~ (HairPan Gulf of 1000 mNA Tonkin ltc ) ~. ',.A Otto Phu'\ l.nri£l.X Quoc Gulfot Thailand V " f~ W8 ~ ciaworldbook.com SECTION 21 Vol. I • Vl£TNAM£S£ AlPHAB£T v "'", Aa Aa Aa Bb CC C~ Chch Dd Dd Ee Gg GHgh Gigi Hh Ii • • Kk "'", Khkh Ee Mm Nn Ngng Nhnh 00 .... 00 ad Pp Phph Qq Rr 5s Tt Thth Trtr UU Un' VV Xx Vy VIETNAMESE Viet ngu 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 China 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 Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), and the Khmer, who settled along the border with Kampuchea (formerly Cambodia). 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) VietNam 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 Hanoi. 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 Japan. 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 Philippines, 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.