Reflections on the Study of Modern Sino-Vietnamese Neologisms within the Context of the Sinographic Cosmopolis
The circulation of modern Chinese-character neologisms in East Asia has attracted considerable scholarly attention, yet research on the Vietnamese context remains insufficient. This article reviews existing academic work on the topic and examines both the sources of Sino-Vietnamese neologisms and the routes through which they were transmitted. Primary source materials include Sino-Nôm “new books,” textbooks, dictionaries, newspapers, writings by Vietnamese students returning from Japan, and texts authored by communist revolutionaries. There are two main transmission routes for these neologisms into Vietnam: one from China, primarily through publications from Shanghai and revolutionary circles in Guangzhou; the other from Japan, via Vietnamese students involved in the Đông Du (Go East) movement. The study argues that Vietnam’s reception of these Chinese-character neologisms reflects its efforts toward linguistic modernization and highlights the complex network of cultural interactions within East Asia.