T l U i it C t f Vi t Phil h C lt & S i tTemple University Center for Vietnamese Philosophy, Culture & Society

A presentation by L Mai Phng & Ng Thanh Nhn, Nm Studiesp y g g ,The pre-AAS WorkshopVietnamese Identities sponsored by the Vietnam Studies GroupMarch 26 2014 Weigley Room Gladfelter Hall Temple UniversityMarch 26, 2014, Weigley Room, Gladfelter Hall, Temple University

C ditC ditCreditsCreditsNm Studies is a research project of the Temple University Center for Vietnamese Philosophy, Culture & Society.

The BasicThe BasicThe BasicThe Basic The term Nm will be used to mean Hn and Nm

ideograms used in Vietnam by the Vietnamese people.These ideogram repertoire is read (or pronounced) in Hn-Vit or as native Vietnamese proper, and understood inVi t t tVietnamese contexts.

Nm is used in poetry, theaters, songs, folk arts, stories,family genealogy, medicine, politics, history, geography,family genealogy, medicine, politics, history, geography,philosophy, linguistics, arithmetic, astrology, geography,social interactions, for over a thousand years.

The term Nm studies is a Vietnamese studies based ontexts written in Nm.

TamTam thinthin tt giigii mm Tam Tam thinthin tt giigii mm

Three thousand [Hn] ideograms in [Vietnamese]tongue, 1831, H i Hong triu tn mo nin mnh thu thng hon tn san san, Ph Vn ng tng bn. Copies are found inare found inNLV HN R.193, R.468 and R.493,VHN Nc 190VHN Nc 190

TamTam thinthin tt Tam Tam thinthin ttgiigii dchdch qucquc ngng, 1915, 1915

Three thousand ideograms supplemented bysupplemented by [Vietnamese latin] national script,47 pp. 26 x 16 cm. pp Liu Vn ng tng bn. [1915] Duy Tnt mo qu thu tnthuyn. Copies are found in NLV HN R.1667; HN R.0102; HN R.1915; HN 0737-0738.

Tam thin tTam thin t Tam thin tTam thin t Tam Thin T Gii m "Three thousand [Hn]

ideograms in [Vietnamese] tongue" was printed in the mid-autumn of 1831, Hong triu tnmo nin mnh thu thng hon tn san, by Ki M H h D N Th Nh Th dbl k Kim M Hnh D Ng Th Nhm. The woodblocks werekept by Ph Vn ng tng bn.

This is one of the oldest textbooks for Hn-Nm students.This is one of the oldest textbooks for Hn Nm students.The surviving copies have suffered severe damage.

Today, the National Library of Vietnam has 3 copies storedin its Hn-Nm collection, with the catalogue id R.193,R.468 and R.493. The Institute of Hn Nm Studies has onecop catalog e id Nc 190copy, catalogue id Nc 190.

OOOOOur web presentationOur web presentationOur web presentationOur web presentation In order to facilitate reading this work, we present a digital

copy of R.0468 of the National Library of Vietnam on thewebsite of the Center for Vietnamese Philosophy, Culture& Society at Temple University.W l i l d b id b id We also include a page-by-page, ideogram-by-ideogramtranscription in UniHan 6.0.0, and their correspondingromanized Vietnamese quc ng transliteration.romanized Vietnamese quc ng transliteration.

http://vietcenter.temple.edu/nlv/nomcats.php

ffffAt the first lookAt the first lookAt the first lookAt the first look Tam Thin T Gii m (TTTG) Three

thousand [Hn] ideograms in [Vietnamese] tongue isthousand [Hn] ideograms in [Vietnamese] tongue isorganized like a modern dictionary, with a clearlyidentifiable entry blocks.y

Each entry has a head entry, which is a Hn ideogram(that has a Hn-Vit pronunciation) and a group of Nmid f th iideograms of the same meaning.

One may say that TTTG helps students to gain basicvocabulary as well as a systematic understanding of thevocabulary, as well as a systematic understanding of theideograms in contrastive pairs, and their proper Hn-Vitand corresponding Nm ideograms.

? ? ? ?What is What is gii m?gii m?What is What is gii m?gii m? By the beginning of the XIXth Century, the Hn

ideograms used in Vietnam, borrowed from Chinese in the VIth Century, had been used, and had gained native Vietnamese pronunciation, i.e. Hn-Vit, distinct from the Chi i tiChinese pronunciation.

Vietnamese and Chinese both underwent independent language changes.language changes.

We say that the book teaches Hn ideograms, Hn-Vit pronunciation and Vietnamese Nm ideograms with Vietnamese proper pronunciation.

This is the reason for the title to retain gii m, e posed in nati e Vietnamese tong e exposed in native Vietnamese tongue.

A poetic textbookA poetic textbookA poetic textbookA poetic textbook TTTG is composed in four-syllable verses of two

contrastive entries. The head of the entry, to be read aloud in Hn-Vit, is

secondary in the rhyme flow of the verses. Th f th ll bl f h ith th d The fourth syllable of one verse rhymes with the second syllable of the next verseor vn lng waist rhyme.

The tone rhymes alternate a vn trc oblique tone withThe tone rhymes alternate a vn trc oblique tone with a vn bng level tone.

A level tone is either thanh ngang high level tone, or thanh huyn low level tone. An oblique tone is one of thanh sc high rising tone, thanh nng creaky tone, th h k i i t d th h hi l i ithanh ng creaky rising tone, and thanh hi low rising tone.

ThThThThThe versesThe versesThe versesThe versesRhymed ideograms are shown in orange and light blue.

Thin: tri/gii heaven; a: t earth

c: ct to hoist; Tn: cn remain c: ct to hoist ; Tn: cn remain t: con child; tn: chu/chu

grandchildg

lc: su/su six; tam: ba three

gia: nh family; quc: nc country gia: nh family ; quc: nc country tin: trc fore; hu: sau/su aft...

1831

1915

Ng Ng ThTh NhmNhm Ng Ng ThTh NhmNhm Also spelled Ng Thi Nhim (17461803),

originally Hy Don, with pen names t Hin, g y y pand later Hi Lng i thin s The Great Zen Master of the Ocean Capacity, was a famous scholar

d it d i th i f th L t L T Sand writer during the reigns of the Late LTy Sn Dynasties.

Ng Th Nhm came from a learned family of the northNg Th Nhm came from a learned family of the north, son of Ng Th S, in T Thanh Oai Village, today's Thanh Tr District of the city of H Ni.

He won the first prize in the regional royal examination in 1768 at 22, and shared the first prize in advanced academic

hi t i th t d f i l lachievement in the next round of regional royal examination in 1775 at 29.

Ng Ng ThTh NhmNhm Ng Ng ThTh NhmNhm After the royal examinations, he was appointed to the

Administrative Ministry during the reign of LTrnh. y g gIn 1778 at 32 he was promoted to high ranking official of Kinh Bc and Thi Nguyn Provinces, when his father

d th k i L S P iassumed the same rank in Lng Sn Province. In 1788 at 42, Ng Th Nhm became a mandarin for the

Ty Sn court At the end of 1789 the Ty Sn Ty Sn court. At the end of 1789, the Ty Sndefeated the Chinese invasion. In 1790 at 44, Ng ThNhm was promoted to Minister of Defense. He headed an envoy to China. After Emperor Quang Trung died in 1792, he resigned and began to write about Vietnamese B ddhiBuddhism.

Ng Ng ThTh NhmNhm Ng Ng ThTh NhmNhm After Emperor Gia Long defeated the Ty Sn

Dynasty, Ng Th Nhm and many mandarins of the Ty y y g y ySn were whipped in Vn Miu The Temple of Literature in 1803. Ng Th Nhm died from the

i h tpunishment. His major works include Trc Lm tng ch

nguyn thanh The Pure Sound of the Bamboo Forest Sectnguyn thanh The Pure Sound of the Bamboo Forest Sect(1798-1802)...

Cf. Mai Quc Lin, ch bin v kho lun. Ng Th Nhm: Tc phm, tp I-III. Th Ho, Kiu Thu Hoch & TrnHuy Hn (dch). Tp. H Ch Minh: Trung tm Nghin cuQ h & N b V h 2001 2002 16 24 896Quc hc & Nxb Vn hc. 2001-2002. 16x24cm. 896pp., 560pp. & 488pp.

: an overview: an overview: an overview: an overview The book was printed from woodblocks with bamboo ash

black ink on d mulberry paper.y p p The book has 24 sheets, each sheet 30 cm x 26 cm, folded

in half into two pages, and stab bound by thread. The cover i i l t t h tis simply a protector sheet.

The text was printed in block columns from top to bottom, and the columns run from right to leftand the columns run from right to left.

Each page (half a sheet) has 6 columns, and each column 11 rows, as such, each page has 66 blocks (or entries).

We number each block, from #1 to #3,012. The first page is the title page.

: an overview: an overview: an overview: an overview The book starts on page 1b, with the first column

reserved for the original title T hc tongyu Essential Compilation For Self-Study. Thus, the second page starts the first only 55 ideogram blocks,

hil th t f th b k h 66 bl kwhile the rest of the book has 66 blocks per page, or 132 per sheet.

: an overview: an overview: an overview: an overviewIt 155 It 112

Each ideogram block holds one entry. Each entry has one Hn

Item 155 Item 112

y y

column on the left, and a Nmgii m column on the right.

hukh

thngm thng, hnhg,

The Hn column has one single Hn ideogram, in bold and large print in Tng th or Song font called theand large print, in Tng th or Song font, called the head of the entry.

The Nm column holds the corresponding Vietnamese Nm term (sometimes more than one ideogram). At times, as a guide to the pronunciation of the Hn column,

th id i t d d d b th d another ideogram is presented preceded by the word m is pronounced as.

: an overview: an overview: an overview: an overview We will use the sheet number, side a (on the right

of the sheet image) or side b (on the left of the sheet image) the column number and the cell

Item 1790 sheet image), the column number and the cell position, to locate an entry block in the book. For example, entry #1790 of TTTG is located on example, entry #1790 of TTTG is located on sheet #15, side a, column #2 and cell #8. We write "15a.2.8".

phcli

We present each entry exactly as found in the original TTTG. Transliteration of the ideograms into romanized Vietnamese quc ng is laid outinto romanized Vietnamese quc ng is laid out right below, from left to right. The transliteration of the head Hn block appears on the first line in bold, pp ,followed by the transliteration of the Nm column.

ffffHead of an entryHead of an entryHead of an entryHead of an entry Each entry in TTTG has one head of entry. TTTG has 3,012 entries, with 3,012 Hn

Item 1790

ideograms as heads in bold. Thus, the title Tam thin t 3,000 ideograms.O 15 12 h d f t i t d b t l

phc On page 15a, 12 heads of entries repeated, but only

8 are fully identical. 3 other entries are also identical elsewhere i e items #568 = #1009 items

phcli

identical elsewhere, i.e. items #568 #1009, items #899 = 1607, and items #1458 = #2456.

TTTG thus actually has 3,001 distinct entries, although among them, 19 pairs of entries have the same heads, and show the same Hn ideograms but

ith diff t di N idwith different corresponding Nm ideograms.

ff ffNmNm column of an entrycolumn of an entryNmNm column of an entrycolumn of an entryItem 155 Item 112

hukh

thng th h h

The Nm column holds one or more Nm ideograms with

kh m thng, hnh

the same meaning. For example, entry #155. It may be qualified by a Hn-Vit homophone, preceded by

i d F l t #112 m is pronounced as. For example, entry #112 (2a.6.2), thng scallion, the Nm column on the right has three ideograms, m thng, hnh is pronouncedhas three ideograms, m thng, hnh is pronounced like thng, [meaning] scallion.

ff ffNmNm column of an entrycolumn of an entryNmNm column of an entrycolumn of an entry There are 468 entries in the book using this

form of presentation. The students thus l h 468 H Vi id

Item 112

learn the extra 468 Hn-Vit ideograms, as

homophones. TTTG has 756 entries where the head

thng TTTG has 756 entries where the head

Hn and the Nm ideograms are identical, or 25% of all the entries. For example,

m thng, hnh

I 1644p ,

Head ideogram lim ladys vanity case; trousseau in entry #1644 (14a.1.5), is id i l h N l l N

Item 1644

identical to the Nm column lim. Note that Tam Thin T by on Trung Cn prints lim: hp gng mirror

limlim prints lim: hp gng mirror

box instead.

A textual analysisA textual analysisA textual analysisA textual analysisA textual analysis of TTTG is shown 5 different tables:1. Ideograms and their frequencies of occurrences: a sorted g q

list of all ideograms in the book.2. Inverse: Quc ng readings and their frequencies of

hi h ( h ti )occurrences, which exposes quc ng (or phonetic) dimension.

3 Ideograms sorted by their classifiers (usually called b3. Ideograms sorted by their classifiers (usually called bradicals), which exposes the classification dimension.

4. Direct borrowing: Entries with identical Hn and Nmideograms. There are 763 entries, where each has the same Nm and Hn ideograms.

5 D li t h d f t i th 30 d h5. Duplicate heads of entries: there are 30 rows, and where the duplicate entries occur.

Ideograms vs. soundsIdeograms vs. soundsIdeograms vs. soundsIdeograms vs. soundsTTTG has Length: Total number of ideograms, 7,614, with 7,697g g

quc ng readings. Vocabulary: Total number of unique ideograms, 4,214,

ith l 2 587 i di ( d twith only 2,587 unique quc ng readings (as compared to the entire 7,000 existing syllables in Vietnamese).

84 undecipherable ideograms we mark them each with a84 undecipherable ideograms, we mark them each with a .

Alternative spellingsAlternative spellingsAlternative spellingsAlternative spellingsTTTG has 29 ideograms for cy "plant; tree" with 5 different spellings:p g 1 as in entry #37 (1b.5.4) :. This ideogram is

usually read as chi for "branch," as in entry #453 (5a.1.2).8 i #135 (2b 2 3) Thi id 8 as , as in entry #135 (2b.2.3) :. This ideogram can also be read as hch or ht "seed" as in entry #1123 (10a 2 1)(10a.2.1).

10 as , as in entry #813 (7b.3.10) :. This ideogram can also be read as cc or gai for "thorn" as in entry #689 (6b.4.7).

14 as , as in entry #1113 (10.1.2) :, and1 i t #2519 (20b 2 11) Thi id 1 as in entry #2519 (20b.2.11) :. This ideogram is usually read hi the 12th earthly branch."

Vocabulary coverageVocabulary coverageVocabulary coverageVocabulary coverage The book has useful ideograms coming from daily life in

Vietnam. It is a collection of essential vocabulary of about y3,000 Hn and over 1,200 Nm ideograms.

The book has 1,506 four syllable verses of two entries, with t l t i d th i Nantonymous or complementary meanings, and their Nm

counterparts. It is like children's songs, which help memorizationmemorization.

This structure scattered ideograms of the same theme (or class) all over the book. The pairing only keeps the antonymous and complementary ideograms adjacent to each other.

Vocabulary coverageVocabulary coverageVocabulary coverageVocabulary coverage Some of the typical themes are family relationships, clans, body

parts, jewelry, religions, weather, directions, mountains and hills, rivers, land and countries, administrative units, diseases, human behaviors, feelings, smells, tastes, food, drinks, cakes, colors, shapes music and dance arts and crafts number system datesshapes, music and dance, arts and crafts, number system, dates, calendar, stars, metals, animals, birds, insects, fish and aquatic animals, trees and plants, roots, vegetation, fruits, flowers.TTTG l id i li f h b h i TTTG also provides an extensive list of human behaviors, grammatical particles, and reduplicative words specific to Vietnamese language.g g

One can also view specific ideograms related to building quarters, social strata, house tools, clothing, and jewelry at htt // i t t t l d / l /F d TTTGA ht lhttp://vietcenter.temple.edu/nlv/Forewords_TTTGA.html

Vocabulary coverageVocabulary coverageVocabulary coverageVocabulary coverage We provide frequencies of occurrences of TTTG

ideograms sorted by their KangXi b radicals (rather, g y g (their classifiers).

The top frequencies of occurrences are thu 359, h 336 kh 312 h 289 278 th 336, khu 312, tho 289, mc 278, nhn 207, tm 159, ngn 146, mch 141, th 136 xc 116 nht 116 kim 114 th 136, xc 116, nht 116, kim 114, n 110, ho 109, nhc 97, trng 94, trc 90, min 84, and so on

The break down can be viewed athttp://vietcenter.temple.edu/nlv/tttgatexts.html#radicals

////Family/clan termsFamily/clan termsFamily/clan termsFamily/clan terms: ng: ng grandfather, : b: b grandmother,: ph: cha father, : mu: m mother, : ph: p pv wife, : phu: chng husband, : b: bc older uncle, : thc: ch younger uncle on the father side, : ( ) l h h id cu: cu (younger) uncle on the mother side, : c: c aunt on the father side, : di: d aunt on the mother side : t: con child : tn: chu grandchild :side , : t: con child , : tn: chu grandchild , : tu: ch older sister, : t: ch older sister, : huynh: anh older brother, : mui: em younger sister, : : em younger brother, : l: em duyounger sister-in-law, : hn: du in-law, : t: r i l h l i l son in law, : chu: lm r son-in-law,...

GGGGGrammatical particlesGrammatical particlesGrammatical particlesGrammatical particles: t: vy exclamatory particle, : da: vy affirmative final particle, : tt: t surely; must, : gi: vy classical final assertive particle : chi: i possessive particlefinal assertive particle , : chi: i possessive particle ,: do: bi because; caused by [maybe, ], : vu: chng in, on, at, go to, : pht:chng negative mark, :g , , , g , p g g , vn: rng "say that, : h: vy particle of completed action, : ni: bn hence, : h: vy exclamatory particle : mc: chng not; negative particle : th: vparticle , : mc: chng not; negative particle , : th: vmore over; about to, : hip: hip vy ?, : ta: m ta, y rather, somewhat, : h: sao how, : nhin: song le however, : c: v vy thus; because, : yn: vy thereupon; then, : ta: than i alas, : h: i!interrogative or exclamatory final particle : phi: c ? :interrogative or exclamatory final particle , : phi: c ? , : trch: m trch, hi exclamatory particle, ...

NumbersNumbersNumbersNumbers : bn: na half, : nh: hai two, : tam:

ba three, : ng: ng five, : lc: su six,g g: thp: mt thp ten, : b: trm hundred,: thin: nghn thousand, : vn: vn ten th dthousand, ...

However, nht one, tht seven, and bteight are missingeight are missing.

Other ideograms for numbers, like t four, cu and chn "nine," c hundred thousand; hundred million, triu million, t one thousand million, ... exist but are not used for numbers.

ReduplicationReduplicationReduplicationReduplication There are two types of reduplication expressed in TTTG:

one by two different but phonetically related, and one by h id hthe ideogram nhy.

The first type is expressed by two different ideograms, like : ung: thong th leisurely : pht: phng: ung: thong th leisurely , : pht: phngpht seemingly alike, : ho: mnh mangexpansive, : nhn: nghi ngt foggy, :p , g g ggy , ta: lng ling sauntering, []: khng: vivng hurry, : thc: thng tht utterly, Th h 26 d li i i h h k f i i The other 26 reduplication with nhy, a marker of repetition of the preceding ideogram with known phonetic alternations.

Reduplication: Reduplication: nhynhyReduplication: Reduplication: nhynhy There are 26 Nm terms with nhy in

TTTG to indicate a repetition of the Item 1644

pimmediately preceded ideogram.

Entry #2449 (20a.2.7) has its Nm li ll i h

counterpart, , literally ngi nhy,

lingering sadness. Thus, ideogram is to be pronounced ngi i e repeating the

thium cu, ngi ngi

to be pronounced ngi, i.e. repeating the immediately preceding ideogram with possible phonemic tone and coda harmony.

SS ??SS ??Spelling rime Spelling rime ::? ? Spelling rime Spelling rime ::? ? In entry #1826 (15a.5.11), the head lo seems to be formed by the spelling rime method, i.e. l h

Item 1644

lp qua thit, or

lo = l (p) + (q) oa

l lo = l-(p) + (q)-oa

In Tam Thin T 1959 by on Trung Cn, lo is

lom bu, bu

y g ,printed as , to signify fruits of the trees that bear fruits. The corresponding ideogram in TTTG d l hi h lli iTTTG was read lo, matching the spelling rime formation above. Edition Tam Thin T gii dchquc ng 1915 at 29b 5 4 however printed quc ng 1915, at 29b.5.4, however, printed bin: b melon.

The like: The like: ttThe like: The like: tt TTTG also uses t or t for the same.

For example, the Nm column of Item 1644

p

entry #2430, 19b.6.10), literally reads in qucng as m yu, t, however, it is meant to be

d Th i id i

read m yu, yu. That is, ideogram t in this context signifies that the Nm ideogram should read exactly as the previous one

yum yu, yu

should read exactly as the previous one.

ReferencesReferencesReferencesReferenceson Trung Cn

ReferencesReferencesReferencesReferenceson Trung Cn

Tam Thin T. Tr c tng th, 143 Thm, Sign. 1959. Peter du Ponceau

A Dissertation on the Nature and Character of the Chinese System of Writing, in a letter to John Vaughan, Esq., American Philosophical Society Philadelphia 1838Society, Philadelphia, 1838.

V danh Tam Thin T Gii dch Quc Ng. Liu Vn ng tng bn: [1915] Duy Tn t mo qu thu tn thuyn. NLV HN R.1667; HN R.0102; HN R.1915; HN 0737-0738

Thiu Chu (1902-1954) Hn Vit T in. H Ni, Nh xut bn uc Tu, 73 ph Ri h d 815 1942Richaud. 815 pp. 1942.

ReferencesReferencesReferencesReferencesNg Thanh Giang

ReferencesReferencesReferencesReferencesNg Thanh Giang

i dch Hn-Nm trong tc phm Tam Thin T Gii m trn bnh din cc n v ngn ng, Kho lun tt nghip, Khoa Ngn ng hc, i hc Khoa hc X hi v Nhn vn. H Ni. 2002.

Ng Thanh Nhn The syllabeme and patterns for word formation in Vietnamese Ph DThe syllabeme and patterns for word formation in Vietnamese, Ph.D. thesis. New York University, 1984.

Cao Xun Huy, H Thc Minh, Lm Giang Th vn Ng Th Nhm, Tp 1: Trc Lm tng ch nguyn thanh, Sch tham kho Hn Nm. Ban Hn Nm, U ban Khoa hc X hi Vit Nam. H Ni: Nh xut bn Khoa hc X hi. 1978. 322 pp. pp

Vng Lc An Nam dch ng "A glossary of Hn and An-nam Vocabulary: I d i d N " H i D P bli hi H d ViIntroduction and Notes." Hanoi: Danang Publishing House, and Vietnam Lexicography Center. 1995.

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