Someone Wants to Reform the Vietnamese Alphabet

So there's this guy, Dr. Bùi Hiền, PhD, in Vietnam who wants to reform the current Vietnamese alphabet. I'll explain.

Context:

The current alphabet has 29 letters in the alphabet, but technically we have 31 phoneme represented with 38 single letters and combinations of letters (we'll call these 38 things "units"). We'll call the ones italicized, "special".

A Ă Â B C CH D Đ E Ê G GH GI H I K KH L M N NG NGH NH O Ô Ơ P Q R S T TH TR U Ư V X Y

Some of these units have the same or similar pronunciation (G = GH, NG = NGH, CH & TR has similar pronunciation. Note that the H is silent here.) This can be shown in some examples detailed in the original reform document. I'll be using the standard Hanoi dialects for the pronunciations, however I still prefer the Saigon dialect.

C - K - Q = /k/ cuốc - quốc; ca - kali

CH - TR = /t͡ɕ/ cha - tra; chân - trân

D - GI - R = /z/ da - gia - ra; dải - giải - rải

G - GH = /ɣ/ ga - ghi; gô - ghe

NG - NGH = /ŋ/ nga - nghe; ngư - nghìn

NH = /ɲ/ nhà - nhiên; nhông - nhanh

PH = /f/ pha - phê; phông - phúc

S – X = /s/ sa - xa; súc - xúc

Now that we have the context, seeing how we have a bunch of letters that's just basically the same. The reform here is trying to fix it by combine these letters into one letter to represent one phoneme. Here's how it works:

1. Use all Vietnamese letters we're having.

2. Add Latin-based letters: F, J, W, Z.

3. Remove Đ.

4. Change 11 special units.

CH, TR > C

Đ > D

G, GH > G

PH > F

C, K, Q > K

NG, NGH > Q

R > R

S, X > S

KH > X

TH > W

D, GI, R > Z

5. Create a new letter for the remaining special unit.

NH > N' (For the NH, the professor proposed to merge the two letters, but for now, we will use it as N'.)

The professor argued that by converting to this new alphabet system, it would remove complications and exceptions in Vietnamese vocabulary, especially how it will also make less clerical errors for everyone (specifically students, who usually get stressed over their mistakes on papers). It would also increase efficiency in general and decrease the time for students and foreigners to study Vietnamese. The simplicity in these adjustments is also very helpful for people to switch from Old Vietnamese to New [Alpha] Vietnamese. I have to say, I learned the new alphabet in 10 minutes and I can read a short excerpt pretty well.

The public got mad real quick.

The first time when I knew about this adjustment was when my mom showed me a paragraph of her favorite song in the new alphabet and she laughed over it. "It's so stupid!" she laughed with tears coming out. I checked the paragraph and to be frank with you, my first impression was filled with confusion and hilarity. I thought so too. "It's so bizarre and strange," I mumbled to myself. My Vietnamese friends also showed me the new devised alphabet to me and commented that the professor is crazy.

I decided to think more about the alphabet. I read "Improvement of Vietnamese (Part I) (request of a method)" which I have basically translated and simplified above, read more about his ideas and arguments, some criticism to the system, etc. and also asked around for my friends and brother for their inputs. I've collected some thoughts on why people are against the reform.

One of the concerns is the aesthetics of the language itself. Take a look at these words.

gép ghép

ngỗng qỗq

If given these words to foreigners, most would usually pick the words in bold, which is in Old Vietnamese. You see, a lot of people think that Vietnamese represent some kind of beauty in itself, but the new devised alphabet ruins the elegance of the words. "There's a reason we have the H in the NGH, GH even though it is silent," my brother said. It was there to balance the rest of the word out. Gép. Ghép. Yeah, I get what he's trying to say here.

Dr. Bùi Hiền claimed that using his new alphabet can reduce our documents by 8%, but for skeptics, they are still unsure whether or not they want to go for it. Some argued that learning something that will replace the things we have been attached for so long would be disruptive. We can't give up something that is so deep in our traditions and be in favor for simplicity. "[We] accept it a bit longer but easy to understand and no explanation necessary, [and] avoid confusion, rather than short but confusing," said Dr. Lưu Văn An, PhD from the Institute of Journalism and Propaganda. I understand his argument too. I don't want to give up my traditions on wearing pink shorts on every Wednesdays, or eat my mom's amazing bánh bèo. You don't want to give up on something you're so emotionally attached. It is understandable to what he's saying. At least this guy congratulated our Alphabet Creator for thinking something special.

For my personal input, I think that this is a great idea that the public needs to think seriously. However this alphabet, is indeed, not perfect. It is still in the 'alpha' stage. An alpha alphabet. Look at the temporary N'! Maybe use the Ñ which has the same pronunciation! We still need more research on the topic and studies on whether or not it should be used. We should also even aim to reduce our documents not just by 8%, but even 10% or 15%. I feel bad for Dr. Bùi Hiền, he has an amazing idea but people call him an idiot. I'd give him a hug.