SCRIPT ISSUES OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN VIETNAM

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to provide a comprehensive overview of script issues of 52 ethnic minorities in Vietnam in five main areas: Truong Son Tay Nguyen, Tay Bac, Viet Bac, Central Vietnam, and Southern Vietnam. To achieve this aim, the researchers adopted an interdisciplinary approach, which is language-culturology, language-ethnography/ anthropology, along with a sociolinguistic approach. With the combination of two main methods, namely Field Research Methods of Linguistics and Expert Interviews, the study analyzes the relationship between script and culture, the importance of script in preserving information and ethnic culture in Vietnam, the advantages as well as the limitations of traditional and new scripts existing among ethnic minorities in Vietnam. From the findings, the researchers made recommendations on the creation of scripts for ethnic groups without written language and on the preservation of the traditional scripts with highly ethnic cultural value, which is regarded as National Cultural Heritage.