THE EMERGENCE AND USAGE OF THE TERM “CHỮ QUỐC NGỮ” IN LATE 19TH CENTURY WRITTEN DOCUMENTS

Abstract

This article examines written documents from the late 19th century and concludes that the term “chữ quốc ngữ” first appeared in Gia Định Báo (Volume 1, January 15, 1867) and in Mẹo luật dạy học tiếng Pha-lang-sa (French Grammar Rules, early 1867) by Trương Vĩnh Ký. These findings indicate that the term may have emerged sometime between late 1866 and January 1867.
The expression “quốc ngữ tây tự” (“Western script for the national language”), which appeared in a government document issued by Governor Bonard, published in Gia Định Báo (Volume 2, 1863) in classical Chinese, may have conceptually influenced the later emergence of the term “chữ quốc ngữ”. Bonard’s corresponding French-language decree, published in the Bulletin officiel de l’Expédition de la Cochinchine (BOEC, Volume 5, 1863), referred to “chữ quốc ngữ” as caractères européens (European characters).
While Vietnamese people had already become familiar with the term “chữ quốc ngữ”, French colonial authorities in Cochinchina continued to use ‘caractères européens’ (European characters) or ‘caractères latins’ (Latin characters).
Several historical, linguistic, cultural, and social issues surrounding the term “chữ quốc ngữ” remain open for further scholarly investigation.