3. The author of this article demonstrates that this philosophy is also present in the Vietnamese language


He states that, besides the two above-mentioned proofs, there is another one, which is most dynamic and capable of recording the ideology of our ancestors; and that is the spoken language of the Vietnamese of all times and everywhere, which, with evolution, after the writing system becomes available, carries these thoughts through literary works.

3.1. Words, grammar and syntax impregnated with the Yin-Yang Principle

The Vietnamese have the speaking habit of using parallel phrases, permitting to figure the two opposing elements Yin Yang. This appears in vocabulary, idioms, and folk poetry. The Yin-Yang changes according to the naturally rational process, starting from the bottom up, and therefore, all things are named differently from the principal to the subordinate.

3.2. In addition, the Vietnamese language is structured according to the twin-parallel principle This principle is illustrated in either repeating words, or linking words, or adding buffer words, or simplifying phrases into two-word phrases. That is why, even in translating foreign languages, we usually use disyllable structure, for example:

  • Arrosoir (3-syllable French word): cái "ô-gioà"(2-syllable Vietnamese word)
  • Mangoustan (3-syllable French word): quả măng-cụt (2-syllable Vietnamese word)
  • Clef (one-syllable French word): cái lắc-lê, (2-syllable Vietnamese word)
  • Clé à molette (French phrase): cái mỏ-lét (2-syllable Vietnamese word)

3.3. The Vietnamese people possess the "Luc Bat" Poetic Form, a peculiarity of the Vietnamese poetry.

The couple of sentences of this poetic form, one with six words on top of the other with eight words, is called a "link," linking one short to one long, linking the Yin to the Yang, tying the so-called exagrams to the eight diagrams, and, right in each sentence, either six-word or eight- word, the poetic cadence drifts by each sentences' couple, rhythmically and abreastly with duple time and even and sharp tones, alternatively fluctuating, crescendo and decrescendo, exactly the duality of Yin and Yang which are reciprocally opposite but mutually destructive and mutually creative: for example in the following folk poem song:

Người ta / đi cấy / lấy công, Tôi nay / đi cấy / còn trông / nhiều bề: Trông trời,/ trông đất,/ trông mây, Trông mưa, / trông gió, / trông ngày, / trông đêm, Trông cho / chân cứng,/ đá mềm, Trời trong, / bể lặng, / mới yên/ tấm lòng.

Translation:
For salary, the others plant rice seedlings, I go now planting and watching everything: Waiting for fertile soil, and cloudless sky Rains left off, still winds, all the day and night. To soften hard rocks where I'm firmly standing, Only clear sky and calm sea make easy my mind.

3.4. Finally this Yin-Yang Philosophy is also reflected in the Viet ideology, which complies with the Law of Reversible Cycle of Nature, showing Man his standing within the Three-Elements, helping him conserve the inner balance necessary for the way-of-life in harmony and peace. Unlike the bellicose Han race, the Bach Viet were peaceful, anxious to increase their agricultural production, always calm and humble in their speech. Finding their standing within the Three-Elements, the Vietnamese, within their spirit of independence, their compliance with the natural law of the Nature, refuse to do whatever that is against the Heavenly-Reason.

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