Chữ Vòng - circle script - Albert Nguyen

Chữ Vòng   

Notable features

• Generally written from left to right, top to bottom. The traditional top to bottom, right to left pattern can still be used for artistic and ceremonial purposes.
  
  
• Each syllable block can consist of up to four parts, an initial consonant, a middle vowel or diphthong, a final consonant and tone mark. The only required component is a vowel.
  
  
• Chữ Vòng maintains constructions of Quốc Ngữ when not inconvenient. For example, while "tr" is closer to "ch" in sound, it is more similar to "t" when written.
  
  
• The nearly one-to-one relationship between Quốc Ngữ and Chữ Vòng letters (not including diphthongs) allows for easy transliteration from Quốc Ngữ to Chữ Vòng.
  
  
• Additional consonants allow importing words with phonemes not native to Vietnamese.
  
  
• Certain letters in Quốc Ngữ are pronounced differently depending on the regional accent, so the IPA pronunciation of the letters is not provided. Letters should be pronounced the same as their Quốc Ngữ equivalents.
  
  
• Diphthongs are constructed by combining component vowels and using an existing or modified character that resembles the combined vowels when possible.
  
  
• That Chữ Vòng is written in blocks allows the parallel use of Chữ Nho and Chữ Nôm.
  
  

• Always use Chữ Nho and Chữ Nôm when the needed character exists and only use Chữ Vòng when no character exists.
  
  
• Only use Chữ Nho and Chữ Nôm to write the top X frequently used words. (The sample below of the first two lines of Truyện Kiều uses this rule).
  
  
• Only use Chữ Nho and Chữ Nôm when the character requires fewer strokes than than when written in Chữ Vòng.
  
  
• Use all Chữ Nho characters and only use Chữ Nôm characters that require fewer strokes than when written in Chữ Vòng.
  
  
• A committee will determine a set of standard Chữ Nho and Chữ Nôm characters to be used, and all other words will be written in Chữ Vòng.
  
  
• Only use Chữ Nho and Chữ Nôm for names, decorative, and ceremonial uses.
  
  
• The entirity of Chữ Nho and Chữ Nôm may be used without rules, and the writer risks not being understood when using Chữ Nho and Chữ Nôm too aggressively.
  
  

Chữ Vòng writing system

Notes on consonants

• Italiced Quốc Ngữ letters indicate letters that are not native to Vietnamese, but are provided to import words as necessary.
  
  
• When transliterating words that start with "g(i)" or "q(u)", the "i" and "u" must be kept on the subsequent vowel or diphthong.
  
  
• The consonant variant of "y" is only used when followed by a vowel or diphthong. When "y" appears isolated or as an initial followed by a consonant, the vowel variant is used.
  
  
• The "none" consonant marker is used on isolated and initial diphthongs to indicate the word is written in Chữ Vòng and is not a Chữ Nho or Chữ Nôm character.
  
  

Notes on diphthongs

• Isolated and initial diphthongs should start with the "none" consonant marker to indicate a Chữ Vòng word instead of a Chữ Nho or Chữ Nôm character.
  
  
• Diphthongs should be resized in the same way individual vowels are resized when appearing as an initial, middle, or final letter.
  
  

Sample texts

Text in Quốc Ngữ

Translation

Scripts invented by Albert Nguyen