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Youngsters and modern language
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Bridge – Sometimes adults worry about the young’s language because of its constant creativeness and simplification – this “new”, mixed language perplexes them.

To see how Vietnamese language is changed in youngsters’ language, just visit chat rooms or blogs. There many new words are created, for example “khoan tac” (who advertises their concrete cutting and drilling service on every wall – ‘khoan’ means drilling, ‘tac’ means bad person), “dao boi” (training and fostering – ‘dao’ is the short for ‘dao tao’, meaning training, while ‘boi’ is short for ‘boi duong’, meaning fostering), and “mong tac” (those who stab injection needles in women’s rears – ‘mong’ means rear while ‘tac’ means bad person).


In chatting, youngsters shorten words, accordingly “yeu” becomes “iu” (love); “biet” – “bjt” (know), “vui ve” – “dzui ze” (joyful), “bao gio” – “bao h” (when), “Linh” – “ljnk” (a Vietnamese name), “ac ac” to show surprise, “anh” – “ank” (photo), etc.

This kind of language is understood by ‘professional’ chatters and also very popular among teenager bloggers.

“c0c^".....c0c^"...hA` pe()" ra nhAn^.QuA` cUA? tu"_xinK_jU naZ"...h`yhy`.....lu0n^ kut3 b ju naZ"....c0^" gaG" an it" th0i^..ch0 gay` b0T*' di,daG" thon thA? rui` th`i nhAnh2 c0' ng`.iu nhE"...dE^? c e min`h c0n` chjA sE? nuA`* cHU"....he^`he^`.....okie.................:x...... :X...:x”

It is really difficult to decode the above paragraph but teenagers think that using these signs are very interesting in communication and can attract others to their blogs.

When this style of writing appeared, it created controversies about the impacts of it on the pure Vietnamese language, but it has been flourishing among Vietnamese teenage chatters.

“Ấy check cái phần test đó rồi send cho tớ, nếu thấy good thì sẽ request lại nhé” (please check that test and send it back to me. If it is good, I will request again). English has also become very popular and it is used in daily language of youth.

Even some teachers have become “infected” with this kind of language. A teacher told his students: “các em về nhà nhớ làm bài tập, có gì không hiểu thì phone (gọi)cho thầy. Mai chúng ta làm bài test (kiểm tra) nhé”. (Remember to do your homework. If you don’t understand, phone me. Tomorrow we are having a test).

Or “Các em về download bài test này và send vào email cho cô.” (Remember to download this test and send it to my email).

These English words may be very easy to understand among youngsters but they are really problems for elder people whose English is limited.

“Con đang online, phải làm slide để gửi cho thầy ngay”. (I’m online. I have to make slides to send to my teacher immediately). That’s the content of a text message that a student sent to her mother.

Some parents complained about this kind of mixed language but youngsters argue: “When I type text messages, I can replace three Vietnamese words with only one English word. I can write to my girlfriend “Hey, honey”. It is sweet and I only need to push 7 buttons. If I use Vietnamese language, it will be Nay, em than yeu, with 12 button pushes”.

The language of teenagers changes monthly and quarterly. However, let’s hope that bad language will never take root.

VietNamNet Bridge/TP