Author/Publisher: Defense Language Institute
Date: 1974
Pages:
Intro to Standard Writing System - 26
List of Basic Structures - 18
Northern Dialect - 448
Phonology - 62
The standard Vietnamese writing system is that of alphabetic writing. Quoc-ngiJ or written Vietnamese was invented late in the sixteenth century by Western missionaries. It did not reach a definitive form until the publication of the monumental Annamese-Portuguese-Latin dictionary (Dictionarium annamiticum, lusitanum et latinum) in l6Β£l in Rome. It was the first important printed work in which the Vietnamese words were transcribed into Roman Characters.
Structural patterns contained in this booklet are taken from the text for Lessons 1-100, Vietnamese Basic Course. They are listed in alphabetical order with indication of the lesson in which each of them occurs for the first time.
Since pattern usage is important to language learning and students need to have a reference material listing the structural patterns they have learned in the textbooks, this "List of Basic Structures" is intended to assist students in
1) quickly locating the structural patterns they have been exposed to;
2) reviewing them at home as often as the need to do so exists with each individual student's study habit; and
3) reviewing them in class under faculty guidance during the hours specifically scheduled for structure review.
The following text has been written to fill a gap. As an intermediate text designed for use in teaching northern Vietnamese, Hanoi dialect, it has been geared towards those who have received a good grounding in basic Vietnamese structures and vocabulary but who may new-, wish to acquire a deeper understanding of the Vietnamese language, and especially of one of its major varieties, the language which is now considered the official language of Vietnam.
This is the Phonology Text of the 47-week Basic Course in Vietnamese. It was compiled prior to 1975.The text reflects usage as of that date.
Emphasis is placed on developing the ability to understand, speak and read Vietnamese. Graduates should be able to recognize and actively use all of the basic grammatical structures in the target language, to read a newspaper or magazine article and grasp the gist of it with limited use of a dictionary.