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The Vietnamese Project: The Shifting Current Of The Vietnamese Language Within And Beyond Technology

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On November 17th, as part of Vietnam Festival of Creativity & Design 2024, a talk titled “The Vietnamese Project – The Convergence of Technology and the Vietnamese Language” took place at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum with the Lướt Code (CodeSurfing) team.

Nhân, Dmarc Lê, Yui, Đông-Trúc, thou, and Khôi – six members from six different regions, speaking six different dialects – gathered to share stories behind this intriguing project.

Đông-Trúc and “Bên kia của vần”: What’s on the other side of words?

Growing up amid diverse dialects, Đông-Trúc was inspired to view the Vietnamese language from a different perspective. “If you separate meaning from sound, does a Vietnamese word still convey emotion?” – this question led Đông-Trúc to explore the expressiveness of Vietnamese tones through the project “Bên kia của vần” (The other side of the syllable).

When asked about the inspiration behind the work, Đông-Trúc recalled: “For me, when someone encounters a syllable, they are seeing two sides of it. One side is the meaning – when people hear the syllable, they receive information, they understand its meaning. The other side is the sound – when they hear the sound, they may not know its meaning, but do they still feel something?”

Presented as a Kahoot game based on the Mường language, “Bên kia của vần” invites participants to experience the pure sensation of syllabic sound, the way syllables and Vietnamese tones are combined. The closeness of the Mường language’s sound system to the national language allows players to connect with the sound without being influenced by meaning.

Originally conceived as an online game, after several discussions and experiments, Trúc realised the greatest value of the game wasn’t in the technology, but in the human connections it fostered. By shifting the game to the Kahoot platform, players not only played the game but also discussed their feelings and thoughts about the syllables Trúc presented. This led Trúc to decide to create a zine – a collection of observations, reflections, and emotions from the collaborative playing experience.

“Bên kia của vần” goes beyond a Kahoot game. It is a way for each person to ask: Can the sound of language tell stories? For those who love Vietnamese, this serves as a reminder that language is not just an instrument for communication, but also opens up common spaces where people listen, feel, and share their affection for their mother tongue.

“bắt nắng nhặt chữ” by thou and the voice of urban trees

If trees could speak, what would they say? “bắt nắng nhặt chữ” (catching sunshine, collecting words) is not only a project born out of thou’s love for sunshine, but also a reflection of the project team’s on the existence of nature when separated from the noise and pollution of the city.

The project was developed through a layered process of thou’s observations and concepts, combined with an automatic poetry generator mechanism based on dappled light, using the p5.js programming tool. From more than 50 articles on urban greenery in HCMC, thou, Khôi, and the Lướt Code team selected 49 representative words/phrases, which then formed random poems connected by the repeating words “để…sẽ” (“to…will”).

The poems generated by p5.js lack subjects and coherence, sometimes appearing random to the point of being meaningless. Even Yui, the project’s researcher, was initially sceptical about this poetic syntax. Explaining this seemingly illogical poetry, Yui cited linguist Cao Xuan Hao, who stated, “In Vietnamese, the subject and predicate are not clearly distinguished in terms of function. Many Vietnamese sentences lack a subject, or if one exists, its naturalness is almost lost.”

Yui and thou both agreed that “the power of the poem lies in the fact that it opens up many interpretations of a reality in which we have the freedom to make connections to our personal stories.” The repetition of the syntax “để…sẽ” not only unintentionally evokes unfulfilled promises and declarations in everyday life, but also symbolises the commitments to nature that humans sometimes forget.

Accompanying thou since the very first days of the project, Khôi has provided significant support in terms of imagery and technical aspects. “The công in my work is thủ công (handicraft), the nghệ in my work is nghệ thuật (art).” [T/N: công nghệ means technology].

“Rather than striving to become a professional programmer, I choose to experiment with technology so it operates in the most natural way, harmonising with thou’s ideas,” Khôi humorously said.

The project is a blend of poetry and technology, between random words and an authoritarian structure of “để…sẽ”, between innocent dappled light and articles about urban greenery. “I appreciate technology for its ability to simulate the random movements of nature. Technology is not something rigid. Thanks to it, I can find ways to connect the language I speak with the language of nature,” thou spoke about the role of technology in their work.

“Xác Âm: by Dmarc Lê: An alternative perspective on the Vietnamese language

Unlike Đông-Trúc and thou, Dmarc Lê approached Lướt Code with a portfolio focused primarily on digital practices. Nhân, the technical lead for the project, posed a new challenge: “Do something outside (of the digital space).” “Xác Âm” was born from that prompt, a work that connects intangible and tangible values.

Dmarc Lê has a passion for free verse poetry, where each pause is determined by the author’s emotions. But when she tried to break the rhythm based on her feelings, Dmarc realised each pause carried a different weight, which comes not only from the idea but from the syllables and emotions in each word. So, where does the weight of a poem come from? This is how “Xác Âm” took shape.

Choosing the poem Lạc by the free verse poet Cẩm Tiên, Dmarc began quantifying each syllable through personal observation and the movements of the teeth, lips, and vocal cords during pronunciation. Each sound was assigned to a weight matrix, which was then projected onto a piece of aluminium using heat.

The metal deformed over time with heat – the heavier the sound, the longer the duration. After the heating process, the piece of aluminium was left outdoors to naturally corrode under the effects of sunlight and rain. Dmarc referred to this as the way the poem accepts change – an inevitable part of life and language.

The uniqueness of this work lies in Dmarc’s subjective intervention – as a person from Huế. She shared that “dấu nặng (the heavy tone in Vietnamese) is the heaviest in my grading system. My grading system is influenced by the Huế dialect and my personal experience, so if someone else graded it with a different linguistic background, ‘Xác Âm’ would have had a different form.”

With “Xác Âm”, Dmarc invited viewers to experience their mother tongue in a new way: through shape, breath, and the very weight of each sound.

The journey continues

“The Vietnamese Project” began on the last day of April 2024. From a vague concept among six members aiming to showcase the beauty of the Vietnamese language, the project has completed its first phase with three smaller projects: “Bên kia của vần”, “bắt nắng nhặt chữ”, and “Xác Âm”.

With this project, Lướt Code did not rely on financial strength but rather on the power of friendship. “I couldn’t have done this alone. There are people who aren’t here but have helped us a lot, such as the artist community in HCMC,” Nhân said.

Looking back at their journey, Yui concluded, “Until all three works were completed, I still didn’t know where the beauty lay. But I think this is no longer a theory that needs proving, it’s a source of life that will continue and I am merely an observer. The Vietnamese language has changed from the past to the present, and it will continue to change in the future. Some words will disappear, new sounds will emerge, and all of that is inherent in the language.”

Quick Q&A with Lướt Code: Share with VFCD 2024 a Vietnamese sound you feel right now!

Đông-Trúc: The “ư” sound from the Phan Rang accent, a sound where “cười” (smile) becomes “cừ” (strong)!

thou: The “ầm” sound in “hmm.” We hope many people will come and experience the artwork and “hmm” with us, because the most important thing is the dialogue we share.

Khôi: The sound of “ương”. It sounds a bit strange, but it’s in the word “thương” (love). I’m here in Hanoi for the first time, and I’ve already started to love Hanoi and the connections I’ve made with people here.

Dmarc Lê: The sound of “mảnh” (fragment). I feel like I am a fragment of the bigger picture in the connection between technology and current values. I’ve had the opportunity to view other works, and I feel like a part of this development.

Yui: The sound of “chuyển” (transform). “The Vietnamese Project” is a community project, created for the community. I hope people will continue to transform data and emotions in a personal way. “Chuyển” is also my personal story. I feel this is a transformative point, and I’m curious to see how I will change in the future.

Nhân: The sound of “mình” (self). An interesting word that refers both to oneself and to us, as teammates. This is a project about the Vietnamese language, and we hope that Vietnamese belongs to everyone, and that we all contribute to its development. I feel honoured to see this dream being realised. Another meaning of “mình” is the body, the whole self. The red ribbon at the exhibition represents the river. The Vietnamese language is like a river, like a waterfall, a transformation, weaving through works across various platforms and spaces. I hope that Vietnamese remains beautiful in every space.

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