Though considered inferior to Han characters in the past, the Nom script played an important role in the history of Vietnamese language and literature.
Structure of the Nom script
The Nom script is a writing system based on Han characters. For the words that originate from Han language (ancient Chinese), the characters for the original words are used. For words that are completely Vietnamese, two characters, one showing the meaning (the character of the equivalent word in Han language) and one showing the pronunciation (the character of the Han word whose sound is similar), are used. In those combinations, it is conventional that the character for the meaning is often above and the one for the pronunciation below. The major drawback of this method is that pronunciation of the Han language and Vietnamese are different. Therefore it is difficult and subjective to determine which character best describes the sound of the Vietnamese word in question.
History of the Nom script
There is no archaeological proof that the Vietnamese had their own writing system before the long occupation of China from the 3rd century BC to the 10th century AD. The administrators and the intellectuals adopted the Han characters and language (but spoke it the Vietnamese way). However, the dream of a writing system for Vietnamese was not abandoned. Thus, the Nom script (Nom is the twisted pronunciation of Nam “the south”), the writing system for Vietnamese based on Han characters, was devised.
It is uncertain when the Nom script first appeared. Some scholars believe that it came into being by the end of the 8th century because ancient historical records state that King Phung Hung, the hero who defeated the Chinese governor and claimed the throne in 741 AD, had a completely Vietnamese title. That is the trace of a kind of script devised for Vietnamese language which is possibly the Nom script. However, the oldest document written in Nom script, a stele listing 20 villages found in Ninh Binh province, dates back to just the 13th century. It is also in the 13th century that the first literary works using Vietnamese and written in Nom script were composed. According to historical records, Han Thuyen was the first scholar to write poems in Vietnamese thus promoting the use of Nom script in intellectual activities. In later centuries, the script was further refined but could never be thoroughly standardized due to apathy from the authorities. Only in the reigns of King Ho Quy Ly and King Quang Trung was Vietnamese the official language of administration and the Nom script the official writing system. In other times, the script was limited to literary writing.
In the 19th century, the European missionaries devised Chu Quoc Ngu, a writing system for Vietnamese based on the Latin alphabet. This new system with its advantages was quickly accepted thus replacing both Han characters and Nom script. Nowadays, Nom script is studied mainly to gain access to ancient manuscripts and to exactly understand old literary works.
Reference:
Duong Quang Ham, “The Essential History of Vietnamese Literature”, Center of Educational Resource, 1968
