Hoa Binh Province - a place where unique cultural, historical and identity converge: Lesson 11 - Muong language, Muong script - left for future generations

The Muong people in Hoa Binh, like the Muong people in other localities, have used the national language to research and record Muong culture as well as their own work. Thanks to that, many Muong cultural works have been published, such as the work Thuong rang, bo meng by author Bui Thien (1973), Ancient capital of Vietnamese culture (Truong Sy Hung and Bui Thien), and many other works by Muong ethnic researchers such as Bui Chi, Bui Huy Vong, Bui Noi, etc.

Báo Hòa Bình•08/04/2025

Hoa Binh Pedagogical College opens Muong language classes for officials, civil servants and employees of agencies and units in the province. Photo: BM

Notably, in 2010, the book Mo Muong Hoa Binh in Muong language was published by the Provincial People's Committee, before that the Muong - Vietnamese Dictionary (Ethnic Culture Publishing House in 2002) was compiled. These were the initial bases for the creation of the Muong script of the Muong ethnic group in Hoa Binh province.

Implementing the Resolution of the 16th Provincial Party Congress, term 2015 - 2020: "Focus on preserving and promoting tangible and intangible cultural values of ethnic groups; propagating, introducing and promoting the potential and advantages of nature, people, and cultural identity of ethnic groups, synthesizing and inventorying, preparing cultural heritage dossiers to submit to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for decision to recognize Muong mo and Muong gong as national cultural heritages; building a roadmap to prepare scientific dossiers to submit to UNESCO for recognition of Muong mo as intangible cultural heritage of humanity", the Provincial People's Committee, directly the Department of Science and Technology, has deployed the provincial-level scientific and technological task "Building a set of Muong scripts to serve the preservation and promotion of Muong culture in Hoa Binh province". Participating in the project are scientists, provincial leaders, leaders of relevant departments and branches, linguists and Muong ethnic researchers. After the Muong ethnic alphabet of Hoa Binh province was accepted in August 2016, on September 8, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee issued a decision approving the Muong ethnic alphabet of Hoa Binh province. Next, the Provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 118/KH-UBND to deploy the application of the Muong ethnic alphabet in Hoa Binh province.

The script is built on the basis of the national language with the following principles: The Muong script reflects the general phonetic aspect of the Muong language in Hoa Binh province. That is, it can be used to record Muong variations in Muong regions in the province. The construction of the Muong script is based on the characteristics of the general Muong language and pays attention to the specific characteristics of the Muong dialects (Muong Bi, Muong Vang, Muong Thang, Muong Dong). The script takes advantage of the common and unified characteristics of the national language to build the Muong script in the province, avoiding the pressure of Vietnamese and the national language in order to preserve the cultural and linguistic identity of the Muong language. At the same time, always take into account the relationship between Vietnamese and the national language, that is, avoiding being too unfamiliar with the national language, hindering the promotion of the advantages of knowing the national language when learning the Muong script, as well as preserving the habits and aesthetics of the national language's writing for the Muong script. The alphabet, on the one hand, reflects the theory of modern linguistics on writing construction, suitable for the era of information technology and international integration, on the other hand, must be convenient for education in Muong script and convenient in use.

The Muong ethnic alphabet consists of 28 letters, 24 initial consonants, and 1 middle sound. The birth of the Muong alphabet is of great significance. On June 28, 2019, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1349/QD-UBND approving the Project on teaching and learning the Muong ethnic language for the period 2018 - 2025, with a vision to 2035 in the province. Carrying out the tasks assigned by the province, Hoa Binh Pedagogical College has participated in training and fostering Muong language teachers for hundreds of primary, secondary and high school teachers. The school also opened many training classes and granted certificates of ethnic minority languages (Muong language) to cadres, civil servants, public employees and armed forces in the province.

Recognizing the importance of promoting Muong cultural heritage through Muong script on the path of preserving and promoting the value of national cultural heritage today, Hoa Binh Newspaper has advised the Provincial Party Committee to allow the research and implementation of a Muong language page on Hoa Binh Electronic Newspaper. Since April 2017, the Muong language page of Hoa Binh Electronic Newspaper has been officially released on the global internet system (news in Muong and Muong language clips). Muong script and Muong language continue to be brought by "bridges" to the Muong community in the province in particular and domestic and foreign readers in general on the development journey.

(To be continued)

VT (TH)

Source: https://baohoabinh.com.vn/16/199978/Tinh-Hoa-Binh-noi-hoi-tu-nhung-net-van-hoa,-lich-su-doc-dao,-ban-sac-Bai-11-Tieng-Muong,-chu-Muong-de-lai-cho-muon-doi-sau.htm