Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary (Vietnamese:từ Hán Việt,Chữ Hán: 詞漢越, literally 'Chinese-Vietnamese words') is a layer of about 3,000 monosyllabicmorphemes of theVietnamese language borrowed fromLiterary Chinese with consistent pronunciations based onMiddle Chinese. Compounds using these morphemes are used extensively in cultural and technical vocabulary. Together withSino-Korean andSino-Japanese vocabularies, Sino-Vietnamese has been used in the reconstruction of the sound categories of Middle Chinese.Samuel Martin grouped the three together as "Sino-xenic". There is also anOld Sino-Vietnamese layer consisting of a few hundred words borrowed individually from Chinese in earlier periods, which are treated by speakers as native words. More recent loans from southernChinese languages, usually names of foodstuffs such aslạp xưởng 'Chinese sausage' (fromCantonese臘腸;腊肠;laahpchéung), are not treated as Sino-Vietnamese but more direct borrowings.^[1]

Estimates of the proportion of words of Sinitic origin in the Vietnamese lexicon vary from one third to half and even to 70%.^[2][3][4] The proportion tends towards the lower end in speech and towards the higher end in technical writing.^[5] In the famousTừ điển tiếng Việt [vi] dictionary by Vietnamese linguistHoàng Phê [vi], about 40% of the vocabulary is of Sinitic origin.^[6]

As a result ofa thousand years of Chinese control, a small number of Sinitic words were borrowed into Vietnamese, called Old Sino-Vietnamese layer. Furthermore, a thousand years ofuse of Literary Chinese after independence, a considerable number of Sinitic words were borrowed, called the Sino-Vietnamese layer. These layers were first systematically studied by linguistWang Li.^[7][8]

The ancestor of theVietic languages was atonal andsesquisyllabic, featured many consonant clusters, and made use ofaffixes.^[9]The northern Vietic varieties ancestral to Vietnamese andMuong have long been in contact withTai languages and Chinese as part of a zone of convergence known as theMainland Southeast Asia linguistic area.^[10]As a result, most languages of this area, including Middle Chinese and Vietnamese, areanalytic, with almost allmorphemes monosyllabic and lackinginflection. The phonological structure of their syllables is also similar.^[11]Traces of the original consonant clusters can be found in materials from the 17th century, but have disappeared from modern Vietnamese.^[12]

The Old Sino-Vietnamese layer was introduced after the Chinese conquest of the kingdom ofNanyue, including the northern part of Vietnam, in 111 BC. The influence of the Chinese language was particularly felt during theEastern Han period (25–190 AD), due to increased Chinese immigration and official efforts to sinicize the territory.^[13] This layer consists of roughly 400 words, which have been fully assimilated and are treated by Vietnamese speakers as native words.^[14] It has also been theorised that some Old-Sino-Vietnamese words came from a language shift from a population of AnnameseMiddle Chinese speakers that lived in theRed River Delta, in northern Vietnam, to proto-Viet-Muong.^[15]

The much more extensive Sino-Vietnamese proper was introduced with Chineserhyme dictionaries such as theQieyun in the lateTang dynasty (618–907). Vietnamese scholars used a systematic rendering of Middle Chinese within the phonology of Vietnamese to derive consistent pronunciations for the entire Chinese lexicon.^[16] After driving out the Chinese in 880, the Vietnamese sought to build a state on the Chinese model, using Literary Chinese for all formal writing, including administration and scholarship, until the early 20th century.^[17] Around 3,000 words entered Vietnamese over this period.^[18][19] Some of these were re-introductions of words borrowed at the Old Sino-Vietnamese stage, with different pronunciations due to interveningsound changes in Vietnamese and Chinese, and often with a shift in meaning.^[16][20]

Wang Li followedHenri Maspero in identifying a problematic group of forms with "softened" initialsg-,gi,d- andv- as Sino-Vietnamese loans that had been affected by changes in colloquial Vietnamese. Most scholars now followAndré-Georges Haudricourt in assigning these words to the Old Sino-Vietnamese layer.^[26]

Sino-Vietnamese shows a number of distinctive developments from Middle Chinese:

• Sino-Vietnamese distinguishes Early Middle Chinese palatal and retroflex sibilants, which are identified in all modern Chinese languages, and had already merged by the Late Middle Chinese period.^[27]
• Sino-Vietnamese reflects Late Middle Chinese labiodental initials, which were not distinguished from labial stops at the Early Middle Chinese phase.^[28]
• Middle Chinese grade II finals yield a palatal medial-y- like northern Chinese languages but unlike southern ones. For example, Middle Chinese交kæw yields SVgiao, Cantonesegaau and Beijingjiāo.^[29][30]

Up until the early 20th century,Literary Chinese was the vehicle of administration and scholarship, not only in China, but also in Vietnam, Korea and Japan, similar toLatin in medieval Europe.^[31] Though not a spoken language, this shared written language was read aloud in different places according to local traditions derived from Middle Chinese pronunciation: theliterary readings in various parts of China andSino-Xenic pronunciations in the other countries.

As contact with the West grew, Western works were translated into Literary Chinese and read by the literate. In order to translate words for new concepts (political, religious, scientific, medical and technical terminology) scholars in these countries coined new compounds formed from Chinese morphemes and written with Chinese characters. The local readings of these compounds were readily adopted into the respective local vernaculars of Japan, Korea and Vietnam. For example, the Chinese mathematicianLi Shanlan created hundreds of translations of mathematical terms, including代數學 ('replace-number-study') for 'algebra', yielding modern Mandarindàishùxué, Vietnameseđại số học, Japanesedaisūgaku and Koreandaesuhak.^[32] Often, multiple compounds for the same concept were in circulation for some time before a winner emerged, with the final choice sometimes differing between countries.^[33]

A fairly large amount of Sino-Vietnamese compounds have meanings that differ significantly from their usage in other Sinitic vocabularies. For example:

• bác sĩ (博士) is widely used with the meaning 'physician' or 'medical doctor', while in Mandarin it refers to a doctoral degree;
• tiến sĩ (進士) is used to refer to 'doctoral degree', whilst in Mandarin it is used to refer to 'successful candidate in the highest imperial civil service examination'.
• bạc鉑 'silver' is the Old Sino-Vietnamese reflex of Old Chinese *bra:g白 'white', cognate with later Sino-Vietnamesebạch 'white' and Non-Sino-Vietnamese bệch '(of complexion) chalky',^[34] yet in Mandarin鉑 means 'thin sheet of metal' (variants:箔,薄) and 鉑 (pinyin:bó) has also acquired the meaning 'platinum', whose Sino-Vietnamese name is白金bạch kim, literally 'white gold';
• luyện kim (煉金) means 'metallurgy' instead of its original meaning, 'alchemy';
• giáo sư (教師) means 'teacher' in Mandarin, but is now associated with 'professor' in Vietnamese.
• English "club" became俱樂部kurabu in Japan, was borrowed to China, then to Vietnam, is read ascâu lạc bộ, and abbreviatedCLB, which can be an abbreviation for club.
• linh miêu (靈貓) means 'civet' in Mandarin but means 'lynx' in Vietnamese.
• ân nghĩa ~ơn nghĩa (恩義) not only retains its original Sinitic meaning "feeling of gratitude"^[35][36][37] but also acquires the extended meaning "favor, kindness".^[38]
• thời tiết (時節) is used with the meaning of 'weather", while in Mandarin, it means a 'season' (mainly refers to a specific period of time, often within the context of a particular season).
• thư viện (書院) means 'library' in Vietnamese, but in Mandarin, it refers to a 'study room' or an 'academy'.
• phương phi (芳菲) is an adjective meaning 'fat' or 'corpulent', but in Mandarin, it means 'fragrant' or 'fresh-smelling'.
• ung thư (癰疽) means 'cancer' in Vietnamese, but in Mandarin, it is a term used intraditional Chinese medicine meaning a 'skin abscess'.
• thập phân (十分) means 'decimal' in Vietnamese, but in Mandarin, it means 'very'; 'extremely'.
• thương (傷) has the meaning 'to like, to love', while also sharing the common meaning of 'to (be) injured, wounded' with Mandarin.
• thư (書) refers to a letter, while in Mandarin, it means book. (Vietnamese uses sách (冊) instead)

There also a significant amount of Sino-Vietnamese compounds that are used, but the terms differ in different Sinosphere languages. Such as:

Some Sino-Vietnamese compounds are entirely invented by the Vietnamese and are not used in any Chinese languages, such aslinh mục 'priest' from靈 'soul' and牧 'shepherd',^[39] orgiả kim thuật (假金術 'art of artificial metal'), which has been applied popularly to refer to 'alchemy'. Another example islinh cẩu (靈狗, 'alert dog') meaning 'hyena'. Others are no longer used in modern Chinese languages or have other meanings.

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Since Sino-Vietnamese provides a Vietnamese form for almost all Chinese characters, it can be used to derive a Vietnamese form for any Chinese word or name. For example, the name of Chinese leaderXi Jinping consists of the Chinese characters習近平. Applying Sino-Vietnamese reading to each character yields the Vietnamese translation of his name,Tập Cận Bình.

Some Western names and words, approximated to Chinese languages often through Mandarin or in some cases approximated in Japanese and then borrowed into Chinese languages, were further approximated in Vietnamese. For example, Portugal is transliterated as葡萄牙 (pinyin:Pútáoyá;Cantonese Yale:Pòuhtòuhngàh) and becomesBồ Đào Nha in Vietnamese. England (英格蘭;Yīnggélán;Yīnggaaklàahn) becameAnh Cát Lợi (英吉利), shortened toAnh (英), while United States becameMỹ Lợi Gia (美利加), shortened toMỹ (美). The formal name for the United States in Vietnamese isHoa Kỳ (花旗); this is a former Sinitic name of the United States and translates literally as "flower flag".

Except for the oldest and most deeply ingrained Sino-Vietnamese names, modern Vietnamese instead uses direct phonetic transliterations for foreign names, in order to preserve the original spelling and pronunciation. Today, the written form of such transliterated names are almost always left unaltered; with rising levels of proficiency in English spelling and pronunciation in Vietnam, readers generally no longer need to be instructed on the correct pronunciation for common foreign names. For example, while the Sino-VietnameseLuân Đôn remains in common usage in Vietnamese, the English equivalentLondon is also commonplace.Calques have also arisen to replace some Sino-Vietnamese terms. For example, theWhite House is usually referred to asNhà Trắng (literally, "white house") in Vietnam, thoughTòa Bạch Ốc (based on白屋) retains some currency among overseas Vietnamese.

However, China-specific names such asTrung Quốc (Middle Kingdom,中國), as well asKorean names with Chinese roots, continue to be rendered in Sino-Vietnamese rather than the romanization systems used in other languages. Examples includeTriều Tiên (Joseon,朝鮮) for bothKorea as a whole andNorth Korea in particular,Hàn Quốc (Hanguk,韓國) forSouth Korea,Bình Nhưỡng (Pyongyang,平壤), andBàn Môn Điếm (Panmunjom,板門店).Seoul, unlike most Korean place names, has no correspondinghanja; it is therefore phonetically transliterated asXê-un.

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Sino-Vietnamese words have a status similar to that ofLatin-based words in English: they are used more in formal context than in everyday life. Because Chinese languages and Vietnamese use different order for subject and modifier, compound Sino-Vietnamese words or phrases might appear ungrammatical in Vietnamese sentences. For example, the Sino-Vietnamese phrasebạch mã (白馬 "white horse") can be expressed in Vietnamese asngựa trắng ("horse white"). For this reason, compound words containing native Vietnamese and Sino-Vietnamese words are very rare and are considered improper by some. For example,chung cư ("apartment building") was originally derived fromchúng cư眾居 ("multiple dwelling"), but with the syllablechúng "multiple" replaced withchung, a "pure" Vietnamese word meaning "shared" or "together". Similarly, the literal translation of "United States",Hợp chúng quốc (合眾國) is commonly mistakenly rendered asHợp chủng quốc, withchúng (眾 - many) replaced bychủng (種 - ethnicity, race). Another example istiệt diện (截面; "cross-section") being replaced bytiết diện (節面).

One interesting example is the current motto of Vietnam : "Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam / Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc", in which all the words are Sino-Vietnamese (獨立 –自由 –幸福).

Writing Sino-Vietnamese words with theVietnamese alphabet causes some confusion about the origins of some terms, due to the large number of homophones in Sino-Vietnamese. For example, both明 (bright) and冥 (dark) are read asminh, thus the word "minh" has two contradictory meanings:bright anddark (although the "dark" meaning is now esoteric and is used in only a few compound words). Perhaps for this reason, the Vietnamese name forPluto is notMinh Vương Tinh (冥王星 – lit. "underworld king star") as in other East Asian languages, but isDiêm Vương Tinh (閻王星) andsao Diêm Vương, named after theHindu andBuddhist deityYama. During theHồ dynasty, Vietnam was officially known asĐại Ngu (大虞 "Great Peace"). However, most modern Vietnamese knowngu (愚) as "stupid"; consequently, some misinterpret it as "Big Idiot". Conversely, theHan River inSouth Korea is often erroneously translated assông Hàn (韓) when it should besông Hán (漢) due to the name's similarity with the country name. However, the homograph/homophone problem is not as serious as it appears, because although many Sino-Vietnamese words have multiple meanings when written with the Vietnamese alphabet, usually only one has widespread usage, while the others are relegated to obscurity. Furthermore, Sino-Vietnamese words are usually not used alone, but in compound words, thus the meaning of the compound word is preserved even if individually each has multiple meanings.

Today Sino-Vietnamese texts are learnt and used mostly only by Buddhist monks since important texts such as the scriptures to pacify spirits (recited during the ritual forthe Seventh Lunar month - Trai đàn Chẩn tế;齋壇振濟) are still recited in Sino-Vietnamese pronunciations. Such as the chant, Nam mô A Di Đà Phật coming from 南無阿彌陀佛.

• Chữ Nôm (historical writing system modelled onChinese characters)
• History of writing in Vietnam
• Stratum (linguistics)

• Chiang, Chia-lu 江佳璐 (2011).Yuènán Hànzìyīn de lìshǐ céngcì yánjiū越南漢字音的歷史層次研究 [Study of Phonological Strata of Sino-Vietnamese](PDF) (Thesis). Taipei: National Taiwan Normal University. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2014-09-12.
• Chiang Chia-lu (江佳璐). (2014). 析論越南漢字音魚虞分韻的歷史層次 [Discussion on the Phonological Strata of Sino-Vietnamese as Reflected in the Distinction between Rhymes Yu (魚) and Yu (虞)].Language and Linguistics, 15(5), 613–634.
• Chiang Chia-lu (江佳璐). (2018). 《安南國譯語》所反映的近代漢語聲調系統 [The Tonal System of Early Mandarin Chinese as Reflected in Annanguo Yiyu].漢學研究, 36(2), 97–126.
• Nguyen Thanh-Tung (阮青松). (2015).漢越語和漢語的層次對應關係研究 [A study of the stratal corresponding relationship between Sino-Vietnamese and Chinese] (Master's thesis). National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan.
• Phan, John D. (2010).Re-Imagining "Annam": A New Analysis of Sino–Viet–Muong Linguistic Contact.南方華裔研究雑志 [Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies], 4, 3-24.
• Phan, John, Duong (2013).Lacquered Words: The Evolution of Vietnamese under Sinitic Influences from the 1st Century BCE through the 17th Century CE (PhD thesis). Cornell University.hdl:1813/33867.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Vu, Duc Nghieu (2010). The integration of Chinese words into the Vietnamese language (Departmental Bulletin Paper). Research Institute for World Languages, Osaka University.hdl:11094/8366.

• Đào Duy Anh (1932),Hán Việt Từ Điển – a dictionary of Sino-Vietnamese words and expressions (in Vietnamese).volume 1 (A–M).
• Miyake, Marc:Umbrous umbrella (2014);Sino-Vietnamese articles (2014); Sino-Vietnamese articles1,2 (2013);Sino-Vietnamese articles (2012);t for *p in Vietnamese (2012);Cantonese and Sino-Vietnamese (2010);Sino-Vietnamese articles (2010);From *m to z in Old Chinese and Vietnamese (2008).

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