As Vietnamese language schools across the United States and other countries with Vietnamese communities begin a new academic year, I would like to share some reflections and perspectives on Vietnamese language as a whole, particularly Southern Vietnamese, before and after 1975. The goal of this piece is to reflect together, acknowledge and appreciate the beauty of our language, and preserve its valuable expressions for generations to come.
More than half a century has passed since 1975—a year that remains etched in the memories of Vietnamese people, each remembering it in their own way. Since that time, society and people have changed. Naturally, language has changed as well.
New words have emerged through advances in science, technology, and everyday life. Several terminologies that already existed have become more widely used. Others have developed or gained popularity under the influence of political, administrative, educational, and social environments. This is a natural part of how languages evolve.
However, the fact that language changes does not mean we must “brush aside” the beautiful, precise, and expressive ways of speaking that were once common in Southern Việt Nam.
I don’t intend to divide Vietnamese people into North and South or criticize anyone’s speech. I simply hope that we can take another look at a part of our linguistic heritage—the language used by our elders in Southern Việt Nam—and ask ourselves, “If certain expressions remain beautiful, meaningful, and accurate, why should we stop preserving them?”
Language is Also a Part of Culture
People from Southern Việt Nam have long been associated with qualities such as simplicity, generosity, hospitality, openness, and sincerity. These qualities show up not only in personal relationships, daily life, and food culture, but also in the way people speak.
After 1975, millions of people from the South left their homeland and settled in countries around the world, while many others remained in Việt Nam. Wherever they went, families continued to preserve and pass down parts of their language, customs, and traditional way of life.
Of course, no culture remains unchanged.
Our children and grandchildren grow up in different environments and naturally acquire new ways of speaking. What matters is not resisting every change but understanding what is worth preserving, what may need to be adapted, and how to choose words that convey the right meaning in the right context.
“Ghi Danh” and “Đăng Ký”: Two Expressions, Two Shades of Meaning
In Southern Vietnamese usage, “ghi danh” has traditionally been a natural expression for someone enrolling in school, entering an examination, or signing up for an activity.
For example:
Ghi danh nhập học—Enroll in school
Ghi danh dự thi—Sign up to take an examination
Ghi danh tham dự—Register to attend
Ghi danh vào đại học—Enroll in a university
The expression “ghi danh” is quite straightforward: it means to write someone’s name onto a list.
Meanwhile, “đăng ký” is often used in various formal procedures involving registration, declarations, or the establishment of a record, status, or entitlement. Real-life examples include registering a vehicle, titling real estate, filing a trademark, incorporating a business, recording a birth, and solemnizing a marriage.
Today, expressions such as đăng ký học, đăng ký dự thi, and đăng ký tham dự are widespread and have become perfectly ordinary in modern Vietnamese.
Nevertheless, for someone who wishes to preserve the familiar Southern Vietnamese usage of an earlier era, “ghi danh” remains a beautiful, concise, and clear expression. There is no reason we must abandon it.
“Hoành Tráng”: Not All Situations Call for This Word
Another example is the word hoành tráng.
The word generally evokes something grand, imposing, monumental, or impressive in scale. It is therefore easy to understand its use in descriptions such as:
Một công trình kiến trúc hoành tráng—A grand architectural structure
Một dinh thự nguy nga, đồ sộ—A magnificent, imposing mansion
Today, however, hoành tráng is often used so broadly that almost anything can be described that way.
Consider a musical performance. Instead of simply calling it một chương trình văn nghệ hoành tráng—a grand or spectacular musical program—why not choose more specific and vivid descriptions such as:
Một chương trình văn nghệ đặc sắc—an outstanding program featuring distinctive performances
Một đêm đại nhạc hội sống động với nhiều tiết mục phong phú—a lively musical extravaganza featuring a rich variety of performances
Or, more descriptively:
“A performance featuring an impressive lineup of singers, an elegantly decorated stage, and state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems.”
Such descriptions tell readers exactly what makes the event noteworthy, rather than grouping everything under the single word: hoành tráng. To my ear, using the word so broadly can make the language feel less precise and expressive.
Even in everyday conversation, one might jokingly hear something like:
Ông ấy hút một điếu thuốc 555 trông hoành tráng quá! – “He looks so grand smoking a 555 cigarette!”
It may be amusing as a joke, but considering the word’s meaning, what exactly is “grand” about a single cigarette? This is an example of how a word, when overused, can gradually lose the clarity of its original meaning.
“Cấp,” “Cấp Độ,” and “Mức Độ”: Why Precision Matters
Another distinction worth considering is the difference between cấp độ and mức độ.
These two expressions are not always interchangeable. When describing the severity, extent, intensity, or degree of a phenomenon, mức độ is often the clearer choice.
Here are some examples:
Mức độ thiệt hại—The extent of the damage
Mức độ nghiêm trọng—The degree of severity
Mức độ nguy hiểm—The level of danger
In a legal context, for instance, one might say:
“Tòa án phán quyết mức án căn cứ vào tính chất và mức độ nghiêm trọng của hành vi.” – The court determines the sentence based on the nature and severity of the conduct.
As we see, mức độ describes how serious the conduct is.
By contrast, the term “cấp” is appropriate when something is classified into distinct levels or ranks.
Examples include:
Bão cấp 10—A typhoon at Category 10 on the relevant wind scale
Gió giật cấp 12—Wind gusts at Level 12
Cảnh báo cấp 3—A Level 3 warning
Yet even in the field of environmental science, we still say mức độ nguy hiểm của cơn bão (the level of danger posed by the storm) or mức độ ô nhiễm không khí (the degree of air pollution).
The point is not that every occurrence of cấp độ should be replaced with mức độ, or vice versa. We must first understand what we actually intend to express, then choose the appropriate word.
Choose Words Carefully, Not Mechanically
This is perhaps the point I most want to emphasize. Vietnamese is an exceptionally rich language. A single idea can be expressed in several different ways, but each word carries its own nuance and is suited to a particular context.
For example:
Someone attending a ceremony may be described as người tham dự—an attendee.
Someone directly involved in organizing the ceremony may be described as người tham gia tổ chức—someone participating in its organization.
A person who goes to listen to music may “thưởng thức” chương trình—enjoy or appreciate the program.
A singer who takes the stage “trình diễn”—performs.
A program featuring many excellent acts may be described as “đặc sắc”—distinctive or outstanding.
A stage filled with beautiful colors and lighting may be described as “rực rỡ”—radiant or brilliant or “lộng lẫy”—magnificent or dazzling.
A large architectural structure may be described as đồ sộ (massive), nguy nga (magnificent), or hoành tráng (grand or imposing), depending on what one wishes to emphasize.
Every word has its own nuance and proper context.
Preserving Vietnamese Does Not Mean Resisting Change
I also believe that we need to be fair and acknowledge this point. My point is that I don’t want to draw an absolute line at 1975 and suggest that nearly every word used in Southern Việt Nam before that year was beautiful and refined, while nearly every expression that became popular afterward was crude or incorrect. Language does not work that way.
The unfortunate thing is not that Vietnamese has acquired new words, but that it has also lost some of its older ones. New words are a natural and necessary part of a living language. What matters is that they are appropriate, meaningful, and, whenever possible, considerate in how they express an idea.
What I consider regrettable is that we possess such a rich vocabulary, yet sometimes rely on a limited number of familiar words out of habit, using them indiscriminately without considering whether they truly fit what we are trying to say.
Preserving Southern Vietnamese as it was spoken before 1975 does not mean turning our language into an antique to be displayed behind glass. It means holding on to words and expressions that are beautiful, precise, and rich in nuance, while remaining open to reasonable changes brought about by modern life.
When Words Themselves Become a Reminder of History
There is another aspect of this subject that I cannot overlook.
Following the fall of South Vietnam in 1975 and the establishment of the new political order, certain expressions associated with the post-1975 system became part of public usage. Some of these terms struck many people who had grown up in the South as unfamiliar or jarring.
Consider the expressions “xưởng đẻ” and “trung tâm nghe và nhìn.”
A maternity hospital such as Từ Dũ Hospital was referred to in some usage as xưởng đẻ, literally something like a “birth workshop” or “baby-producing factory.” A television station could be described as a trung tâm nghe và nhìn—literally, a “hearing and viewing center.”
To someone accustomed to the older Southern Vietnamese expressions, these phrases can sound starkly different in tone and imagery. I raise this issue not simply to criticize anyone, but to ask an honest, open-ended question: When people who lived through that era, or younger Vietnamese people today, hear or read these expressions, do they also perceive them as crude, awkward, or jarring?
I would genuinely be interested in hearing how others perceive them.
A Living Language, A Living Heritage
Whether we reside in Việt Nam or overseas, we all play a part in shaping the future of the Vietnamese language.
If we continue to use words such as ghi danh (enroll), du ngoạn (travel for pleasure), thưởng ngoạn (appreciate or enjoy something beautiful), tân tiến (advanced or modern), đặc sắc (distinctive), rực rỡ (radiant), hào sảng (generous and openhearted), and chân tình (sincere and heartfelt), those words will remain alive. And if parents continue to use them, children will continue to listen and understand them. The next generation will carry them forward, and a part of our ancestors’ cultural heritage will live on.
The world changes, and language will certainly change with it. But change does not necessarily mean loss. What matters is that we learn to choose new expressions thoughtfully, appreciate the old ones, and use Vietnamese with an understanding of meaning, timing, and context.
This is not merely a matter of Southern Việt Nam before or after 1975.
It is a shared responsibility among all those who continue to love and cherish the Vietnamese language.
- Lê Văn Đức and Lê Ngọc Trụ, Việt Nam Tự Điển [Vietnamese Dictionary], 2 vols. (Saigon: Khai Trí, 1970).
- Trần Anh Tuấn, Professor Nguyễn Thế Anh and the History Department of the Saigon Faculty of Letters and Documents: the use of “sinh viên ghi danh” (registered students) in the 1974–1975 academic year.
- Saigon Faculty of Law, 1970. The document records the phrase “sinh viên ghi danh học năm thứ nhất Ban Cử nhân” (students enrolling in the first year of the bachelor’s program).
- Vietnamese dictionaries were also consulted to trace the meanings and changing usage of hoành tráng (grand), mức độ (degree), cấp (level), ghi danh (enroll) and đăng ký (register).
- Trần Văn Tích, “Xưởng Đẻ Từ Dũ” [The Từ Dũ “Birth Factory], Cựu Sinh Viên Khoa Học Kỹ Thuật Minh Đức Khóa Một (blog), April 2019, https://svkhktmdk1.blogspot.com/2019/04/xuong-e-tu-du-tac-gia-bs-tran-van-tich.html.
