-fitting trousers. The dress splits into front and back panels from the waist down. There are variations in the colour, pattern and collar design. Originally, the ao dai was looser fitting, with four panels, two of which were tied in back. In 1932, a nationalistic literacy group, Tu Luc Van Doan, designed what is the current ao dai. A similar costume is worn by men. However, their dress is shorter, knee length, and looser-fitting. In the past, coloured brocade and the embroidered dragon motifs were worn only by emperors. Purple was the colour reserved for high-ranking mandarins, blue for mandarins of lower rank. White dresses have a frayed fringe up the back. • Hair In ancient times, a girl's hair was regarded as a symbol of correctness, kindness and virtue: "One's hair reveals one's origin," according to an old proverb. No girl dared cut her hair, and untied, it would reach her heels. The hair of young women has been the subject of literature, poetry and art.

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 17 • Death The traditional time of mouming for parents is three years and begins even before death. As death approaches, the entire family assembles around the dying relative, and silence is observed. The eldest son or daughter bends close to record the last words. At this time, the eldest child suggests a name for the dying person, as it is considered unlucky to continue with the same name used in life after the relative has passed on. Men usually take the name Trung, which means faithfulness, or True, meaning loyalty. Women are usually called Trinh, meaning devotion, or Thuan, meaning harmony. According to ritual, when the parent has died, a chopstick is placed between the teeth of the deceased, and the body is placed on a mat on the floor in an effort to revive the parent. The next rite in this tradition is for the eldest son or daughter to take a shirt the deceased has wom in life and to wave it in the air and call upon the soul of the dead to retum to the body. After this rite has been completed, the family performs the ceremonial cleansing of the body. The corpse is bathed, symbolizing the washing off the dust of this world; then, the hair is combed and nails clipped. Money, gold and rice are placed in the mouth of the dead to indicate that the deceased has left this world without want or hunger. The corpse is then wrapped in a white cloth and placed in a coffin. Members of the family form an honour guard until an auspicious time for has been selected.

• Non Sai Tho, Poetical LeafHat This conical leaf hat is meticulously hand-made from simple natural materials. Thin wooden pieces with notches are used as a frame to shape the conical form and to hold the hat rims together. When the hat is held up to the light, one finds inside popular, romantic poems, proverbs and old sayings, or there may be an image of a temple, palace or tomb. Only young leaves, brought from the forest, are selected to cover the hat. Then, they are exposed to dew for one night to soften them. The leaves become dry but soft enough to flatten. A hat usually consists of 16 to 18 rims made from a special type of bamboo. These rims are shaped thinly into a conical form. The leaves are sewn by hand into all rims. The poem and picture frames are made in advance and then attached to the hat between the leaves. In order to have a well-made hat, it must be knitted together with a thread made from the leaves of a reed. Finally, the hat is trimmed and painted with a coat of attar (from rose petals) to keep it clean, smooth and waterproof. The leaf hat is both a symbol of Vietnamese girls and Viet Nam. • Tea Shops A tea shop can be found just about anywhere on the street: near a lamp post, under the shade of a tree or next to a door, anywhere where a low table with several glass pots of candies, roasted ground nuts and sugar coated cakes, a tea cozy and a tray of cups can be set up. Around the table are several small, wooden stools. Vietnamese tea comes in two varieties: green and black. Black tea is used for export, and green tea is always used for domestic consumption. There are also several kinds of fragrant tea, flavoured with the scent of such flowers as chrysanthemum, lotus and jasmine. Southerners prefer to drink their tea cold, with ice cubes, while northemers prefer it hot. Tea drinking is also a customary practice at wedding ceremonies. During the hoi vo (engagement) ceremony, tea is among the several items of food offered to the bride's family. Several kilograms of the best Thai Nguyen tea, wrapped in beautiful bags and placed inside a qua son (a circular lacquered wooden container), makes an ideal gift.

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Mon-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg. 18 Tea also finds it way into ceremonies where tea drinking is believed to be a medium for uniting friends and relatives, and offering condolences to family members of the deceased. In northern Viet Nam, tea tables also have a bamboo pipe, Dieu cay (tobacco water pipe), leaning against the edge of the table or inside a wooden box. • Birthdays Traditional Vietnamese only celebrate two birthdays in their lifetime. The first birthday celebration occurs when the baby is one month old. Family and friends gather, and prayers are said to the gods for the baby's health and safety. They ask the gods for long life and happiness on behalf of the child. When the child is a year old, the "cradle leaving" celebration is held. The child is now old enough to no longer need the constant care of his or her mother. Beginning with a religious service, a feast of rice, colourful cakes and red-painted eggs is prepared. Then, the child is placed in the centre of objects: a mirror/comb, penJbook, sticky rice/egg, cake, ruler, cloth... The family watches to see which object the child will reach for first. If it is the mirror and comb, the child will be vain and worry about his or her appearance. nit is the pen or book, the child will be a scholar. If the child reaches for the rice, she or he will be a greedy glutton. If she or he touches the cake, she or he will be good at business, but not at school. The ruler means she or he will be a perfectionist and hot­ tempered. If the child reaches for the cloth, she or he will be playful and lazy. This fortune-telling is rarely taken seriously, but rather tt adds to the festiveness of the occasion. • Death anniversary This is the most important celebration for the Vietnamese for it marks the occasion when loved ones have gone on to join their ancestors. It is a solemn, but happy occasion, as the Vietnamese believe their loved ones continue to live on in another new and better life. In fact, Vietnamese has no word for "die". This day is set aside to honour the dead and to teach children to respect their ancestors. The anniversary is set aside for all members of the family who have departed. Prayers for the souls of the dead are said. The family puts food on an attar that has incense and pictures of the deceased. Yellow scraps of paper are burnt, and the rising smoke is believed to carry the family's blessings to the departed. After the ceremony, the family and guests have a feast. • Mythology According to legend, Hung Vuong was the founder of the Hung Dynasty of the kingdom of Van lang. The Hung dynasty ruled Van Lang for 18 generations. It is said that Hung Vuong was the oldest son of Lac Long Quan (Lac Dragon Lord).

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.19 SOURCES/SUGGESTED REFERENCES

Collier Encyclopaedia Vol. 23 Encyclopaedia Britannica Languages of the World Vol. 22 Ed.15 Johnson, Lois S. Festivals of Life and Death Country and Culture #28

WEBSITES • asian-nation.org • vietnamemb.se • ciaworldbook.com • vietmedia.com • ethnologue.com • US Library of Congress - World Studies Reference • geocities.com • interknowledge.com • lonely planet.com • saigon.com • unesco.org Linguistic/Cultural "ambassador": Ha Nguyen

8th century GE, alphabetic Vietnamese (A - A, Man-Khmer, Viet-Muong) VietNam Pg.20 NOT£S

Writing Systems: There are four types of writing systems that languages primarily use. Some then use more than orle type, such as Japanese with its three scripts.

Writing systems for a language may also pass through stages in linguistic development. There is an order that the languages pass through which is unidirectional. All this means is the script reflects changes in the language, and not a ·superiority" of script.

The stages are - Languages: 1. ideographic/pictogrammes Egyptian hieroglyphics, Sumerian cuneiform pictures/symbols represent the message, no connection to the spoken word

2. logographic/logograpghy Chinese, Inuktituk word-sign system, written sym~ol stands for the word, derived from a picture

3. syllabic/syllabary Amharic, Gujarati, Tamil used when words not expressed by pictures, sign is a syllable

4. alphabetic/alphabet English, Persian, Russian, Hebrew one letter for one sound

Writing systems had to begin as ideographic and pass through the other three stages before becoming alphabetic. Whether a language continues to evolve through all four stages depends on the language's spoken characteristics and changes, as well as how well a script continues to ·capture" the spoken word. In some systems, elements from earlier stages continue to manifest themselves, such as in Japanese.

There has been much debate as to the source to the ·true" alphabet, where a single character is used for every sound, such as in the following alphabetic scripts: Latin, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Arabic and Greek. Originally, it was thought the source was Phoenician, yet their writing system was a syllabary, with shapes similar to what we use in a Latin alphabet system. Then, Greek was credited with invention of the alphabet.

New archaeological evidence uncovered on a cliff wall in Wadi el Hoi, Egypt in 1998, shows an alphabet being used as early as 2000 BeE, and therefore, the alphabet script must have originated in Egypt. The system used was acrophonic, symbols derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs that are shortened and streamlined to represent one sound only.

f Language types: • Isolating language/root languages have no endings, and word order shows relationship among the words. EX: Chinese and Vietnamese The boy will ask the girl. The girl will ask the boy.

• Inflecting languages express relationships by changing the word structure through the use of various endings. EX: Latin, Greek, Arabic The tallm girl.J. have been sift.iDIJ. near the boy~

• Agglutinative languages use words that contain a chain of affixes, attached to a root, to express grammatical structures as well as meaning. EX: Hungarian, Finnish, Turkish, Japanese, Swahili antidisestablishmentarianism

BOOK NOT£S

Abbreviations used in this volume: • Time periods: BCE =Before the Common Era (B.C.) CE =Common Era (A.D.)

• Language families: A-A = Austro-Asiatic Af-As = Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic) AI = Algonquian Alt = Altaic Ath = Athabaskan D = Dravidian Es-AI = Eskimo-Aleut I-E = Indo-European Ind = Independent Ir = Iroquoian M-P = Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian) N-C = Niger-Congo S-T = Sino-Tibetan U = Uralic

fi • Profile Footer:

BODO BCE, syllabic Amharic fAt - As. Semitic. Ethio.pic;) Etbio.pia 1 2 3 4 5 The footer contains the following information: 1. time period language was first recorded 2. type of writing system the language uses 3. the name of the language 4. the language family and branch to which the language belongs 5. official/major locations where the language is spoken

Language Comparison Notes: Verbs conjugate in languages such as those belonging to the Romance or Finno-Ugric branches. This means they change form to reflect the subject and the tense.

Nouns decline in languages such as those belonging to the Romance or Finno-Ugric branches. This means they change form to reflect plurality and sentence position.

Cultural Notes: In some of the profiles, extensive material has been provided, especially in the areas of Literature/Culture. In others, the list is sparse by comparison. This is no reflection on the culture nor bias of the author, rather it reflects a dearth of information available, especially in English.

In this area, as well as with all other profiles, I would certainly welcome additions and input.

Place Names/Historical Figures Notes: Place names mentioned exist(ed) withi n the country of the language profiled, unless otherwise specified.

In the profiles, names of historical figures and leaders are mentioned that may be unfamiliar to the reader. Those who have created a major impact on their languages, such as Chaucer, Dante, Ferdousi.., or the history of their country, have had more information provided, and this information will appear in the profile best connected with that figure. This is to keep from repeating similar information in other profiles. It is also hoped that the reader will have some familiarity with such figures as Robert the Bruce, Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, the Khans - Genghis and Kublai...

iii If a historical or cultural figure or place name has piqued the reader's attention to further study, askjeeves,com is an excellent website for satisfying one's curiosity.

SOURCES atlantisquest.com

Maugh II, Thomas Was Kilroy there at birth of Alphabet? Toronto Star December 12, 1999

RECOMMENDED SITES/BOOKS SITE MATERIAL • fotw flags and coats of ams with explanations • ciaworldbook.com country stats, maps and flags • countrywatch.com country information • lonelyplanet.com country information • omniglot.com thumbnail sketches of languages, script examples, writing samples, Ii nks to font and language sources • unesco.com educational source

BOOKS • The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems Florian Coulmas • The Cambridge Encyclopedia ofLanguage David Crystal • The Languages of the World Kenneth Katzner • The World's Writing Systems Peter T. Daniels & William Bright • The Writing Systems of the World Florian Coulmas

AUTHOR CONTACT Mail: E-mail World Languages Publishi ng House [email protected] c/o C. Haghighat 102 Snowshoe Cres., Telephone Thornhill, ON 416-9/0-4567 CANADA L3T-4M6

tv INDEX OF LANGUAGE PROFILES FOR ALL VOLUMES

PROFILE SECTION VOLUME

1. Albanian 44 III 2. Amharic 1 I 3. Arabic 22 II 4. Armenian 2 I 5. Berber 3 I 6. Bosnian 6 I 7. Bulgarian 4 I 8. Chinese 5 I 9. Cree 23 II 1O. Croatian 6 I 11. Czech 7 I 12. Danish 8 I 13. Dari 56 III 14. Dutch 24 II 15. English 45 III 16. Estonian 9 I 17. Finnish 46 III 18. French 47 III 19. Scottish-Gaelic 48 III 20. German 10 I 21. Greek 49 III 22. GLjuati 11 I 23. Hausa 25 II 24. Hebrew 12 I 25. Hindi 26 II 26. Hungarian 13 I 27. lcelandc 27 II 28. Indonesian 28 II 29. lnuktitut 50 III 30. lrish-Gaelic 29 II 31. Italian 14 I 32. Japanese 15 I 33. Khmer 51 II 34. Korean 16 I 35. Lao 30 II

y INDEX OF LANGUAGE PROFILES FOR ALL VOLUMES

PROFILE SECTION VOLUME

36. Lannan 31 II 37. Uthuanian 17 I 38. Macedonian 32 II 39. Malay 52 III 40. Mohawk 53 III 41. Norwegian 54 III 42. Ojibwe (Chippewa) 55 III 43. Pashto 56 III 44. Persian 18 I 45. Polish 33 II 46. Portuguese 19 I 47. Pu~abi 34 II 48. Romani 57 III 49. Romanian 58 III 50. Russian 59 III 51. Serbian 6 I 52. Slovene 35 II 53. Somali 20 I 54. Spanish 36 II 55. Swahili 60 III 56. Swedish 37 II 57. Tagalog 38 II 58. Tamil 39 II 59. Tgnnga 40 II 60. ~ 61 III 61. Turn~ 41 II 62. Ukrainian 59 III 63. Urdu 42 II 64. Vietnamese 21 I 65. Welsh 43 II 66. Xhosa 62 III 67. Zulu 63 III

Expected dates of availability: Vol. I, Fa1l103; Vol. II, Fa1l/04; Vol. III, Fall105

vi lat1514a5~ l',.otll~s ORD£RFORM

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