More than once, I have been asked to write my name in "real Vietnamese" and not in "English". Most Americans expect the Vietnamese script to look like Chinese characters, or the written Korean, or the Japanese Hira-gana and Kata-ganạ My "English" name is actually written in the modern romanized Vietnamese - the Japanese equivalent is Romaji (1) - without the diacritic marks above, under or by the side of the vowels. | Quốc Ngữ, Modern Written Vietnamese Dương Hùng More than once, I have been asked to write my name in "real correspondances, and in the national examinations (7). The Vietnamese" and not in "English". Most Americans expect use of Chinese characters in medieval Viet Nam, Korea, and the Vietnamese script to look like Chinese characters, or the Japan can be compared to the dominance of Latin in medieval written Korean, or the Japanese Hira-gana and Kata-ganạ My Europẹ Chữ nho is still used in religious banners and placards "English" name is actually written in the modern romanized for weđings, funerals, and festivals. Vietnamese - the Japanese equivalent is Romaji (1) - without the diacritic marks above, under or by the side of the vowels. Chữ Nôm: Hàn Thuyên (8), a famous Vietnamese poet in the 13th century was beleived to be the developper of this form 1 - The Spoken Language of writing. Chữ Nôm borrowed Chinese characters but altered them to phonetically represent the spoken Vietnamesẹ Certain traits of early spoken Vietnamese are found in the Usually two Chinese characters were combined; the Mường, Thái (2) dialects in the highland of North Viet Nam. unaltered one represented the meaning, the altered character The modern Vietnamese spoken language could be the fusion reflected the Vietnamese pronunciation of the word. It is a of the ancient dialects of the Bách Việt tribes (3), the dialects cumbersome process so Chư nôm can be literally translated of Thái, Mường, and certain elements of Mon-Khmer as "vulgar" or "demotic". This term reflected the official (Cambodian). position of the Vietnamese royal court toward this written languagẹ The development of Chữ nôm came from the Different accents exist in the modern Vietnamese spoken historical urge of the Việt race to have its own written language; three dominant accents are northern accent (giọng language and to neutralize or to lessen the Chinese influences Bắc Hà Nội), central acent ( giọng Trung, Huế), southern in
