Syllable and sustenance
On paper, the Vietnamese language fools those not familiar with it into thinking that the language is monosyllabic, and I don’t blame them — not one Vietnamese word appears to stretch farther than a single syllable.
Looks are deceitful, however, as whole Vietnamese words are actually broken into smaller, monosyllabic morsels, seemingly to make them more palatable for the reader. The word Vietnam is an example. In English, Vietnam is written as a three-syllable word. In Vietnamese, it becomes Viet Nam, hacked in half, as if someone had found the joint between the syllables and butchered them cleanly apart. The syllables are meant to be read together even though space forces them apart.
A lot of Vietnamese food is served like its language. After visiting Pho Bac in Irvine last week, I wasn’t surprised to find my bun cha gio thit nuong cut into pieces, just like the name of the dish itself. Egg rolls, a pork cutlet, and even vermicelli noodles were like little monosyllabic bites, coming together to form a complete meal, yet also making sense when chopped apart.
I wonder if this thought has ever crossed my grandfather’s mind, if he has any idea that the way he cleavers a whole chicken to make it easier to eat is much like the way his native language cleavers words into syllables to make them easier to read.
Pho Bac, 4250 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, Calif. 92604. 949-857-8808.
– Cynthia Furey
Side note: March madness is a month-long challenge in which I will post Monday through Friday for the entire month. Thank you for reading!
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:38 pm
LOVE YOUR WRITING.
keep on girl, keep on!
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 pm
That’s a beautiful correlation between language, culture and food.
I always thought, though, that Vietnam was three syllables: Vi-Et-Nam.
Learn something new everyday
March 24th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Ha, Pearl, you’re right. I’ve just been so used to saying it in the Vietnamese way, where it’s pronounced like two syllables. Thanks!
March 26th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Pearl said it – an insightful connection between food and language. It made me stop and consider other cuisines and their attendant languages – French, Japanese, etc. This would make a great topic for cultural anthropology! I may have to ask your permission to pursue it someday.
March 26th, 2009 at 9:08 am
They’re compound words, not to make it more palatable, but because each word has meaning — separately and together. Take for instance, ice cream. It’s composed of ice and cream, but ice cream together has its own meaning.
Viet = Vietnamese people
Nam = South
Viet Nam = Nation of Vietnamese people, south of China. Which used to be the geographic reference point. Not because it’s easier to say, but because each word, separately and together, has its own meaning.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Thanks for the comments, guys! Ack, sorry if I offended anyone who actually IS familiar with the language! I’m just a hapa trying to get in touch with her Viet side — and this is where my imagination took me. I love the mental image I get of my grandfather, squatting over a cutting board and hacking words apart with the cleaver he somehow managed to bring over from Vietnam. There are still a million and one things I don’t know about this side of my family and the Vietnamese culture, but posts like these are helping me explore it (and my writing). Anyway, thanks for reading!