"The Confluence of Thoughts" by Professor Hoang Thi Chau

As one of the first to read the manuscript of this book, my initial impression remains unchanged to this day: it is extremely valuable and precious. From my time as a student of the Faculty of Literature at Hanoi University until now, I have been reading the research results published regularly over time by Professor Hoang Thi Chau. Years have passed; only when the Professor compiled these results into an anthology did I realize the truly vastness of the collection; and looking beyond the words, I truly understand...The project is worth countless years....".

The book cover. (Photo: Jackie Chan)

Although I have the honor of presenting some information about this collection to the readers below, I do not consider this a book review in the true sense of the word, as the title suggests. Instead, I would like to share a few stories, hoping to contribute in some way to giving us a simple glimpse into the Professor's scientific journey.

In 1962, after graduating with a degree in Russian Literature and returning to Vietnam, Professor Hoang Thi Chau was assigned to research and teach about...Vietnamese dialectat the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University (now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi). A typical result of her research in this direction is her work.Vietnamese language across the country (Dialectology)Published in 1989. To be fair, in our country, since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been people raising the issue of discussing and researching dialects, but it was not until this work, with its very specific approach: an interdisciplinary approach of linguistics - history - society - culture, that the biggest milestone in the study of Vietnamese dialects and dialectology was truly marked; because it “This reveals the appearance of the Vietnamese language across the country, not only in its current static state but also reflecting the dynamic processes and historical development in the complex relationship between the internal structure of the Vietnamese language and the social and geographical factors of the country.¹”

This perspective and research methodology are also clearly reflected in each article about dialects and vernaculars, such as:Vietnamese dialects and villages: Characteristics and developmentsvariableof Hue dialect...of the Professor.

In 2005,Vietnamese language across the country (Dialectology)[Not in this collection] was awarded by the National Council for Science and Technology Awards.State Award for Science and Technology.

However, the first significant impact of her research was the article.The connection between ancient languages ​​in Southeast Asia through a few river names.Published in the Scientific Bulletin, Volume II, 1964-1965, of Hanoi University, just two years after her return from the Soviet Union, she proved that the two largest rivers embracing Southeast Asia, the Yangtze and the Mekong, both had the original name "Kong," meaning "river" in Vietnamese, and reconstructed its ancient form as "khlong." EM Murzaev, a leading professor of toponymy in the Soviet Union, published the paper under the title:Names of rivers in Vietnam, in the two-volume book series:Eastern Toponymyedited by him (1969)².

Immediately afterwards, when Vietnamese historians focused their research...Hung King EraShe was fascinated by traveling.Searching for historical sources in ethnic languages.", published a series of articles in the journalHistorical researchand the book seriesHung Vuong founded the nation.like:The Van Lang Kingdom as seen through linguistic documents.,Some aspects of the social organization of Van Lang based on linguistic documents....

After retiring, she continued to research geographical names but shifted to applied research such as:Standardizing the writing of the full names of Vietnamese ethnic minorities in Vietnamese texts.,Standardizing foreign place names on world maps.(Published by Vietnam) [as part of a major national project of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment].

Regarding ethnic minorities, she always wondered:Why do so many ethnic groups still lack a written language today?Through her observations in northern Vietnam, she realized that ethnic minorities didn't wait for others to create their own writing systems; they created them themselves. Many ethnic groups, such as the Muong, Dao, Cao Lan, and Giay, lacked written scripts, yet they published poetry, prose, folk songs, and proverbs in their own languages, transcribed by their intellectuals using the Vietnamese alphabet. She proposed a very different idea: Linguists wouldn't have to painstakingly investigate and research the spoken languages ​​of ethnic minorities to develop their own writing systems. Instead, they could build upon the existing Vietnamese national alphabet, improving and supplementing it to create a common phonetic alphabet for all ethnic groups.

Studying over 20 alphabets and more than 40 phonetic systems of ethnic minority languages ​​in our country, she compiled and classified them according to phonetic types to discover common and unique features, ultimately building a common phonetic alphabet based on an improved and supplemented national alphabet. (Scientific report)Phonetic types of languages ​​in Vietnam and the common alphabetwelcomed atSoutheast Asian Linguistics Conferenceat the University of Oregon (USA, 1996). Later, the National Culture Publishing House (Hanoi) published her book.Developing a phonetic alphabet for ethnic minorities in Vietnam.(2001) as a supporting tool for ethnic groups to create their own writing systems, at least so that they can record oral poetry and personal works in their own ethnic language.

At the 6th Pan Asiatic Linguistics International Conference in 2004, she continued to present her research findings onThe situation and policies regarding the development and popularization of writing systems among ethnic minorities in Vietnam.Two professors of Oriental studies from the Federal Republic of Germany, T. Engelsbert and H.D. Kubitscheck, have respectfully included this article in their book.Ethnic Minorities and Politics in Southeast Asia(Ethnic minorities and policies in Southeast Asia) 2004.

Her research findings revealed very practical, simple, and logical points: the primary need for ethnic minority scripts lies with the intellectual class in local areas. Therefore, the target group for popularizing ethnic minority scripts should first be the older, more cultured individuals and cultural and educational officials currently working in the field. Only then should ethnic minority scripts be taught in schools, when they have become a genuine societal need. Some places that have done things the opposite way have not achieved the desired results.

One more point I'd like to add is that while researching minority languages, she was very interested in the issue of the emergence of the tonal system in the Cham language, which is currently unfolding right before our eyes; and we can directly examine it to help us better understand the process of forming the tonal systems of Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, etc., which took place a very long time ago.

Dear readers.

Having written this far, I feel I shouldn't write any longer, because as I stated from the beginning, these words are not yet an introduction or review of the book.

The breadth and depth of the research content; the theories, methods, and practical applications in the study of relevant issues (from dialectology, through toponymy, to historical linguistics and geographical linguistics, to the languages ​​of ethnic minorities, and teaching Vietnamese as a foreign language) can be found and recognized by readers when holding and reading this collection of works.

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