Tiếng Việt (Chữ Nôm)

Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm)

Austroasiatic · historical / hidden variety

FamilyAustroasiatic SpeakersExtinct (script) ScriptChữ Nôm (Chinese-derived) CountriesVietnam (dynastic period) Official inVietnamese dynastic courts Vitalityextinct ISO 639-3vie

Chữ Nôm (𡨸喃) is the historical Sinographic vernacular script for writing Vietnamese, modifying Han characters phonetically and semantically to represent native Vietnamese morphemes. Used alongside Classical Chinese (chữ Hán) for literature, administration, and Buddhist canon from the 13th-19th centuries — peaking in the Nguyễn-dynasty Truyện Kiều (Nguyễn Du, c. 1820), Vietnam's national epic. Replaced by the Latin-based quốc ngữ in the early 20th century, but a UNESCO-supported Nôm preservation movement continues to digitize tens of thousands of historical works.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm)

Water

/nɨək˧˥/

Fire

/lɨə˧˩˧/

Sun

𩈘𡗶

/mət˨˩ tɕɤːj˨˩/

Moon

𩈘𢁋

/mət˨˩ tɕaŋ˧/

Star

𣋀

/saːw˧/

Mother

/mɛ˨˩/

Father

/ɓo˧˥/

I

/toj˧/

You

/maj˨˩/

Name

𠸜

/ten˧/

Eye

/mat˧˥/

Hand

𢬣

/taj˧/

Heart

𢁑𢙭

/tɕaːj˧˥ tim˧/

Love

𢞅

/iəw˧/

Tree

𣘃

/kəj˧/

House

/ɲaː˨˩/

Dog

/tɕɔ˧˥/

Cat

/mɛw˨˩/

Eat

𫗒

/an˧/

Drink

/uəŋ˧˥/

One

𠬠

/mot˨˩/

Two

𠄩

/haːj˧/

Hello

吀嘲

/sin˧ tɕaːw˨˩/

Thank you

感恩

/kaːm˧˩˧ əːn˧/

Good

/tot˧˥/

Cuckoo

布穀

/ɓo˧˩ ko˧ˀ˥/

Computer

盤倂

/ɓaːn˨˩ tïŋ˧˥/

Sushi

𩻐

/mam˧˥/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Austroasiatic languages

Meaning Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm)VietnameseSouthern VietnameseCentral VietnameseThai SongTàyThai (Southern)
Water /nɨək˧˥/ nước /nɨək˧˥/ nước /nɨək˧˥/ nước /nɨːk˧˥/ น้ำ /nam˧˩/ nặm /naːm˨˩/ น้ำ /nam˧˥/
Fire /lɨə˧˩˧/ lửa /lɨə˧˩˧/ lửa /lɨə˨˩˥/ lửa /lɨə˧˩/ ไฟ /faj˧˩/ phầy /fəj˨˩/ ไฟ /faj˥/
Sun 𩈘𡗶 /mət˨˩ tɕɤːj˨˩/ mặt trời /mət˨˩ tɕɤːj˨˩/ mặt trời /mak˨˩˨ ʈɤːj˨˩/ mặt trời /maːk˨˨ ʈɤːj˧˨/ ตะวัน /ta˩˧ wan˧/ tha vằn /tʰaː˧˧vən˨˩/ ตะวัน /ta˨˩wan˥/
Moon 𩈘𢁋 /mət˨˩ tɕaŋ˧/ mặt trăng /mət˨˩ tɕaŋ˧/ mặt trăng /mak˨˩˨ ʈaŋ˥/ mặt trăng /maːk˨˨ ʈaːŋ˥/ เดือน /dɯːan˧/ bươn /bɯən˧˧/ เดือน /dɯːan˥/
Star 𣋀 /saːw˧/ sao /saːw˧/ sao /ʂaːw˧/ sao /saːw˧/ ดาว /daːw˩/ đao /daːw/ ดาว /daːw˧/
Mother /mɛ˨˩/ mẹ /mɛ˨˩/ /maː˧˥/ mạ /maː˨˨/ แม่ /mɛː˧˩/ mẻ /mɛ˨˩˧/ แม่ /mɛː˥˩/
Father /ɓo˧˥/ bố /ɓo˧˥/ ba /ɓaː˥/ bọ /ɓɔː˨˨/ พ่อ /pʰɔː˧˩/ /pɔ˨˩/ พ่อ /pʰɔː˥˩/
I /toj˧/ tôi /toj˧/ tôi /toj˧/ tôi /toj˧/ กู /kuː˧/ khỏi /xɔːj/ ฉาน /tɕʰaːn˦/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm)
𦁸衣 𦓡 㐌𧡊 𥪝 𠬠𨷶行 對面 客棧
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

Tui muốn thử bộ vest tui đã chộ trong một cửa hàng đối diện khách sạn
ខ្ញុំ ចង់ សាកពាក់ ឈុត ដែល ខ្ញុំបានឃើញ ក្នុង ហាង ម្ខាង សណ្ឋាគារ
Tui muốn thử bộ vest tui đã thấy trong một tiệm đối diện khách sạn
Tôi muốn thử bộ vest tôi đã thấy trong một cửa hàng đối diện khách sạn
Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm)
𦁸衣 𦓡 㐌𧡊 𥪝 𠬠𨷶行 對面 客棧

Han readings compared

Compared with related Vietic > Vietnamese (native reading layer) languages

Character Vietnamese (Chữ Nôm)VietnameseSouthern VietnameseWenzhou WuCentral VietnameseDongguan YueQingtian Wu
một /mot̚˧ˀ˨ʔ/ Nhất /ɲət˧˥/ Nhứt /ɲɨt˦˥/ yi²¹³ /ji˨˩˧/ Nhất /ɲət˦˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ yi²³ /ji˨˧/
hai /haːj˧˧/ Nhị /ɲi˧ˀ˨ʔ/ Nhị /ɲi˨˩˨/ nyi²² /ɲi˨˨/ Nhị /ɲi˨˩ˀ/ ji6 /jiː˨˨/ nyi²² /ɲi˨˨/
ba /ɓaː˧˧/ Tam /taːm˧˧/ Tam /taːm˧˧/ sa³³ /sa˧˧/ Tam /taːm˧˨/ saam1 /saːm˥˥/ sa⁴⁴ /sa˦˦/
bốn /ɓon˧˥/ Tứ /tɨ˧˥/ Tứ /tɨ˧˥/ sy⁴² /sɿ˦˨/ Tứ /tɨ˨˩˧/ sei3 /sei˧˧/ sy⁴² /sɿ˦˨/
năm /nam˧˧/ Ngũ /ŋu˧ˀ˥/ Ngũ /ŋu˨˩˦/ ng²² /ŋ̍˨˨/ Ngũ /ŋu˨˩ˀ/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng²² /ŋ̍˨˨/
sáu /saːw˧˥/ Lục /luk˧ˀ˨ʔ/ Lục /luk˨˩ʔ/ lieu²¹³ /lɤu˨˩˧/ Lục /luk˨˩ʔ/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ lieu²¹³ /lɤu˨˩˧/
bảy /ɓaj˧˩˧/ Thất /tʰət˧˥/ Thất /tʰət˦˥/ tshei²¹³ /tsʰei˨˩˧/ Thất /tʰət˦˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ tshei²³ /tsʰei˨˧/
tám /taːm˧˥/ Bát /ɓaːt˧˥/ Bát /ɓaːt˦˥/ po²¹³ /po˨˩˧/ Bát /ɓaːt˦˥/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ po²³ /po˨˧/
chín /tɕin˧˥/ Cửu /kɨw˧˩˧/ Cửu /kɨw˨˩˦/ jiau³⁵ /tɕiau˧˥/ Cửu /kɨw˧˩˨/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ jiau³⁵ /tɕiau˧˥/
mười /mɨəj˨˩/ Thập /tʰəp˧ˀ˨ʔ/ Thập /tʰəp˨˩ʔ/ zai²¹³ /zai˨˩˧/ Thập /tʰəp˨˩ʔ/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ zai²¹³ /zai˨˩˧/
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