This episode features a recorded speech by Professor Nguyễn Quang Hồng delivered at the ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the passing of Professor Nguyễn Tài Cẩn, held on November 15, 2021. The event was organized by the Department of Linguistics (as it was then) at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. This audio recording is a valuable document: it preserves not only the personal memories of a junior colleague and fellow scholar, but also offers profound academic reflections on the scholarly legacy of one of the most important pillars of modern Vietnamese linguistics and Hán–Nôm studies.

In his address, Professor Nguyễn Quang Hồng revisits key academic milestones in Professor Nguyễn Tài Cẩn’s career—from his foundational works on Vietnamese grammar and the unit of the “tiếng” (syllable), most notably Vietnamese Grammar: Vietnamese Grammar:  Syllables – Compound words – Phrases to his long-lasting contributions to historical phonology and Hán–Nôm studies, both in Vietnam and internationally, such as The Origin and Formation of  Hán-Việt Readings and A Textbook of Vietnamese Historical Phonology. According to Professor Nguyễn Quang Hồng, the work that most clearly and brilliantly embodies Professor Nguyễn Tài Cẩn’s scientific thinking is Vietnamese Grammar:  Syllables – Compound words – Phrases, in which he was the first to firmly assert the central role of the “tiếng” (syllable) in Vietnamese. Given that Vietnamese is a morphologically isolating language and syllable-based in phonological terms, the “tiếng” or syllable constitutes the most fundamental unit and the structural anchor for all linguistic constructions in Vietnamese.

Interwoven throughout the speech are sincere recollections of Professor Nguyễn Tài Cẩn’s scholarly mindset, his distinctive and rigorous research methodology, and his deep commitment to building academic foundations and training subsequent generations of scholars.

As part of the Retracing Old Sounds podcast series, this episode continues the mission of preserving and disseminating important scholarly voices, contributing to the reconstruction of the intellectual history of Vietnamese Studies through the firsthand accounts of those directly involved. It is not only a commemorative tribute, but also a valuable research resource for anyone interested in language, culture, and the formation of the humanities disciplines in Vietnam.

Read Prof. Nguyễn Tài Cẩn’s Vietnamese Grammar: Vietnamese Grammar:  Syllables – Compound words – Phrases on Digitizing Việt Nam