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Chữ Nôm Vietnamese

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

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87 core words in Chữ Nôm Vietnamese

Water

渃

nɨək˧˥

Fire

焒

lɨə˧˩˧

Sun

𩈘𡗶

mət˨˩ tɕɤːj˨˩

Moon

𩈘𢁋

mət˨˩ tɕaŋ˧

Star

𣋀

saːw˧

Night

𡖵

dem˧

Rain

𩄎

mɨə˧

Snow

雪

twiət˧˥

Wind

𩙋

zɔ˧˩˧

Earth

𡐙

ɗət˧˥

Stone

𥒥

ɗaː˧˥

Mountain

𡶀

nui˧˥

Sea

㴜

biən˧˩˧

Mother

媄

mɛ˨˩

Father

布

ɓo˧˥

Daughter

𡥵𡛔

kɔn˧ ɣaːj˧˥

I

碎

toj˧

You

眉

maj˨˩

We

眾些 / 眾碎

tɕuŋ͡m˧˥ taː˧ / tɕuŋ͡m˧˥ toj˧

Name

𠸜

ten˧

Person

𠊛

ŋɨəi˨˩

Head

頭

ɗəw˨˩

Eye

眜

mat˧˥

Ear

𦖻

taj˧

Nose

𪖫

muj˧ˀ˥

Mouth

𠰘

miəŋ˨ˀ

Tooth

𪘵

zaŋ˧

Tongue

𦧜

lɨəj˧ˀ˥

Hand

𢬣

taj˧

Foot

蹎

tɕən˧

Heart

𢁑𢙭

tɕaːj˧˥ tim˧

Bone

𩩫

sɨəŋ˧

Blood

𧖱

maːw˧˥

Poop

𡳛

kɨt̚˧˥

Love

𢞅

iəw˧

Tree

𣘃

kəj˧

Dog

㹥

tɕɔ˧˥

Cat

貓

mɛw˨˩

Fish

𩵜

kaː˧˥

Bird

𪀄

tɕim˧

Butterfly

𧊉

ɓɨəm˧˥

Egg

𠨡

tɕɨŋ˧˥

Bear

𤠰

ɣəw˧˥

Horse

馭

ŋɨə˧˨ʔ

House

茹

ɲaː˨˩

Milk

𣳪

sɨə˧ˀ˥

Honey

蜜螉

mət˨˩ ɔŋ͡m˧

Salt

圤

muəj˧˥

Rice

杲

ɣaːw˧˨ʔ

Iron

鐵

sat˧˥

Wheel

𥹘車

ɓaɲ˧˥ sɛ˧

Silk

縷

luə˧˨ʔ

Book

冊

sac˧˥

Eat

𫗒

an˧

Drink

㕵

uəŋ˧˥

Sleep

𥄬

ŋu˧˩˧

One

𠬠

mot˨˩

Two

𠄩

haːj˧

Three

𠀧

ɓaː˧

Four

𦊚

ɓon˧˥

Five

𠄼

nam˧

Hundred

𤾓

tɕam˧

Hello

吀嘲

sin˧ tɕaːw˨˩

Thank you

感恩

kaːm˧˩˧ əːn˧

Good

卒

tot˧˥

New

𡤔

mɤːj˧˥

Red

𧹥

ɗɔ˧˩˧

White

𤽸

tɕaŋ˧˥

Black

顛

ɗɛn˧

Green

青蘿

saɲ˧ laː˧˥

Blue

青

saɲ˧

Cuckoo

布穀

ɓo˧˩ ko˧ˀ˥

Woof

呴呴

ɣəw˧ ɣəw˧

Computer

盤倂

ɓaːn˨˩ tiɲ˧˥

Sushi

𩻐

mam˧˥

Tea

茶

tɕaː˨˩

Coffee

咖啡

kaː˨˩ fe˧

Sugar

糖

ɗɨəŋ˨˩

Orange

柑

kaːm˧

Ninety-nine

𠃩𨒒𠃩

tɕin˧˥ mɨəj˧ tɕin˧˥

Sources

Words compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Austroasiatic

Meaning Chữ Nôm VietnameseVietnameseSouthern VietnameseCentral VietnameseTàyBouyeiVietnamese Hán văn
Water 渃 /nɨək˧˥/ nước /nɨək˧˥/ nước /nɨək˧˥/ nước /nɨək˧˦/ nặm /nam˧˨ʔ/ raamx /ðaːm˧˩/ 水 /tʰwi˧˩˧/
Fire 焒 /lɨə˧˩˧/ lửa /lɨə˧˩˧/ lửa /lɨə˨˩˦/ lửa /lɨə˧˩˨/ fầy /fəj˧˨/ feih /fei˧˩/ 火 /hwa˧˩˧/
Sun 𩈘𡗶 /mət˨˩ tɕɤːj˨˩/ mặt trời /mət˨˩ tɕɤːj˨˩/ mặt trời /mak˨˩ ʈɤːj˨˩/ mặt trời /mak˧˩ ʈɤːj˦˨/ tha vằn /tʰaː˧˧ van˧˨/ ngonzbyaaiz /ŋon˩˩pjaːi˩˩/ 日 /ɲət˨˩/
Moon 𩈘𢁋 /mət˨˩ tɕaŋ˧/ mặt trăng /mət˨˩ tɕaŋ˧/ mặt trăng /mak˨˩ ʈaŋ˧/ mặt trăng /mak˧˩ ʈaŋ˥/ hai /haːj˧˧/ ronh /roːn˧˩/ 月 /ŋwiət˨˩/
Star 𣋀 /saːw˧/ sao /saːw˧/ sao /ʂaːw˧/ sao /ʂaːw˥/ đao /ɗaːw˧˧/ ndaux /ɗaːu˧˧/ 星 /tiɲ˧˧/
Night 𡖵 /dem˧/ đêm /ɗem˧/ đêm /ɗem˧/ đêm /ɗem˥/ cừn /kɨn˧˨/ haemh /ham˧˩/ 夜 /ja˨˩˨/
Rain 𩄎 /mɨə˧/ mưa /mɨə˧/ mưa /mɨə˧/ mưa /mɨə˥/ phân /pʰən˧˥/ — 雨 /vu˧˧ˀ˥/
Snow 雪 /twiət˧˥/ tuyết /twiət˧˥/ tuyết /twiək˧˥/ tuyết /twiək˧˦/ — nail /nɐi˨˦/ 雪 /twiət˧˥/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Chữ Nôm Vietnamese
碎 㦖 試 𦁸衣 𦓡 碎 㐌𧡊 𥪝 𠬠𨷶行 對面 客棧
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 で 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
我 想 试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 里 看到的 那套西装
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with languages in the same classification

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

Han readings compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Vietic > Vietnamese (native reading layer)

Character Chữ Nôm VietnameseOld Sino-VietnameseVietnameseSouthern VietnameseCentral VietnameseWenzhou WuHainanese
一 một /mot̚˧ˀ˨ʔ/ — Nhất /ɲət˧˥/ Nhứt /ɲɨk˧˥/ phương ngữ miền Trung (Central dialect)nhít /ɲit˧˦/Hán Việt (standard)nhất /ɲək˧˦/ yi²¹³ /ji˨˩˧/ 文讀it7 /it̚˥/訓讀(蜀)zia6 /zia˧˧/
二 hai /haːj˧˧/ nhì /ɲi˨˩/ Nhị /ɲi˧ˀ˨ʔ/ Nhị /ɲi˨˩˨/ Nhị /ɲi˧˩/ nyi²² /ɲi˨˨/ zi1 /zi˨˧/
三 ba /ɓaː˧˧/ — Tam /taːm˧˧/ Tam /taːm˧˧/ Tam /taːm˥˥/ sa³³ /sa˧˧/ 白讀ta1 /ta˨˧/文讀tam1 /tam˨˧/
四 bốn /ɓon˧˥/ tư /tɨ˧˧/ Tứ /tɨ˧˥/ Tứ /tɨ˧˥/ Tứ /tɨ˨˦/ sy⁴² /sɿ˦˨/ ti5 /ti˧˥/
五 năm /nam˧˧/ — Ngũ /ŋu˧ˀ˥/ Ngũ /ŋu˨˩˦/ Ngũ /ŋu˧˩˨/ ng²² /ŋ̍˨˨/ 白讀ŋɔu6 /ŋɔu˧˧/文讀ŋu3 /ŋu˨˩˧/
六 sáu /saːw˧˥/ — Lục /luk͡p˧ˀ˨ʔ/ Lục /luk͡p˨˩/ Lục /luk͡p˧˩/ lieu²¹³ /lɤu˨˩˧/ 白讀lak8 /lak̚˧/文讀lok7 /lok̚˥/
七 bảy /ɓaj˧˩˧/ — Thất /tʰət˧˥/ Thất /tʰək˧˥/ Thất /tʰək˧˦/ tshei²¹³ /tsʰei˨˩˧/ sit7 /sit̚˥/
八 tám /taːm˧˥/ — Bát /ɓaːt˧˥/ Bát /ɓaːk˧˥/ Bát /ɓaːk˧˦/ po²¹³ /po˨˩˧/ ɓɔi9 /ɓɔi˥˥/
九 chín /tɕin˧˥/ — Cửu /kɨw˧˩˧/ Cửu /kɨw˨˩˦/ Cửu /kɨw˧˩˨/ jiau³⁵ /tɕiau˧˥/ 白讀kau3 /kau˨˩˧/文讀kiu3 /kiu˨˩˧/
十 mười /mɨəj˨˩/ — Thập /tʰəp˧ˀ˨ʔ/ Thập /tʰəp˨˩/ Thập /tʰəp˧˩/ zai²¹³ /zai˨˩˧/ tap8 /tap̚˧/
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