Professor Shimizu Masaaki presents on how to read Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Japanese

At the invitation of the Department of Han Nom (Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities), in the mornings from September 23 to 26, 2008, Prof. Shimizu Masaaki (Osaka University, Japan) gave a live presentation in Vietnamese on the ways of reading Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Japanese.

The four lectures respectively deal with historical phonetic issues that have a mutual relationship: 1. The phonetic system of medieval Chinese; 2. Comparison of Vietnamese Nom script with Manyogana and Japanese Quoc Tu; 3. Origin of Sino-Vietnamese reading; 4. Re-establishment of the Japanese phonetic system in the Heian period.

Professor Shimizu's lecture is part of the collaborative teaching program.How to read Sino-Vietnamesefor graduate level in Han Nom. However, the level of knowledge, both in-depth and internationally updated, of the lecturers as well as the lectures attracted many researchers from other relevant professional units, such as the Faculty of Linguistics (University of Social Sciences and Humanities), the Institute of Han Nom Studies (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) to attend.

This is the first time a subject in the Han Nom Master's training program has been taught by a foreign expert, thereby opening up a prospect for international cooperation in teaching and researching Han Nom at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.