2020年第3期

【Abstract】The author has conducted a survey of the vernacular character scripts of the Tai-speaking ethnic groups of southern China, including the Zhuang, Bouyei, Nong and Sha. The survey analysed traditional texts from 45 different locations, including four texts from northern Vietnam. The results of that survey were published in Mapping the Old Zhuang Character Script (Holm 2013). In recent years the author has extended the coverage of this survey further into northern Vietnam, looking specifically at traditional texts in the vernacular character scripts of the Tày and Nùng peoples, who speak Tai-Kadai languages closely related to Zhuang. The present article will compare the vernacular scripts of the Zhuang and Tày, and point out how they may be related. The survey data allow us to quantify degrees of commonality and difference, and generate hypotheses on the relative dates of the Zhuang and Tày scripts. Our preliminary finding is that the Tày script is a script of mixed origins, with a layer of older readings dating back to the Middle Chinese period (Sui-Tang), as well as a more recent layer dating from around the 17th century