Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Prof. Dr.Sci. Nguyễn Quang Hồng

Hà Nội, Việt Nam

April 11, 2008

A Conference on Nôm Studies
Temple University
Introduction
 Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư [A Complete History of Đại Việt, Era
version, Bản kỷ, vol. V, p. 41b] wrote the story of Nguyễn
Thuyên, a poet of the Trần period: In the year of Nhâm Ngọ,
at the 4th year of Emperor Thiếu Bảo [1282], the crocodiles
invaded Lô River, the Emperor ordered Criminal Minister
Nguyễn Thuyên to offer a poem to them thrown into the river,
they left. He “also was skilled in quốc ngữ, thus poetry and
prose in quốc ngữ began then.” The works of Nguyễn
Thuyên and other writers of that time no longer exist.
 The earliest evidence of chữ Nôm is found in the stele texts
of the Lý period and in the sutra called Phật thuyết đại báo
phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Chữ Nôm on the Lý steles
 A bronze bell found in Đồ Sơn in 1956 has a
prose in Hán with two ideograms 翁何 “Ông
Hà”, a name in Vietnamese word order
(instead of 何翁 in the Hán word order). The
date of the bell was unintelligible, but it can be
put at the Xith Century when the bell was cast
(perhaps in the year of Bính Thìn 1076).

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

洞个 Đồng Cá on a stele
 The text on Cổ Việt thôn Diên Phúc tự bi minh
古越村延福寺碑銘 by Công Diễm 公艷, written
in the 4th year of Emperor Đại Khánh (1113).
The stele was found in 1987 at the Diên Phúc
Temple, Cảnh Lâm, Tân Việt Village, Mỹ Văn
District, Hưng Yên Province.
 The text on the stele has 2,090 ideograms,
there are 2 for a Vietnamese geographic name:
洞个 Đồng Cá.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Temple stele of 1121
 The text on temple stele Đại Việt quốc Lý gia đệ tứ đế
Sùng Thiện Diên Linh tháp bi 大越 國李家第四帝崇善延
靈塔碑 composed by Nguyễn Công Bật 阮公弼 in the
2nd year of Emperor Thiên Phù Duệ Vũ (1121). It is
also called the Long Đọi Temple stele. The stele still
stands in Long Đọi Temple on Long Đọi Mountain, Đọi
Sơn Village, Duy Tiên District, Hà Nam Province.
 The text of the stele is 4.200 ideogram long, among
which are two Hán ideograms in the Vietnamese word
order: 河瀘 Hà Lô = Sông Lô.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Temple stele of 1125
 The text of the stele Càn Ni sơn Hương Nghiêm tự bi minh
乾尼山香嚴寺碑銘, no author was given. It was made in
the 5th year of Emperor Thiên Phù Duệ Vũ (1125). The
text was re-carved in the 7th year of Emperor Bảo Thái
(1726).
 The text on the stele is 1,233 ideogram long, in which
there are 2 ideograms recording a geographic name in the
Vietnamese 2-syllable word Cv-CV 阿雷潭 A Lôi đàm “A-
Lôi pond,” in the sentence 隨上到阿雷潭 (Tùy thượng đáo
A-Lôi đàm) - ‘Escorting the Emperor to Lôi /Trôi pond’.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Stele of 1159
 No author was given in the text of the stele Cự Việt quốc
Thái úy Lý Công thạch bi tịnh tự 鉅越國太尉李公石碑銘序,
built in 1159 when Thái úy Lý công or Đỗ Anh Vũ 杜英武
(1114 - 1159) died. The stele was still standing in 1943 in An
Lạc Village, Đông An District (or Mỹ Văn today), Hưng Yên
Province. The inked press no longer exists. We have a
copy by Hoàng Xuân Hãn [cf. Thơ văn Lý Trần, Vol. I, 1977].
 The text of stele has 1,488 ideograms, two of which spell a
personal name: 尚衰 thượng Suy = thằng Suy (or Ông Thân
Lợi, rebelled in 1139, defeated in 1141).

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Lady Lê tombstone of 1174
 The text on the tomstone of Phụng Thánh phu nhân Lê thị mộ chí
奉聖夫人黎氏墓誌 has no date and no author. It was called Lê thị
mộ chí. The text of the tombstone indicates that it was erected not
long after the 11th year of Emperor Chính Long Bảo Ứng (1174).
The text may be carved later. The tombstone was still standing in
1977 in Diên Linh Phúc Thánh, Phú Thọ.
 There are 703 ideograms in the tombstone, with 3 Vietnamese
place names two in Hán and one in Nôm:
(1) 頭停 Đầu đình: 壹坐落池頭停處 (Nhất tọa lạc trì đầu đình xứ) -
‘One is located at the pond by đầu đình’.
(2) 舉午 Cử ngọ: 壹田坐落舉午處 (Nhất điền tọa lạc cửa ngõ xứ). -
‘One ricefield is located at the village gate đầu ngõ’.
(3) 𣷷滝 Bến sông: 壹田坐落 𣷷滝處 (Nhất điền tọa lạc bến sông xứ ) -
‘One ricefield is located by the riverbank bến sông’.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Tomstone of
Phụng
Thánh phu
nhân Lê thị
mộ chí 奉聖
夫人黎氏墓
誌, 1174.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Temple stele of 1210
 The stele of Báo ân thiền tự bi ký 報恩禪寺碑記
in Tháp Miếu Temple, Bạch Trữ, Yên Lãng
District, Vĩnh Yên Province, was dated at the
12th lunar month of the 5th year of Emperor Trị
Bình Long Ứng (1210) in Lý Cao Tông period.
 According to Prof. Đào Duy Anh, it “is the
earliest stele with a large number of Nôm
ideograms” many of which were newly formed.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

The stele of Báo
ân thiền tự bi ký
報恩禪寺碑記 in
Tháp Miếu
Temple, 1210.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Nôm ideograms in the 1210 stele
同 Đồng: 同{卓+翕} Đồng Hấp, 同 {土+而} Đồng Nhe, 同䊷 Đồng
Chài.
尚 Thằng: 尚咸 Thằng Hàm, 尚豸Thằng Chạy, 尚造 Thằng Tạo, etc.
酒 Tửu (read dậu): 酒 {氵+悲}dậu Bơi.
豸 Trãi (read chạy): 尚豸Thằng Chạy.
Note that there are Nôm ideograms proper formed by a radical and a
sound graph:
- {氵+悲} Bơi : {氵+悲} 田 Bơi điền (Bơi ricefield).
- 䊷 Chài {radical Mịch+Tài}: 同䊷 Đồng Chài.
- {土+而} Nhe {radical Thổ+Nhi}: 同{土+而}Đồng Nhe.
- 𥺹 Oản {radical Mễ+Uyển}: Oản.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Stele of 1214
 Stele Chúc Thánh Báo Ân tự bi 祝聖報恩寺碑 was found in 1980 on
the ground of Đỗ Thế Diên Family temple in Thanh Xá, Nghĩa Hiệp
Village, Mỹ Văn District, Hưng Yên Province. Đỗ Thế Diên 杜世延
was the author, erected in Lý Huệ Tông Emperor in Giáp Tuất
(1214). It is called Bia chùa Phúc Thánh.
 There are 175 ideograms in the stele, 3 of which refer to two
geographic and personal names.
(1) 举廚 Cử trù = Cửa Chùa: 本寺奉事香火一所举廚 (Bản tự phụng
sự hương hỏa nhất thửa Cửa Chùa) - ‘One ricefield at Cửa Chùa
for maintaining the worship of the temple’.
(2) Bà Đỗ Út Nương: 婆杜乙娘 [田一所] (Bà Đỗ Út Nương [ruộng
một thửa]) ‘Mme Đỗ Út Nương [one ricefield]’.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

The Phật thuyết sutra
 Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh 佛說大报父
母恩重經, Sutra of the Buddha’s Teaching on the Pious
Duty to the Parents’ Great Sacrifice.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm
The text of Phật thuyết
 Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh 佛說大报父母恩重
經 (or Phật thuyết) with a Vietnamese pronunciation aid was
printed by woodblock by the end of the XVIIth or the beginning of
the XVIIIth centuries. It was published by Duke Trịnh Quán.
 The original copy is kept at the Société Asiatique (Paris, France).
The text may be edited later.
 It is a translation of Hán into Vietnamese with the clearest
Vietnamese syntax and newly formed Nôm ideograms.
 We consider Phật thuyết the clearest evidence of the formation of
Nôm script as a system of writing for the Vietnamese language.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

The independence of Vietnam and
the rise of Buddhism
 The buddhist monks were revered and often
invited to the royal palace to give advice on the
state affairs, such as Monk Khuông Việt with
Emperors Đinh and Lê (Đại Hành), Monk Pháp
Thuận with Emperor Lê Đại Hành, Monk Vạn
Hạnh with Emperor Lý Thái Tổ, … In the Trần
Dynasty, Emperor Trần Nhân Tông was the
founder of the Trúc Lâm buddhist sect.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Phonological structure
 Hán in the Middle Age was taught in Vietnam
with the Hán Việt phonology. It was typically a
monosyllabic language.
 Hán at that time has almost no vestige of
disylabic words of the type Cv-CVC or
monosyllabic words of the type CCVC.
 Each Hán ideogram represented one full word
in form, in sound and also in meaning.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

What about Vietnamese then?
 In many historical linguistic research, we found that
Vietnamese of the XI-XIIth centuries was just split from
the Việt Mường group. Vietnamese did not have tones,
and still having syllabic structures Cv-CVC and CCVC.
 One very interesting evidence in the phonetic
translation into Vietnamese of the sutra Phật thuyết, is
that the translator reflects faithfully the pronunciation
of Vietnamese native words then.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Nôm in the sutra recorded
the Cv-CVC syllable structure
 A Vietnamese word was printed as two
separate Hán ideograms to represent the
phonetic disyllabic structure Cv-CVC.
The translation of the sutra Phật thuyết used
the following 13 ideograms to record the weak
neutral syllable Cv of the Cv-CVC (also
referred to as “pre-syllabic”, with weak rhyme):
阿 a, 巴 ba, 波 ba, 婆 bà, 坡 pha, 破 phá, 个
cá, 車 cư, 可 khả, 多 đa, 񠒻 la, 麻 ma, 舍 xá.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/ʔə/-CVC pairs

 (a.1) 25 pairs of Cv-CVC are found with

Cv = 阿 a (or glotal stop */ʔə/). Here are 2
examples:
• {阿貶} [a-biếm] > Băm (p. 31b),
• {阿質} {阿至} [a-chất] [a-chí] > Giặt gịa (p.
43b)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/ba/-CVC pairs
 (a.2) 11 pairs of Cv-CVC are found with
Cv = 巴 ba, 波 ba or 婆 bà (*/bə/). Here are two
examples:
• {巴沓} [ba-đạp] > Đắp (p. 20a)
• {巴拭} [ba-thức] > Xức (p. 8a)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/fə/-CVC
 (a.3) 5 pairs of Cv-CVC are found with
Cv = 坡 pha or 破 phá (*/fə/). Here are two
examples:
• {破散} [phá-tán] > Rắn (p. 29a)
• {破律} [phá-luật] (p. 29a) / {坡律} [pha-luật]
(p. 29a) > Sốt

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/kə/-CVC
 (a.4) 5 pairs of Cv-CVC are found with
Cv = 个 cá or 車 cư (*/kə/). Here are two
examples:
• {个奴} [cá-nô] > No (khi) (pp. 13b,
17a, 27a, 29b)
• {車莽} [cư-mãng] > Mắng (nghe) (pp.
5b, 6b, 8b, 28a, 30b)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/xə/-CVC
 (a.5) 5 pairs of Cv-CVC are found with
Cv = 可 khả (*/xə/). Here are two examples:

• {可汝} [khả-nhữ] > Nhớ (pp. 12a, 15b)

• {可列} [khả-liệt] > Sắt (pp. 29a, 31a)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/də/-CVC
 (a.6) 16 pairs of Cv-CVC are found with
Cv = 多 đa (*/də/). Here are two examples
• {多本} [đa-bản] > Bản (p. 44b)
• {多命} [đa-mệnh] > Mình (p. 25b)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/lɐ/-CVC
 (a.7) 2 pairs of Cv-CVC are found with
Cv = 񠒻 la (*/lɐ/) as follows:
• {񣌢 打} [la-đả] > Đá (p. 41b).
• {񠒻彦} (3a) / {񣌢彦} [la-ngạn] (pp. 11a, 30a)
> Ngàn.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/mə/-CVC
 (a.8) 5 pairs of Cv-CVC are found with
Cv = 麻 ma (*/mə/). Here are 2 examples:
• {麻鄰} [ma-lân] {麻碌} [ma-lục] > Lăn lóc
(p. 19b)
• {麻例} [ma-lệ] > Lời (p. 31a)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/sə/-CVC
 (a.9) 1 occurrence of */sə/-CVC is found with Cv
= 舍 xá (/sə/).
• {舍賴} [xá-lại] > Thầy (pp. 7a, 18b)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Complex syllable CCVC
 The translation of Phật thuyết sutra used the
following 10 ideograms to represent pre-syllabic
complex initial consonant cluster CCVC:
 The initial C of CCVC is represented by 阿 a, 巴
ba, 个 cá, 古 cổ, 車 cư, 巨 cự, 可 khả, 多 đa, 麻
ma, 司 tư.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/ʔ/CVC
 (b.1) 8 occurrences of */ʔ/CVC with C1
represented by 阿 [a], 2 of which are presented
here:
• ⿱{阿+路} [a+lộ] > Lò (p. 29a)
• ⿱{阿+洪} [a+hồng] > Ngọng (p. 46a)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/b/CVC
 (b.2) 9 occurrences of */b/CVC with C1
represented by 巴 [ba], 2 of which are shown
below:
• ⿱{巴+欲} [ba+dục] > Dượt [tập] (p. 18a)
• ⿰{來+巴} [lai+ba] > Trai (pp. 7b, 7b, 7b,
8a, 8b, 11a, 30a, 38a, 42a, 42a)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

(?)*/k/CVC

 (b.3) 35 occurrences of (?)*/k/CVC with C1

represented by 个 [cá] (29), 古 [cổ], 車 [cư], or
巨 [cự], two of which are shown below:
• ⿰{盎+个} [áng+cá] > Ắng (lặng) (p. 21a)
• ⿰{朱+个} [chu+cá] > Châu (quanh) (p.
20a)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/x/CVC
 (b.4) 2 occurrences of */x/CVC with C1
represented by 可 [khả]:
• ⿱{可+重} [khả+trùng] > Chồng (22a)
• ⿱{可+耶} [khả+da] > Nhớ (15b)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/d/CVC
 (b.5) 4 occurrences of */d/CVC with C1
represented by 多 [đa] two of which are shown
below:
• ⿰{闷+多} [muộn+đa] / ⿰{覓+多} [mịch+đa]
> Buồn bực (13a)
• ⿱{多+丐} [đa+cái] > Cưới (42a)

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

*/m/CVC
 (b.6) One single occurrence of */m/CVC with C1
represented by 麻 (abbr. ⼇) [ma]:
• ⿱{麻+例} [ma+lệ] > Lời (pp. 19a, 31a,
31a, 31b, 31b, 37b).

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

(?)*/s/CVC

 (b.7) 4 occurrences of (?)*/s/CVC with C1

represented by 司 [tư] two of which are shown
below:
• ⿰{布+司} [bố+tư] > Vua (p. 5a)
• ⿰{盃+司} [bôi+tư] (p. 20a) / ⿱{司+盃}
[tư+bôi] (p. 46a) > Vui

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Frequencies of occurrences
 There are 74 “syllable pairs” represented by C/ə/-CVC
with the frequency of occurrences of 104.
 There are 63 “syllable pairs” represented by CCVC
structure with the frequency of occurrences of 100.
 There is no consistency in recording words. Some
words were written by syllable pairs in a few locations,
but were written as one complex syllable in a few other
locations, but were even written as single Hán syllables
in other locations. They are shown below.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

dượt */bə juk/, */bjuk/ and */juk/
 Dượt (tập theo):
— {波 欲} as in 濫伴几与{波欲}佗年性 Làm bạn
kẻ dữ, dượt đà nên tính (p. 19a, column 7).
— {巴+欲} as in 丐哿鹤奴劍双曰 Gái gả dượt
học, no kiếm song viết (p. 18a, column 5).
— 欲 as in 麻於欲皮庄益 Mà ưa dượt bề chẳng
ích (p. 20b, column 5).

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Independent reconstruction
 M. Ferlus, a French linguist, reconstructed the pre-
syllable Cv- and complex initial syllable of the proto-
Viet-Chứt (usually called proto-Viet-Mường) [Cf.
Nguyễn Tài Cẩn in Giáo trình lịch sử ngữ âm tiếng Việt,
1995, pp. 121-129].
 The reconstructed Cv-CVC and CCVC by M. Ferlus as
proto-Việt-Mường such as *[pə], *[bə], *[tə], *[cə], *[kə],
*[sə], *[ah] ... or *[pl], *[pk], *[ps], *[bl], *[ml], *[sl], *[km],
… These are reflected in the writing of the Vietnamese
in the sutra Phật thuyết presented above.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Hán 心 *s-, 並 *bj- and 明 *mj-
 The Hán ideograms with initial 心 tâm *[s-], 並
tịnh *[bj-] and 明 minh *[mj-] in Hán of the 唐宋
T’ang-Song dynasties were kept intact in the
translation of sutra Phật thuyết. Only
afterwards that they became nativized in Hán
Việt pronunciation like today.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Hán becoming Hán Việt
 Tan tác was written as “san sách” 珊索. For
examples:
— 昌泊珊索工圭渃㝵 Xương bạc tan tác trong
quê nước người (p. 20a, column 5).
— 昌舌呂涅珊索工蒸没𣈜 Xương thịt rữa nát
tan tác trong chưng một ngày (p. 29b, column
9).
— 舌多昌筋調珊索 Thịt da xương gân đều tan
tác (p. 31b, column 5).

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Middle Hán 明 *m- and *mj-
 Middle Hán with initial minh 明 *[m-] / *[mj-] became
Hán Việt in two ways.
 One Middle Hán retained the bilabial [m-] (such as 明,
閩 read, minh, mân):
 The other became [mj-] > *[j-] > [z-] (such as 名, 民
read, danh, dân) which is used in Vietnamese words,
today read as [z-], but may be read as *[mj-] > *[j-] in
the past.
 Phật thuyết uses two ideograms 閩閩 mân mân to
represent a Vietnamese word dần dần, as in:
• 个哿支戶閩閩年哿 Kẻ cả che hộ, dần dần nên
cả (p. 19a, column 5).
April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm
Buddhism, culture & language
 The rise of Buddhism in Vietnam encouraged the
development of culture, language and writing system,
which was a common development in the region (China,
Japan and Korea).
 Prof. Nguyễn Tài Cẩn wrote: “We believe it was also
the case for Vietnam: Nôm was a collective effort with
the significant contribution of the buddhist temples,
because it was the centuries of rise of Buddhism in
Vietnam. The rise meant the rise in the state machinery
as well as in the entire society.” [Một số vấn đề về chữ
Nôm, pp. 41-42].

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm

Conclusion
 If the stele texts confirming their dates in the Lý
period giving us the earliest evidence of the
emergence of Nôm ideograms among the Hán
texts, then with the phonetic translation of the
Phật thuyết sutra, we have the earliest evidence
of the formation of chữ Nôm as a system of
writing recording the Vietnamese language then.
It is about the beginning of the XIIth Century.

April 11, 2008 Earliest evidence of Chữ Nôm