The ancient Vietnamese language, though not complex structurally (subject, object, verb with no plurals), is tonal and therefore difficult for Westerners to master. In its earliest written form, Vietnamese was based on the Chinese pictographic writing, calledChu Nom,and you'll see remnants of that tradition on temple walls -- in fact, young people still study written Chinese in school. But in the 17th century, a French missionary namedAlexandre de Rhodes... Read more »
