A scientist who loves literature and is full of compassion

Few people know that before becoming a professor of Linguistics, Nguyen Lai was a man of literature. He graduated from the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University of Science in 1963. At first, the Faculty intended to keep him as a lecturer and researcher of literary theory, because he had a tendency to write. I still remember that the first time I met him, I vaguely recognized that he was the author of a short story that I had read a long time ago, so I asked:

- Sir, are you the author of a short story that has been selected in the book?Reading Grade 4(a book used for students in the former Southern Liberation Area) with the opening sentence: "Cạch! Cạch! Cạch!...", right?

He looked at me excitedly and asked when I had read that story. I told him my deep impression after reading his story. The story was called “The Stone Lady”.

Speaking of Nguyen Lai, the current generations of students and staff of the two faculties of Literature and Language all retain the deepest impressions, considering him a kind and “too good” teacher to his colleagues and students. He is a teacher, a scientist whose humanity permeates every aspect of his soul and personality.

Before becoming a scientist, Professor Nguyen Lai had worked in many environments. Born in the year of the founding of the Indochinese Communist Party, when he was only 15 years old, he joined the Viet Minh organization. He then became a member of the Communist Party at the age of 17. At the age of 18, he took on the position of Secretary of the Party cell of Phu Xuan commune, Dien Khanh, Khanh Hoa. After a year of working in the locality, he was sent to high school and then transferred to the district to do propaganda work. In 1954, the Geneva Agreement was signed, he gathered in the North and was appointed Head of the Propaganda Department of the Reform Delegation of Thai Binh province and Hong Quang area. From 1957 to 1959, he continued to work in Propaganda in Phu Tho. After that, he studied at the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University. In 1963, after graduating, he was retained as a lecturer in literature.

After working at the Faculty for 7 years, he was assigned to work as a Vietnamese language expert in the German Democratic Republic. This was a special opportunity for him. Thanks to his diligence in learning and accumulating teaching experience, he determined his long-term professional direction. That is to delve into linguistic research.

During this time, due to the increasing need to teach Vietnamese to foreigners, he devoted himself to researching a group of word types, which are directional verbs. While teaching, he also did research. After completing his term of service, he successfully completed his duties as a language teaching expert, and successfully defended his Associate Professor thesis (now PhD) at Humbôn University, a prestigious university in the world, with the topicVerbe der Richtung in der Vietnamesischen Sprache(Vietnamese direction verbs).

Returning to the country, he joined the Board of Directors of the Faculty of Literature, serving as Vice-Director and then as Dean (1979-1986). This was a period when the country faced many difficulties. The South had just been liberated, and the administrative and bureaucratic subsidy mechanism had not yet been abolished. The national economy was in a serious crisis. However, he and the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of the Faculty firmly steered the ship to help the entire Faculty overcome difficult challenges. Training and scientific research were still maintained and developed. Although there were many negative aspects arising in society, the environment of the Faculty of Literature was still a healthy environment for teaching and learning. Students were still disciplined and enthusiastic about their ideals and expertise. That was because, in the faculty, there were masters who were role models, among whom he was an exemplary teacher in his pioneering spirit and "revolutionary offensive" spirit in science and technology. While undertaking the tasks of leading the Faculty, participating in the School Party Committee and the Scientific Council, Nguyen Lai still devoted his most dedicated time to delving into the field of semantics. He applied the basic principles of Marxist Philosophy to the study of the relationship between the structure and meaning of Vietnamese movement-oriented words and developed the ideas formed from his PhD thesis. Another 7-year cycle since successfully defending his PhD thesis (1976-1983), he completed his PhD thesis in Linguistics (now Doctor of Science). He sent the manuscript to the neighboring country to wait for the day to defend it. He was absent for a year during his term as Dean of the Faculty and finished defending his PhD thesis in 1984.

Nhiều năm làm việc và công tác tại Cộng hoà Dân chủ Đức, Nguyễn Lai đã tiếp thu được mặt rất tích cực trong tư duy của người Đức, đó là khả năng khái quát, tổng kết các qui luật. Nước Đức nổi tiếng là dân tộc có trình độ tư duy triết học. Một sự ngẫu nhiên của số phận đã đưa đến cho Nguyễn Lai lợi thế này. Nó cũng làm cho các công trình nghiên cứu của ông có những nét riêng khác hẳn các công trình của các đồng nghiệp người khác trong ngành. Một mặt nó có tính trừu tượng cao, đôi khi hơi rối, nhưng mặt khác nó có chiều sâu và sức gợi dẫn rất cao. Nhờ vậy, nhà khoa học Nguyễn Lai có đủ tầm vóc thực thụ với cương vị của một “trưởng lão” trong ngành. Ông không chỉ là thành viên của Hội đồng khoa học mà còn là Chủ tịch nhiều Hội đồng quan trọng của ngành. Ngoài ra ông còn tham gia nhiều tổ chức Quốc tế như: GAL (Hội ngôn ngữ học ứng dụng- Cộng hoà Liên bang Đức), PALA  (Hội thi pháp và ngôn ngữ - Anh). Ông cũng là người được công nhận danh hiệu OUTSTANDING PEOPLE OF THE 20 th CENTURY do International Biographical Center Cambridge công bố. Thế mạnh của ông là kết hợp nghiên cứu chuyên sâu với hướng nghiên cứu liên ngành nhằm tìm ra hướng mới trong việc giải quyết những vấn đề phức tạp của văn học. Chính vì thế, ông đi sâu vào lý thuyết tín hiệu học, hy vọng giải thích một số hiện tượng của thi pháp.  Theo hướng liên ngành, ông đã cho công bố một số công trình  liên quan giữa ngôn ngữ và văn chương, giữa ngôn ngữ và tư duy như: Language and literary creation (Nxb KHXH 1991), Language and thinking (Nxb KHXH 1991). Ông cũng là tác giả của Lectures on general linguistics (Nxb ĐHQG HN 1997, tái bản 1999) và là tác giả của công trình Hồ Chí Minh Tầm nhìn ngôn ngữ (Nxb Lao động 2007). Đây cũng là những công trình có giá trị phục vụ công tác đào tạo ở trường đại học.

For me, Nguyen Lai is not only a scientist but also a person with a very rich literary soul. It is thanks to his literary soul that in daily life, as well as in research work (the language major he pursued was dry), we see that Nguyen Lai always has a soft and poetic way of behaving and writing. In the years he was the head of the department, I know that he rarely "offended" anyone, because he always knew how to be gentle even in the most "tense" situations. During the time he taught Vietnamese combined with defending his Associate Professor and Doctoral theses in the German Democratic Republic, he wrote 3 short stories and they were translated into German. Up to now, in addition to his works and research articles on language, he has published a novelBên kia sông, Con trâu lạ và 1 tập truyện ngắn dành cho thiếu niên Cuộc truy tìm tên trung uý phi công. Có 6 truyện của ông được dịch sang tiếng Đức và Liên xô cũ. Dù trở thành nhà ngôn ngữ học thực thụ, là chuyên gia hàng đầu về từ chỉ hướng, ông vẫn còn nhiều “duyên nợ” với văn chương. Chính đặc điểm này đã khiến giữa tôi và ông bỗng trở nên đồng điệu. Bây giờ thì ông đã sống cách xa chúng tôi gần nửa vòng đất nước, ông đã già yếu đi nhiều, nhưng cứ mỗi lần nhớ về ông, tôi vẫn luôn nhớ về ông – người Thầy – một nhà khoa học yêu văn chương và có tâm hồn nhân ái.