Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Abstract

Mirroring the glossing traditions of literary Sinitic in Japanese kanbun kundoku and Korean sŏktok kugyŏl, Vietnam has also been theorized to have a similar system for vernacular interpretation of classical Chinese texts. While Japanese and Korean glossing practices have been extensively studied, evidence for Vietnamese equivalents has remained understudied. This article provides an examination of reversal marks in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts from the Cảnh Phước Collection currently held at the University of Kyoto. Several of these manuscripts have extensive glossing in the Nôm script. The reversal marks provide evidence of gloss-based reading practices, indicating a method for reordering classical Chinese syntax to match Vietnamese word order.

Keywords

Chữ Nôm classical Chinese exegesis glossing Vietnamese

Introduction

The vernacular exegesis of classical Chinese texts across East Asia has given rise to a variety of glossing traditions, most notably Japanese kanbun kundoku (漢文訓読) and Korean sŏktok kugyŏl (釋讀口訣). These systems employ a range of annotation techniques such as including glosses and reading marks to facilitate the reading of literary Sinitic. While the Japanese and Korean traditions have been the subject of scholarly attention, the existence and nature of comparable practices in Vietnam remain understudied. This article focuses on several manuscripts in the Cảnh Phước Collection currently held at the University of Kyoto. These manuscripts were originally stored at Wat Samananam Borihan in Bangkok until 1978. The collection contains several Buddhist and Daoist texts. Some of these texts contain extensive glossing written in “chữ Nôm”, a Chinese-based script formerly used to write Vietnamese; for example, Phật thuyết thiên địa bát dương kinh (佛説天地八陽經), which was examined by Shimizu Masaaki in 2024 (Masaaki, 2024). Shimizu Masaaki dated the text as having been compiled in the nineteenth century, based on naming taboos present in the text and the chữ Nôm characters used in the text. The glosses are referred to as “giải âm” (解音) in Vietnamese. The term “giải âm” has the meaning of “to explain in national pronunciation”. “Âm” (音) is a clipping of the term “quốc âm” (國音; “national pronunciation”) which was used to refer to Vietnamese. The glossing in the manuscripts can be sorted into two categories: (1) Character-by-character glossing, in which individual characters or compounds are glossed by their Vietnamese equivalents written to the right of the base text. (2) Commentary glossing, in which a line or passage of the base text is followed by commentary written in smaller script (Figure 1). Notably, reversal marks are attested only in manuscripts employing character-by-character glossing (Kosukegawa and Whitman, 2018:42). A preliminary survey of the collection identifies six manuscripts that contain such reversal marks. This article aims to explore these marks, their usage, and their role in gloss reading.

Figure 1.

Comparison of types of glossing in Vietnamese texts: (left) character-by-character gloss from Dương tiết diễn nghĩa 陽節演義 (1890), R.1958; (right) commentary gloss from Thượng dụ huấn điều sao bản giải âm 上諭訓條抄本解音 (1834), R.2033.

Background

Japanese kanbun texts are commonly read in Japanese using various symbols to aid in comprehension. Japanese uses marks such as kaeriten (返り点) that indicate reading order. Reten, a type of kaeriten, written as レ is used to indicate that the character should be inverted and read as such similar to the marks found in the Vietnamese manuscripts (Alberizzi, 2014). Korea sŏktok kugyŏl (釋讀口訣) like kanbun kundoku (漢文訓読) places these various marks on the left, while Vietnamese glossing is primarily on the right with some exceptions (Nguyễn, 2020; Satoshi, 2014).

Reversal marks

In the manuscripts, the reversal marks exclusively appear in texts containing character-by-character glossing. The mark (ン) is typically written as a dot and upwards stroke (Figure 2). It is sometimes used with ⌝ to mark the beginning position of the phrase. When the mark is used, the reading order of the character or phrase is reversed to match Vietnamese word order. This denotes some form of gloss reading (huấn độc; 訓讀¹). There are cases where a reversal mark should be used; however, it is instead glossed with chữ Nôm equivalent phrase.

Figure 2.

Comparison of glossed and unglossed texts: Sa di luật nghi yếu lược tăng chú 沙彌律儀要略增註 (1881) (left) glossed (WS017) and (right) unglossed (TN.080).

Six manuscripts have been identified to contain reversal marks (Table 1).

Table 1.

List of manuscripts containing reversal marks.

Manuscript	Call number	Number of instances
佛説天地八陽經	WS001	10
百歳修行經	WS003	12
[二十四孝]	WS004	34
佛説天地八陽經 ; 佛説報恩懺法	WS007	15
沙彌律儀要略	WS017	228*
十二星總論	WS062	10*

*Indicates manuscripts where the number of reversal mark instances is likely greater or less than reported due to scribal inconsistency.

The most notable manuscripts are 沙彌律儀要略² and [二十四孝]³, which display systematic usages of this reversal mark in a range of cases. In regard to 沙彌律儀要略, the reversal mark is sometimes used; however, in many cases, it is simply written as ⌝ and ⌟ (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

Instance of reversal mark in 沙彌律儀要略. Here, 乙 (left of the marks) is also written, which indicates inversion of the word order (Galambos, 2014).

Nouns

The most straightforward usage of this reversal mark is to invert the positions of adjectives modifying nouns. In literary Chinese, adjectives precede the nouns they modify, in Vietnamese, adjectives generally follow the noun. This difference creates the need for a reversal mark to indicate that the elements of the classical Chinese phrase should be read in reverse order to produce a grammatically natural Vietnamese gloss.

Here are a few examples from SDLN and NTTH: (Literary Chinese abbreviated as LC, Reversed order abbreviated as RV, and Giải âm abbreviated as GA.)

LC:不知其爲⌝ 孝心ン所感也。 (Bất tri kỳ vi hiếu tâm sở cảm dã.)

RV:不知其爲心孝所感也。 (Bất tri kỳ vi tâm hiếu sở cảm dã.)

GA:庄別使𫜵𢚸討使感丕。 (Chẳng biết thửa làm lòng thảo thửa cảm vậy.)

(He) did not know that were caused by having filial heart.

[NTTH 16a:3]

LC: ⌝世人ン因欲，殺身亡家。(Thế nhân nhân dục, sát thân vong gia.)

RV: 人世因欲，殺身亡家。 (Nhân thế nhân dục, sát thân vong gia.)

GA: 𠊛𠁀㐱闷，折𨉓𠅍茄。 (Người đời chỉn muốn, giết mình mất nhà.)

People, because of their desires, ruin their own lives and lose their family.

[SDLN 6b:2] (Figure 4).

LC:紂作⌝酒池ン，國以滅亡。 (Trụ tác tửu trì, quốc dĩ diệt vong.)

RV:紂作池酒，國以滅亡。 (Trụ tác trì tửu, quốc dĩ diệt vong.)

GA:𤤰紂𫜵𬇚𲆴，渃𬉵𢴑𠅍。 (Vua Trụ làm ao rượu, nước mặc dứt mất.)

King Zhou (of Shang) made wine pools, (because of it) his state was destroyed.

[SDLN 9a:4].

Figure 4.

The example involving thế nhân (世人) already had đời người (𠁀𠊛) glossing it with reversal marks placed to the right of it (WS017).

The glosses in SDLN are slightly different from NTTH in that some cases already have chữ Nôm equivalents glossed first then the reversal marks are added. This further shows that the text was being gloss read (huấn độc; 訓讀).

Proper nouns

There are several cases where the reversal marks appear in phrases involving proper nouns, such as personal and place names. Typically, in literary Chinese, possessors are placed before the noun that they are possessing; while in Vietnamese, it is the opposite where it is placed after the noun. The reversal mark in this context marks that it should be inverted to match a grammatically correct Vietnamese reading. In “giải âm” texts, the focus marker “ngươi” (𱱺) is often prefixed to personal names. Here are two examples of personal name phrases from NTTH:

LC: ⌝ 祥弟ン王覽見其母以非禮使祥。 (Tường đệ Vương Lãm kiến kỳ mẫu dĩ phi lễ sứ Tường.)

RV: 弟祥王覽見其母以非禮使祥。 (Đệ Tường Vương Lãm kiến kỳ mẫu phi lễ sứ Tường.)

GA: 㛪𱱺祥王覽𧡊使媄𥙩仍調非禮遣祥。 (Em ngươi Tường Vương Lãm thấy thửa mẹ lấy những điều phi lễ khiến Tường.)

Xiang's younger brother, Wang Lan saw his mother ordering Xiang around rudely.

[5b:4]

LC: 虐使祥妻⌝覽妻ン亦趨而共之。 (Ngược sử Tường thê Lãm thê diệc xu nhi cộng chi.)

RV: 虐使妻祥妻覽亦趨而共之。 (Ngược sử thê Tường thê Lãm diệc xu nhi cộng chi.)

GA: 媄虐遣𡞕𱱺祥𡞕𫜵𱱺覽拱細麻穷𫜵妬。 (Mẹ ngược khiến vợ ngươi Tường làm vợ ngươi Lãm cũng tới mà cùng làm đó.)

When Xiang's wife was harshly treated, Lan's wife would also step forward to share the burden with her.

[6a:1]

This second example is particularly interesting as Tường thê (祥妻) was not marked but already written out in the gloss as vợ ngươi Tường (𡞕𱱺祥). Lãm thê (覽妻) was not glossed in the text but was marked with the reversal mark (Figure 5).

Figure 5.

In the gloss, vợ ngươi Tường (𡞕𱱺祥) is written, while Lãm thê (覽妻) is marked (WS004).

Prepositions and locative phrases

A significant amount of reversal mark cases involves prepositions. In classical Chinese, noun phrases are typically constructed as such:

Đình thượng (庭上): on the courtyard; compared with thượng đình (上庭): upper courtyard.

In contrast to Vietnamese word order:

Trên sân: on the courtyard; compared with sân trên: upper courtyard.

Here are a few examples from NTTH:

LC: 毎當晚间先卧⌝ 床上ン。 (Mỗi đương vãn gian tiên ngoạ sàng thượng.)

RV: 毎當晚间先卧上床。 (Mỗi đương vãn gian tiên ngoạ thượng sàng.)

GA: 恒皮𣇜最𠓀𦣰𨕭床。 (Hằng vừa buổi tối trước nằm trên giường.)

Every evening, (he) would first lie down on the bed.

[11a:1].

LC: 入⌝深山中ン不辞勞苦。 (Nhập Thâm Sơn trung bất từ lao khổ.)

RV: 入中深山不辞勞苦。 (Nhập trung Thâm Sơn bất từ lao khổ.)

GA: 𠓨冲准深山庄啜苦辱。 (Vào trong chốn Thâm Sơn chẳng chối khó nhọc.)

He entered Shenshan, he did not avoid hardship.

[11a:1].

LC: 無論⌝家中ン有無。 (Vô luận gia trung hữu vô.)

RV: 無論中家有無。 (Vô luận trung gia hữu vô.)

GA: 空計冲茄固空。 (Không kể trong nhà có không.)

No matter, in the house; there was nothing.

[10a:2].

LC: 漢丁蘭父母⌝早喪ン。 (Hán Đinh Lan phụ mẫu tảo táng.)

RV: 漢父母丁蘭喪早。 (Hán Đinh Lan phụ mẫu táng tảo.)

GA: 茄漢吒媄𱱺丁蘭𡘮𣌋。(Nhà Hán cha mẹ ngươi Đinh Lan mất sớm.)

During the Han dynasty, Ding Lan lost his parents early.

[8a:1].

In the last example, we can see an unmarked glossing of tảo táng (早喪) on page 4a:3. It is written the same as the example above. We can see that it is also inverted. Thâm Sơn (深山) was also glossed with chốn (准) meaning a place. This is typically used for place names. The glosses in Vietnamese texts involving people, place names, and certain occupations typically add classifiers and focus markers not found in the original text. Examples include nhà (for dynasties), kẻ (for various occupations and roles), ngươi (for personal names), chốn (for place names), and cái (for animals and certain objects) (Nguyễn, 2025a, 2025b). In NTTH, these examples are marked with a half circle marker and the accompanying gloss.

Phrases containing 之

In one of the more complicated cases, the reversal mark is also seen in phrases containing 之. Commonly in “giải âm” texts, 之 is translated into Vietnamese as chưng (蒸). This particle has a wide range of usages in Chinese translation (Phan, 2024). One important usage is its genitive function. Here is an example from NTTH:

LC: 上堂如聞⌝父母之聲ン。 (Thượng đường như văn phụ mẫu chi thanh.)

RV: 上堂如聞之聲父母。 (Thượng đường như văn chi thanh phụ mẫu.)

GA: 𠓨茄朋𦖑蒸㗂吒媄。(Vào nhà bằng nghe chưng tiếng cha mẹ.)

Entering the hall, it was like hearing the sounds of his parents.

[8a:3] (Figure 6).

In this case, the reversal mark is placed in between chi thanh (之聲), marking it to be inverted. This forms the typical construction A 之 B becomes 蒸 B A, as Washizawa (2019) describes.

LC: 其母⌝所食之物ン，必親自進御。 (Kỳ mẫu sở thực chi vật, tất thân tự tiến ngự.)

RV: 其母之物所食，必親自進御。 (Kỳ mẫu chi vật sở thực, tất thân tự tiến ngự.)

GA: 使媄蒸𧵑使咹，𢖮𠇮𱎢𤼸𨖲。 (Thửa mẹ chưng của thửa ăn, ắt mình nghỉ dâng lên.)

Whatever food his mother ate, he personally always presented it to her.

[16b:3].

Figure 6.

Examples of the reversal mark (ン) (WS004, WS007).

Other examples outside the collection

Traces of this gloss reading tradition can be found in a mention in the article, Sự học chữ Hán thuở xưa với bây giờ (Nguyễn, 1932):

Rồi ta nghe mấy ông thầy họ cắt nghĩa thử ra sao: “Nhân, người; chi, chưng; sơ, đầu: tánh, tánh; bổn, vốn; thiện, lành…” Trời ôi! cho hạng bác sĩ đời nay họ nghe, họ cũng còn chẳng biết nói gì thay, chớ đừng nói thứ con nít chưa sạch mũi!

Then I heard those teachers try to explain it like this: “Nhân means ‘người’; chi means ‘chưng’; sơ means ‘đầu’; tánh means ‘tánh’; bổn means ‘vốn’; thiện means ‘lành’…” Good heavens! Even if today's so-called doctors were to hear that, they wouldn’t know what to say; let alone little children who haven’t even wiped the snot from their noses yet.

Nhưng “Đại học chi đạo” mà giảng nghĩa là “Chưng đạo đại học” thì cũng hoàn toàn không hiểu. Không hiểu là tại cái tiếng “chưng” ấy. Tiếng “chưng” đó của ta, hình như nó đã chết đâu mấy ngàn mấy trăm năm về trước.

But if “Đại học chi đạo” is explained as “chưng đạo đại học”, it is still completely incomprehensible. The problem lies precisely with the word chưng. That chưng of ours seems to have died out thousands upon thousands of years ago.

What Phan Khôi (1887–1959) is describing right now is his own experience growing up learning Chinese characters. When learning from the Three Character Classic (三字經), each character is glossed with its Vietnamese equivalent. He also complains while learning to read the Great Learning (大學), that the gloss was incomprehensible as it contains chưng, a word that became obsolete before Phan Khôi's time.⁴ It is clear there was some type of glossing tradition as we can still see the A 之 B → 蒸 B A structure and the usage of obsolete Vietnamese particles. It is also worthy to note that in Tứ thư ước giải (四書約解), an 1839 “giải âm” translation of the Four Books also contains a similar gloss (Figure 7).

Figure 7.

Chưng đạo sách đại học is written here as 蒸道𱏺大𭓇.

The reversal mark is also seen in other books such as Khai tâm hán văn giáo khoa (1924), a Vietnamese classical Chinese primer. The usage of the mark in this book is consistent with the cases in the six manuscripts. The mark is systematically used to indicate inversion of word order for reading. The author, Nguyễn Đạo Quán describes the mark as such, “If a character next to it has a mark of two upward dots, then learn by reversing the order; read the bottom character as the top.” (Chữ nào bên cạnh mà có dấu hai cái chấm hất, thời học đảo nghĩa chữ dưới lên trên; 14) (Figure 8).

Figure 8.

The reversal mark can be seen in between noun and prepositional phrases.

In chữ Nôm, there also a couple of attestations of characters being read semantically. One such example is the word mấy (𠇍/; “some”). itself is a variant of nhĩ (爾). So why was it used to write mấy when the reading nhĩ is not phonetically similar? Nhĩ (爾) was often glossed as mày (眉; “you”) in “giải âm” texts (Figure 9).

Figure 9.

Nhi 厼 is shown as a variant of 爾, glossed with Vietnamese mày.

Discussion

The character-by-character glossing is most likely to be the beginning step in making a commentary glossing. The reader first interprets the text while glossing the equivalent words. After this, the reader re-reads the text and adds classifiers, focus markers, and reversal marks. This is comparable to Japanese saidoku moji (再読文字) where a character is read twice. After the completion of the glossing, it can be made into a commentary gloss where additional explanations can be added from classical Chinese commentaries (Figure 10).

Figure 10.

Transition from character-by-character glossing to commentary gloss.

One example can be seen in Tứ thư ước giải (四書約解) (1839). Held at Viện Nghiên cứu Hán Nôm, Hanoi, call number AB.270/1-5: on page 30b of the second volume, a translation of the Doctrine of the Mean, there is the sentence that reads:

Phàm hữu huyết khí giả, mạc bất tôn thân, cố viết phối thiên. (凡有血氣者，莫不尊親，故曰配天。)

All who have blood and breath unfeignedly honor and love him. Hence it is said, “He is the equal of Heaven.”

When looking at the Vietnamese gloss, it reads:

Hễ người có huyết khí ấy, chăng là chẳng tôn làm nguyên hậu ánh như cha mẹ, vì vậy rằng sánh trời. (係㝵固血氣意，庄羅拯尊𫜵元后 ⁵ 如吒媄，爲丕浪𡖼𡗶。)

Each person who has blood and breath, there was no one who didn't respect him as an illustrious emperor who was like a parent (to them), therefore it is said that (he) can be compared to heaven (Figure 11).

Figure 11.

Tứ thư ước giải (四書約解; AB. 270) and 學庸正說 (CADAL06055093).

This is interesting as the original text did not say anything about the subject, or any mentions about 元后 and cha mẹ. However, in 學庸正說, a Ming dynasty work annotating the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, it reads:

則莫不尊之，曰真元后也哉；慕其德之罔極，則莫不親之，曰即父母也哉。

Tắc mạc bất tôn chi, viết chân nguyên hậu dã tai; mộ kỳ đức chi võng cực, tắc mạc bất thân chi, viết tức phụ mẫu dã tai.

There was no one who didn't honor him, calling him the true emperor; admiring his virtue which was limitless, there was no one who didn't feel close to him, saying he is like our parent.

This suggests that the translator of Tứ thư ước giải did not merely translate the text character-by-character but rather included interpretations from other commentaries.

Conclusion

This article has demonstrated that the reversal mark attested in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts functions as a systematic reading aid for vernacular interpretation of classical Chinese. The analysis has identified several recurring cases in which reversal marks appear: adjective–noun constructions, possessive noun phrases involving proper nouns, prepositions and locative expressions, and phrases containing 之. In each case, the mark indicates an inversion for producing a grammatically natural Vietnamese reading. These patterns reveal a method to gloss-based reading (huấn độc; 訓讀), comparable in function to Japanese kanbun kundoku and Korean sŏktok kugyŏl traditions.

Supplemental Material

sj-ttf-1-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-ttf-1-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-2-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-2-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-3-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-3-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-4-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-4-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-5-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-5-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-6-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-6-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-7-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-7-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-8-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-8-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-9-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-9-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-10-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-10-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-11-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-11-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-svg-12-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-svg-12-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Supplemental Material

sj-png-13-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 - Supplemental material for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts

Supplemental material, sj-png-13-cws-10.1177_25138502261455641 for Reversal marks and gloss reading in Vietnamese Hán Nôm manuscripts by Francis Nguyen in Journal of Chinese Writing Systems

Footnotes

ORCID iD

Francis Nguyen

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

1.

In Japanese, it is written as 訓読, while in Vietnamese texts, it is written as 訓讀. Attested in Nam học Hán tự (1943).

2.

Abbreviated as SDLN.

3.

Abbreviated as NTTH.

4.

Usage of chưng appears to have died out around the nineteenth century.

5.

Possibly a naming taboo variant of 暎. Used to avoid writing Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎; 1762–1820)'s name.

References

Alberizzi

(2014) An introduction to kunten glossed texts and their study in Japan. Les dossiers de HEL [Supplément électronique à la Revue Histoire Epistémologie Langage] 7: 1–9.

Dương tiết diễn nghĩa 陽節演義 (1890) Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation. https://lib.nomfoundation.org/collection/1/volume/954/

Galambos

(2014) Punctuation marks in medieval Chinese manuscripts. Manuscript Cultures: Mapping the Field 1: 341–343.

Kosukegawa

Whitman

(2018) On the significance of the glosses in Vietnamese classical Chinese texts. Journal of Vietnamese Studies 13(3): 28–49.

Masaaki

(2024) A Manuscript of a Sino-Nôm version of the Fo shuo tian di ba yang jing 佛説天地八陽經 preserved in the Library of Kyoto University. Chinese-Character Manuscripts from East and Southeast Asia 97: 108.

Nguyễn Đạo Quán (1924) Indochina Books Collection at the National Library of Vietnam. Publisher: H. :Impr. Nghiêm Hàm Call Number: M3956(16). http://sach.nlv.gov.vn/sach/cgi-bin/sach?a=d&d=NFqKfXSKCu1924&e=-------vi-20--1--img-txIN-------

Nguyễn DN (1932) Sự học chữ Hán thuở xưa với bây giờ. Phụ nữ tân văn, 14 July.

Nguyễn

TTH

(2020) ベトナム加点資料の句読点から見た訓読の可能性 (Possibility of reading from punctuation marks in Vietnamese materials). https://www.kanken.or.jp/project/data/investigation_incentive_award_2020_nguyen.pdf (accessed March 20 2026).

Nguyễn

TTH

(2025a) On the identification and reading of proper nouns in Vietnamese commentaries on the analects. Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 25(2): 183–212.

10.

Nguyen

TTH

(2025b) ベトナム語による漢文読解の研究—ベトナムで編纂された『論語』注釈書を中心に— (A study of Kanbun Reading in Vietnamese: Focusing on the commentaries of “The Analects” compiled in Vietnam). Doctoral Dissertation, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.

11.

Phan

(2024) On the exegetical broadening of nôm particle chưng: Evidence from the cổ châu pháp vân phật bản hạnh ngữ lục. In: Studies in Vietnamese Historical Linguistics: Southeast and East Asian Contexts Trang Phan, Tuan-Cuồng Nguyen, Masaaki Shimizu (editors). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, pp. 51–68.

12.

Phụ nữ tân văn (14. 7. 1932) Sài Gòn. Issue 159. http://www.namkyluctinh.com/eBooks/Tap%20Chi/Phu%20Nu%20Tan%20Van/Phu%20Nu%20Tan%20Van_159%2014-Jul-1932.pdf

13.

Sa di luật nghi yếu lược tăng chú 沙彌律儀要略增註 (1881) Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation. https://lib.nomfoundation.rg/collection/2/volume/1323/

14.

Satoshi

(2014) Reading sŏktok kugyŏl materials based on Ŏnhae materials. Acta Linguistica Asiatica 4(1): 43–68.

15.

Thượng dụ huấn điều sao bản giải âm 上諭訓條抄本解音 (1834) Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation. https://lib.nomfoundation.org/collection/1/volume/1175/

16.

Tứ thư ước giải (四書約解) (1839) Yuwentang Caoban. 郁文堂藏版.

17.

Washizawa

(2019)

Nghiên cứu đối chiếu các hư từ Hán văn dịch sang các hư từ văn Nôm trong tác phẩm song ngữ Hán Nôm Truyền kỳ mạn lục (Comparative research on empty Sinitic particles and their translations into empty Nôm particles in the bilingual Sino-Vietnamese text Truyền kỳ mạn lục)

(Doctoral Dissertation,

Vietnam National University Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

14.49 MB

0.03 MB

0.00 MB

0.02 MB

0.04 MB

0.00 MB