Initial survey of ancient words in the tale of Kieu

Abstract

In the field of Vietnamese historical research in general and the study of Nom script in particular, current researchers often tend to combine the study of Nom texts and specific Nom script codes in order to find the documents to help determine the development of Vietnamese language at each specific historical period. And vice versa, “the study of Vietnamese historical phonetics will also make an important contribution to the correct reading and understanding of Nom script”. This proves that, “Nom script is a valuable resource in surveying Vietnamese language history”, and “people can see from Nom script the ancient sounds of Vietnamese”. Using that research trend in surveying and learning about The Tale of Kieu - Inscriptions printed in the 24th year of Tu Duc (1871), we have found many ancient words in the text. The ancient words found in the text of The Tale of Kieu 1871 will contribute valuable data for the study of Vietnamese phonetic history in general and the study of Nom script in particular.