Chu nom

Chữ nôm (字喃 lit. "southern script") is a classical vernacular script of the Vietnamese language that makes use of Chinese characters (Vietnamese hán tự). The Vietnamese term for Chinese writing is known as Hán Tự, which was the only available form to express the language until the 14th century, used almost exclusively by Chinese-educated Vietnamese elites. Vietnamese was, from the 14th century to the end of the 19th century, written with Chu Nom, which was a modified Chinese script that incorporated sounds and syllables appropriate for native Vietnamese speakers. However, this has now been completely replaced by a modified Latin script that incorporated a complex system of diacritical marks to indicate the tones, as well as modified consonants.

Related Topics:
Vernacular - Script - Vietnamese language - Chinese characters - Hán tự - Language - 14th century - 19th century - Latin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~