Professor Nguyen Tai Can and his contributions to the study of Nom script (a tribute to our teacher).

It is regrettable for a "junior" student in the field of literature like myself that I did not have the good fortune to study directly with Professor Nguyen Tai Can (May 2, 1926 - February 25, 2011), but through reading the Professor's research works and absorbing his scientific ideas through generations of his students, I remain...student (of the student (of the student))Professor Nguyen Tai Can's legacy is reflected in every sense of the word. Therefore, despite knowing that Professor Nguyen Tai Can's health had not been good recently, I still feel deeply saddened by the news of his passing on February 25, 2011, in Moscow. I wish to pay my respects to Professor Nguyen Tai Can, but because I did not study with him directly and therefore have few memories of him (although I had the honor of meeting him four times), I will commemorate his spirit through the path of science, the path that has ensured his lasting legacy. Standing before Professor Nguyen Tai Can's immense scientific legacy, one easily empathizes with the feeling of "high limb threshold"The more one looks up, the higher one sees" (a metaphorical expression of respect for Confucius) by Nhan Hoi. Professor Nguyen Tai Can has left a profound mark on many fields: grammar, phonetics, Sino-Vietnamese script, vocabulary, etymology, Vietnamese linguistics, poetic language, literature, culture… This humble student, modest in age and even more so in professional experience, would like to only look up at a small corner of the Professor's scientific career, namely the study of Nôm script. Although Nôm script has a history of over 800 years, research on it has only been undertaken from the 20th century to the present. During this period, Professor Nguyen Tai Can's research on Nôm script holds a prominent position. Describing those works is unnecessary and, more importantly, impossible in a short article, so here I will only briefly highlight Professor Nguyen Tai Can's outstanding contributions in this narrow field of research.

1. Establishing tools and methods for studying Nôm script.

For the field of "Nôm Studies" (if this term can be used), Professor Nguyễn Tài Cẩn made significant contributions to establishing research tools and methods, and fundamental prerequisites for the study of Nôm script. From a very early stage, the Professor diligently researched the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation (1971, 1972, 1979) as a conceptual tool for studying Nôm script, especially the issue of determining the time of appearance of this writing system: "It is possible that Nôm script was formed simultaneously with Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation, but it is also very possible that Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation was formed first, and then some time later our ancestors relied on Chinese characters read according to Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation to create Nôm script" (1971). The method of determining the formation of Nôm script based on the appearance of the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation system, which the Professor proposed in the early 1970s, is a novel perspective, different from previous conceptions which were largely based on (mythological) historical and sociological evidence that tended to push the appearance of Nôm script earlier than the actual time. Besides his contributions to the study of Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation, the Professor also made significant contributions to the field of research on Old Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation (also known as Pre-Sino-Vietnamese) and Vietnamized Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation (also known as Post-Sino-Vietnamese) to form a picture of the linguistic (phonetic) influence between Chinese and Vietnamese in history (1987). This contributed to correcting many conceptions about pronunciation and the classification of Nôm script recording Old Sino-Vietnamese and Vietnamized Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation by predecessors such as Vương Lực (1948) and Đào Duy Anh (1975). Furthermore, Professor Nguyen Tai Can had already begun researching the emergence of individual Nôm characters within the Nôm writing system. This is reflected in his scholarly works.Some issues concerning the Nôm script.In 1985, the Professor dedicated the last 20 pages of the Appendix (pp. 252-272) to presenting a lookup table.Some ancient Nôm characters have been found in texts with precise dates (from the 12th to the 17th centuries)., which lists the earliest Vietnamese morphemes recorded in reliable Nôm script documents. Today, with newer conditions regarding Nôm script textual documents, we are still waiting for a more comprehensive and specific dictionary (or, more modestly, a lookup table) with similar content. In addition, the direction in studying Nôm script as a writing system was already outlined by Professor Nguyễn Tài Cẩn (1981): it is necessary to move from general philology to regional philology to visualize the picture of writing systems in the world and the region, and then delve into studying Nôm script as a writing system for the Vietnamese language. This direction was further elaborated in the early 21st century by the work of Nguyễn Quang Hồng (2008).

2. Macro-level research: establishing a structural model of the Nôm script.

From a philological perspective, research on the structure of Nôm characters in the 20th century can be divided into two relatively distinct periods. Before 1975, philological studies of Nôm characters were groundbreaking, primarily based on the Chinese philological model, using the "Six Scripts" (six methods of constructing Chinese characters).figurative, symbolic, ideographic, borrowed, transferred meaning) serves as the central point for "assembling" the structural methods of Nôm characters into that framework of division. Here we can find famous researchers who followed this direction: Văn Hựu (1933), Dương Quảng Hàm (1943), Trần Kinh Hoà (1949), Đào Duy Anh (1975)... In particular, the famous workNom script: Origin – Structure – EvolutionProfessor Dao Duy Anh's work (Social Sciences Publishing House, Hanoi, 1975) is considered the "culmination" of this research direction. After 1975, this path continued to be pursued, largely by foreign scholars such as Li Luoyi (1986) and Ma Kecheng (1996) in China, and Wm. C. Hannas (1997) in the United States – who primarily accessed Nôm script through Professor Dao Duy Anh's book or through a few introductory articles on Nôm script written in English, rather than keeping up with the research situation in Vietnam. In 1976, the study of Nôm script structure entered a new phase with the pioneering work of General Nguyen Tai Can, who, along with his wife, Professor NV Stankevitch, wrote an article.Let's briefly review the structure of the Nôm script.This article has moved away from the traditional "Six Scripts" approach to using modern scientific methods, viewing Nôm script as an object of philological study in close relationship with the historical linguistics of the Vietnamese language, especially phonology. Based on the criteria of form, sound, and meaning, Professor Nguyễn Tài Cẩn classified Nôm script sequentially through several consecutive bifurcation steps to generalize a structural model of Nôm script consisting of 10 types. At the time, in 1976, this was the most scientific and comprehensive classification model (because almost all individual Nôm characters could be categorized into it). This scientific working method immediately had a positive influence on subsequent studies by Le Van Quan (1981), Nguyen Ngoc San (1987), Nguyen Khue (1987-1988), Le Anh Tuan (2003), etc. In the 21st century, that model was modified and reconstructed in the works of Nguyen Quang Hong (2006, 2008). A noteworthy point regarding this paradigm shift is that Professor Dao Duy Anh, as early as 1975, acknowledged the difference in classification methods between himself and Professor Nguyen Tai Can. Professor Dao wrote:

“Mr. Nguyen Tai Can told me that linguists may follow different classifications of Nom script than mine, but ultimately the results are completely consistent with mine, thus proving that my classification is still correct. I would like to add that I do not follow the linguist's classification because I find the linguistic classification somewhat strange and difficult to understand for the average reader. In my opinion, this classification is simpler and easier to understand; I believe it is consistent with the way of thinking and the principles that the ancients relied on when constructing Nom script” (ibid., p. 63, footnote 1).

Of course, each scholar here has determined their approach to studying the structure of Nôm script according to their own perspective. Furthermore, it should be noted that Professor Đào's book, published in 1975, was printed after he had a discussion with Professor Nguyễn, and he certainly hadn't read Professor Nguyễn's elaborate research paper, which would be published a year later (1976), to understand that Professor Nguyễn's classification differed significantly from his own, especially regarding the scientific validity of the method of classifying the structure of the script. From a scientific perspective, the mutual critique and acceptance between these two renowned Nôm script researchers is very valuable and worth learning from.

3. Micro-level research: from the dilemma of “song writing" to the trilogyThe Tale of Kieu

In addition to his success in macro-level research on Nôm characters, Professor Nguyễn Tài Cẩn also left his mark on micro-level research of specific Nôm characters, which have been "difficult problems" in Nôm character research throughout history. This article will only address two cases: the two characters “song writing" in classical Nôm poetry of the 15th-16th centuries and Nôm characters inThe Tale of KieuIt is very complex and has caused much controversy. The way to read and understand the two words “song writing" (双曰) appears many times in the Nôm poems of Nguyễn Trãi,Hong Duc National Vernacular Poetry CollectionThe case of Nguyen Binh Khiem is undoubtedly the most debated issue in the study of Nôm characters from the mid-20th century to the present, attracting the participation of no fewer than 10 researchers. Dissatisfied with the interpretations of researchers Tran Van Giap and Pham Trong Diem (1956), Dao Duy Anh (1962), and Do Van Hi (1967), Professor Nguyen Tai Can, in 1974 and 1975, proposed and implemented a new, more comprehensive approach. Starting from the character's form, he delved into phonetic, lexical, semantic, and grammatical analysis, listing all possible ways to read and understand the two characters, consulting numerous references from neighboring languages, checking Vietnamese dictionaries from before the 20th century, carefully filtering and eliminating impractical possibilities, and ultimately arriving at a very novel way of reading them:beveledHe proposed a solution for these two unique Nôm characters, then examined all the semantic aspects of those two characters (seven semantic aspects) in their respective contexts, and with all the necessary caution of a scientist, he still suggested leaving the solution in doubt, awaiting further research. Even though many other researchers (Ngô Đức Thọ, An Chi, Nguyễn Thị Oanh, Nguyễn Thế…) later joined the debate with somewhat different viewpoints, differing from the theory of “beveled"However, the profound, comprehensive, and cautious research methods that Professor Nguyen Tai Can applied to arrive at those results will forever remain an example for future researchers to learn from. Considering the texts of Nôm works, there has never been a system of texts as complex as this system of texts."The Tale of KieuProfessor Nguyen Tai Can, during the first 10 years of the 21st century, continuously produced prestigious research works on the texts and vocabulary of Nom literature, focusing most notably on three books whose titles all begin with "Documents related to The Tale of Kieu..." (2002, 2004, 2008). Starting from the suggestions on textual and linguistic research by scholar Hoang Xuan Han, Professor Nguyen Tai Can, from the late 20th century, delved deeply into the study of texts and language.The Tale of KieuFollowing the "original source" approach, searching for "Nguyen Du's original words," the first monograph on the 1872 Duy Minh Thi edition was published in 2002. This involved a thorough study of a specific text.The Tale of Kieuin comparison with other texts in the text systemThe Tale of KieuThis isn't exactly a new issue (since 1999, The Anh has published a book transcribing and textually varying versions of the 1902 Kieu Oanh Mau edition):The Tale of Kieu: A Comparative Study of the Tale of Kieu in Nom and Quoc Ngu Styles(Literature Publishing House, 1999), but Professor Nguyen Tai Can's book above has already...the most secluded family"Because of its scientific and novel nature, the book discusses the 1872 Duy Minh Thi text from three aspects (corresponding to the three sections of the book): textual research, Nôm transcription, and linguistic interpretation; all three aspects are presented with many novel ideas. In textual research, the Professor pays particular attention to the phenomenon of taboo words (a direction he later pursued further) to find a connection between the 1872 Duy Minh Thi text and Nguyen Du's original work. Regarding transcription, with his previous in-depth research on Nôm script philology, the Professor published a transcription with many rather unusual and interesting linguistic hypotheses for the "Kieu studies" community. In linguistic interpretation, the Professor utilized his expertise in historical phonology, historical lexicology, and dialectology to filter and argue about the reading and understanding of each word in the 1872 Duy Minh Thi text; this part is the key point." the key to the book, so that it can be “the most secluded familyThe research methods in this book are valuable for guiding other researchers to undertake more or less similar work on other texts on the list of these texts.The Tale of KieuThe earliest known Nôm script texts are: Liễu Văn Đường 1871, Nguyễn Hữu Lập 1870, Liễu Văn Đường 1866, Thịnh Mĩ Đường 1879. However, later studies differed from the Professor's perspective on these texts.The Tale of Kieu(Dao Thai Ton,Studying the text of Truyện Kiều: the 1871 Liễu Văn Đường edition(Social Sciences Publishing House, 2006), but this differing opinion, as its author acknowledges, was inspired by the research methods of scholar Hoang Xuan Han and the research on the 1872 Duy Minh Thi manuscript by Professor Nguyen Tai Can. Once again, we see the productive nature of the research methods in the scientific works that the Professor left behind. This rigorous and scientific research method continued to be consistently implemented in the two books that the Professor published later (2004, 2008), forming a “trilogy"(a trilogy) of textual and linguistic studies"The Tale of Kieuwhich can be easily recognized even when they are not labeled.Made by Nguyen Tai CanThis is a crucial research trend that needs to be implemented in the field of "Kieu Studies" in the 21st century, and the person who laid the foundation stones for it is none other than Professor Nguyen Tai Can.

List of Professor Nguyen Tai Can's main research works on Nom script.

1. Nguyen Tai Can (1971),Historical phonetic data and the issue of the period of appearance of the Nôm script., in: Journal of Linguistics, No. 1; reprinted in:Some issues concerning the Nôm script., University and Vocational High School Publishing House, Hanoi, 1985, pp. 86-118.
2. Nguyen Tai Can (1972),Supplementing some historical phonological data related to the period of appearance of the Nôm script., printed in:Scientific Announcement, University of Hanoi (Literature - Languages), Volume V, Hanoi, 1972; reprinted in:Some issues concerning the Nôm script., University and Vocational High School Publishing House, Hanoi, 1985, pp. 119-137.
3. Nguyen Tai Can (1974),Try to find a way to read the Nôm script for the two words "song viết" (song viet)., published in the Literature Magazine, issue 2/1974; reprinted in:Some issues concerning the Nôm script., University and Vocational High School Publishing House, Hanoi, 1985, pp. 181-209.
4. Nguyen Tai Can (1975),Let's discuss further the concepts of "double writing? double knowledge? double merit?", published in: Literature Magazine, issue 6/1975; reprinted in:Some issues concerning the Nôm script., University and Vocational High School Publishing House, Hanoi, 1985, pp. 210-227.
5. Nguyen Tai Can, NV Stankevitch (1976),Let's briefly review the structure of the Nôm script.Published in: Linguistics Journal, No. 2: pp. 15-25; No. 3: pp. 14-24. [This article has been reprinted several times in a number of books on Nom script by Professor Nguyen Tai Can].
6. Nguyen Tai Can (1979),The origin and formation process of Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation, Social Sciences Publishing House, Hanoi; reprinted by Hanoi National University Publishing House, 2002.
7. Nguyen Tai Can, NV Stankevitch (1981),Nom script, a cultural achievement of the Ly-Tran era., printed in: Institute of History,Understanding Vietnamese society during the Ly and Tran dynasties, Social Sciences Publishing House, Hanoi, pp. 476-516.
8. Nguyen Tai Can (1985),Some issues concerning the Nôm script., University and Vocational High School Publishing House, Hanoi, 1985. [This book includes 10 research papers, mostly published sporadically from 1971 to 1981. This is also Professor Nguyen Tai Can's most important scientific work in the field of Nom script research].
9. Nguyen Tai Can (1987),Chinese culture and the Vietnamese language: the role of Chinese-derived elements in modern Vietnamese., first printed in Japanese in the bookChinese characters, national determination, Tokyo, 1987; reprinted in Vietnamese in:Some evidence related to language, writing, and culture., National University of Hanoi Publishing House, 2001, pp. 424-439.
10. Nguyen Tai Can (2001),Some evidence related to language, writing, and culture., National University of Hanoi Publishing House.
11. Nguyen Tai Can (2002),Documents on the Tale of Kieu: Duy Minh Thi Edition 1872, National University of Hanoi Publishing House.
12. Nguyen Tai Can (2004),Documents related to The Tale of Kieu:From Duy Minh Thi village to Kieu Oanh Mau village, Center for National Studies & Literature Publishing House.
13. Nguyen Tai Can (2008),Documents related to The Tale of Kieu:Let's try to understand the draft of the Tale of Kieu., Education Publishing House.

NOTE

• AboveAre notInstead of a complete list of Professor Nguyen Tai Can's research works on Nom script, this article only highlights the key works mentioned.
• Due to length limitations, this article will refrain from providing specific information about the research of other researchers mentioned in it.