About the native lexical system and the Sino-Vietnamese sub-system of the Vietnamese language

The article discusses the Vietnamese lexicon as a system. The native lexical system and the borrowed Sino-Vietnamese sub-system of the Vietnamese language are identified and described on the basis of bilingual dictionaries. The article establishes criteria for determining whether a word is native Vietnamese or Sino-Vietnamese. An absolute majority of polysyllabic words of native lexical system is comprised of unbound morphemes/syllables. Most Sino-Vietnamese morphemes are never used independently by themselves. The conclusion has been drawn that Vietnamese is an explication language to a greater extent than an implication one and usually the word order in Vietnamese is progressive, not regressive. It has been shown that the native system also includes loanwords that have fully integrated in the Vietnamese language and have the same structure and functional features as native words.

Vietnamese lexical system, sub-system of Sino-Vietnamese words, isolating language, morphological structure of a word, unbound morpheme/syllable