Colonialism and Language Policy in Viet Nam

Contents

1. The Pre-French Period
   •  
     • Chinese colonialism (B.C. 111-939 A.D.)
     • Two languages: Vietnamese and Chinese
     • One writing system: Chinese
   •  
     • Monarchical independence (939-1651)
     • Two languages: Vietnamese and Chinese
     • Two writing systems: Chinese (Sino-Vietnamese) and ideographic Vietnamese (Nom)
       1. Continuation of Chinese (Sino-Vietnamese)
       2. Creation of ideographic Vietnamese (Nom)
   •  
     • Monarchical independence and Catholic separatism (1651-1861)
     • Two languages: Vietnamese and Chinese
     • Three writing systems: Chinese (Sino-Vietnamese), ideographic Vietnamese (Nom) and romanized Vietnamese
       1. Continuation of Sino-Vietnamese and Nom
       2. Creation of romanized Vietnamese
2. The French Period
   •  
     • French colonialism (1861-1945)
     • Three languages: Vietnamese, Chinese and French
     • Four writing systems: Chinese (Sino-Vietnamese), ideographic Vietnamese (Nom), romanized Vietnamese (Quoc Ngu) and French
       1. Colonialist and collaborationist promotion of Quoc Ngu: slow growth (1861-1905)
          • Rule of the Admirals (1861-1879)
          • Civil administration (1879-1905)
       2. Colonialist, collaborationist and nationalist promotion of Quoc Ngu: rapid growth (1905-1945)
          • Russo-Japanese War to World War I (1905-1918)
          • World War I to World War II (1918-1945)
3. The Post-French Period
   •  
     • National independence (1945-Present)
     • One language: Vietnamese
     • One writing system: Quoc Ngu