Definition

1. Noun:
   • Chinese characters: "Chữ Hán" refers to the logographic writing system used for the Chinese language, which has also historically been used in Vietnam. It denotes the characters themselves, not the spoken language.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Nhiều di tích lịch sử ở Việt Nam có khắc chữ Hán. (Many historical relics in Vietnam are inscribed with Chinese characters.)
  • Ông tôi có thể đọc được sách cổ viết bằng chữ Hán. (My grandfather can read ancient books written in Chinese characters.)
  • Việc học chữ Hán đòi hỏi sự kiên nhẫn. (Learning Chinese characters requires patience.)

Advanced Usage

• "chữ Hán Nôm": A term referring to the historical Vietnamese writing system that used adapted Chinese characters ("chữ Hán") to write Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and native Vietnamese words ("chữ Nôm").
  • Nghiên cứu văn bản chữ Hán Nôm là một chuyên ngành sâu. (Studying Hán-Nôm texts is a specialized field.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hán tự (noun): A synonym for "chữ Hán," meaning Chinese characters. (From Sino-Vietnamese: 漢字)
  • "Hán tự" là một cách gọi khác của "chữ Hán". ("Hán tự" is another term for "Chinese characters.")
• Chữ Nho (noun): A traditional Vietnamese term for "chữ Hán," literally meaning "scholars' script."
  • Các nhà nho xưa thông thạo chữ Nho. (Confucian scholars of the past were proficient in Chinese characters.)

Synonyms

• Chinese script: The writing system of China.
• Han characters: Another term for Chinese characters, derived from the Han Chinese people.

Notes on Different Meanings

• The term "chữ Hán" specifically denotes the writing system. It is distinct from:
  • Tiếng Trung / Tiếng Hán: The spoken Chinese language.
  • Chữ Quốc ngữ: The modern Vietnamese alphabet based on the Latin script.
• In historical context, "chữ Hán" was the official written language of Vietnam for over a millennium, used in administration, literature, and scholarship.

noun

1. chinese characters