Dictionary

chu nom en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /t͡ʃuː ˈnoʊm/ (US)

Etymology

Borrowed from Vietnamese chữ Nôm.

Meanings

1. (historical, uncountable) A writing system formerly used for Vietnamese, based on Chinese characters.
   • [P]olitical reforms along Western lines […] included […] developing modern science, agriculture, and commerce, and even creating a national writing system based on chu nom: ‘Have we not talented persons able to devise a script which will transcribe our national language?’ 2016, Christopher Goscha, The Penguin History of Modern Vietnam, Penguin, published 2017, page 106:
   • Chữ nôm was known only by the 5 percent or less of Vietnam's educated population, who used it not as a primary medium but rather as an aid to learning Chinese and for recording folk literature. 1997, Wm. C. Hannas, Asia's Orthographic Dilemma, page 83:
   • To write a vernacular word, Chu Nom used two Chinese ideograms—one to indicate the meaning, the other the sound. 1998, Kevin Bowen, Ba Chung Nguyen, Bruce Weigl, editors, Mountain River, page xxiv:

Forms

Translations (6)

ko 쯔놈 (writing system) · cmn 字喃 (writing system) · vi chữ Nôm (writing system) · cmn 喃字 (writing system) · ja チュノム (writing system) · de Nom-Schrift (writing system)