Introduction

In this article, we will focus on the linguistic aspect of Vietnamese language as further supporting evidence (besides the many supporting evidence narrated in other articles) that the original speakers of Annamese Chinese were Han Chinese.

This article also answers some of the arguments brought forward by some blog readers.

Annamese Chinese language are just loanwords and not mother tongue?

It's normally the case that languages usually borrow words from other languages where the foreign words do not exist in one's mother tongue (eg. coffee, tea), so a certain small percentage of borrowing is considered quite normal.

However, the Sino-Vietnamese part of Vietnamese language which supposedly 'borrowed' 100% of all Chinese vocabulary to the extent that all Classical Chinese texts can be pronounced in Vietnamese is considered absurd and unnecessary.

The two videos below are of a Vietnamese Kinh reciting Classical Chinese poems using Sino-Vietnamese sounds.

We do not 'borrow' all the words of another language which is abnormal unless it's our own native tongue. This is especially true when one considers that foreign language as the language of the invaders who invaded northern Vietnam in ancient times.

Usually, when one borrows loanwords like how the Japanese borrow loanwords from Chinese, they borrow the sounds from only one period/dynasty. Furthermore, the Chinese loanwords in Japanese do not contain tones because the Japanese language is originally a non-tonal language. The original Muong language being an Austroasiatic language was originally non-tonal.

However, several different layers of Chinese pronunciation from different dynasties can be found in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary. The details of the different layers can be found in the paper by the Vietnamese linguist John Phan. This can only happen when there are several waves of Han Chinese migration from different dynasties influencing the local Chinese dialect as in Annamese Chinese.

The Annamese Chinese language (before the merger with the Muong language) had colloquial layer(s) and literary layer. The colloquial layer went all the way back to the Han dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD) and the literary layer from the Tang dynasty is preserved as the Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary.

English	Chinese	Colloquial sound	Literary sound
kind/type	種	giong	chung
paper	紙	giay	chi
well	井	gieng	tinh/ting

Similarly, there were at least two layers in the Southern Min language (and other Southern Chinese languages) which are the colloquial layer and the literary layer. The colloquial layer of Southern Min was the earliest language spoken during the Jin dynasty and the literary layer brought in later during the Tang dynasty.

In short, you can look at the colloquial layer as the everyday pronunciation passed down from parents whereas the literary layer as the pronunciation taught in schools that is more formal. In other words, one Chinese character in Annamese Chinese language can have different pronunciations depending on the era and whether it is literary or colloquial.

The ethnic minorities in China have 100% Chinese loanwords to read Tang poems?

The argument that all the non-Han ethnic minorities living in China revere Chinese culture and language is absurd.

The Kra-Dai people and Hmong-Mien people have been living in China for more than 2000 years but their languages do NOT have 100% Chinese loanwords to read Tang poems or other Chinese dynasty poems. Their languages did borrow a small percentage of Chinese loanwords but certainly not Classical Chinese words which are not used in everyday life.

The same goes with the ethnic minorities in Vietnam such as the Tay and Muong people.

Tai people (Zhuang) in China

Muong people borrowed Chinese writing system just like the Kinh since they are 'ethnic brothers'?

The Muong people, who are from Le Loi's ethnic group and still live in Vietnam's northwestern hills, did NOT borrow the Han Chinese writing script as previously thought.

Unlike the Kinh who has been using Chinese characters since the Qin dynasty because they were Han Chinese to begin with; the ethnic Muong who are genetically Austroasiatic people, do NOT have a writing script until the 20th century. The proof is in the video below.

If the Muong people had borrowed the Chinese writing system, all the Muong dialects in Vietnam would have adopted the same writing system but alas that was not so for the following reasons.

The standard Vietnamese language, the national language, is the language of the Kinh using the Chinese writing script until 1909 AD and have 100% cognates with Chinese vocabulary in addition to the Muong loanwords.

Moreover, Chữ Nôm writing system which had some Muong characters was actually created sometime after Later Lê dynasty was formed in 1428 AD and not before. It was the Tai people who are the natives of Red River basin and not the Muong people so an informal form of the Chinese writing system should have Tai words instead of Muong words.

The two ethnic groups Muong and Kinh (Han Chinese) are often confused with each other when they are actually two very different ethnic groups.

How can an ethnic majority language be influenced by an ethnic minority language?

Some people argued that it is impossible for the language of the ethnic majority (Han Chinese) to be influenced by the language of the ethnic minority (Muong). Look at the examples below.

1. The Manchu rulers influenced the Chinese language to become Mandarin language when they ruled China. Manchu was the ethnic minority and Han Chinese was the ethnic majority.

2. The Norman French rulers of England influenced the English language with French linguistic features after the French invaded England. Note that English is a Germanic language whereas French is a Latin language.

If Vietnamese Kinh are Han Chinese, then why don't they speak Chinese language?

When the ethnic Muong emperor Lê Lợi ruled Dai Viet/Vietnam after the Ming dynasty was expelled out of Vietnam, his Later Lê dynasty was considered the golden period for Vietnam.

Under his dynasty rule of several hundred years from 1428 to 1789 AD, Vietnam saw its territory greatly expanded to present-day central Vietnam and some parts of southern Vietnam. The languages of the two ethnic groups i.e. ethnic Muong (Austroasiatic people) and the Han Chinese merged together during the long dynastic rule.

The literary layer of the original Annamese Chinese is preserved in the Sino-Vietnamese part of Vietnamese language today. In addition, some basic Vietnamese words like heart (tim/心) and thank-you (cảm ơn/感恩) are originally from the colloquial layer of the Annamese Chinese language. Many other cognates from the colloquial layer were listed in the first part of this article.

Uncanny similarities of Sino-Vietnamese with Cantonese

Judging from the common Vietnamese history with Guangdong and Guangxi, it is not a coincidence how similar Sino-Vietnamese phonology is with Cantonese Chinese phonology as illustrated in the video below.

Similarities with Hainanese Chinese language

There is still a mystery as to why some of the sound changes in Vietnamese language are similar to the Hainanese Min language.

In normal cases, whenever a language 'A' borrow loanwords from language 'B', it is usually the standard language/dialect of that country at the time of borrowing.

However, the Hainanese Min language was never the standard language of China at any dynasty. The most probable explanation is that these are not loanwords but came from another wave of Chinese immigrants to Vietnam influencing part of the phonology of the Vietnamese language sometime during the Yuan to the Qing dynasty. This mystery still needs more evidence from Vietnamese history texts.

Conclusion

The original language of the Vietnamese Kinh is partly preserved in the modern Vietnamese language.

This language was called 'Annamese Chinese' by Vietnamese scholar John Phan and spoken by the many waves of Han Chinese immigrants to Vietnam resulting in several layers of phonology.

A large part (about 75%) of the colloquial layer is still preserved in the modern Vietnamese language whereas 100% of the literary layer is preserved in the Han-Viet/Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary.

All the Tang dynasty poems can be recited using just the Sino-Vietnamese sounds without any Austroasiatic words.

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Origin of Vietnamese language Part 2