The VIETNAMESE Language:
Vietnamese is the mother tongue of approximately 75 million people who call themselves nguoi Viet or nguoi kinh, and who occupy mainly the delta lowlands of their S-shaped country. The other ethnic groups-Highlanders, previously called 'Montagnards'--as well as Cambodians, Chinese, and Indians, also use Vietnamese as the mainstream language in their daily communication with the Vietnamese. There are also more than a million expatriate Vietnamese in Europe, North America, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere, who try to preserve their native language as part of their cultural heritage. |