“Lẫn lộn ('ngọng') n - l qua lăng kính tiếng Việt từ TK 17 và mở rộng”

Abstract

This article examines the phenomenon of initial consonant alternation between n - l in Vietnamese from the 17th century to the present, drawing on early Romanized Vietnamese sources and contemporary Nôm manuscripts. The author demonstrates that this alternation is not recent; instead, it is well attested in 17th-century materials and even earlier in classical Chinese rhyme books. From this foundation, the paper extends the analysis to pairs such as lãm - nơm (fish trap), lãm - nắm, lãm - nom/dòm, and lám -nám - rám, demonstrating how n ↔ l alternation contributed to the development of many modern Vietnamese words. The phenomenon also helps explain certain historical names, such as Cao Lỗ (linked to nỏ/nỗ, “crossbow”), or the ethnonym Lạc in Lạc Việt, which may originate from nác/dak/rak (“water”) in Austroasiatic languages. As a conclusion, n - l alternation is not a speech defect but an areal linguistic feature, observable in northern Vietnamese dialects, southern Chinese varieties, and even unrelated languages in Africa and North America. It constitutes an integral part of Vietnamese phonological history, leaving evidence in historical texts, dialectal variation, and the modern lexicon.