Vietnamese is a tonal language and is the official language of Vietnam, where many of the language's 85 million speakers live.  Vietnamese is part of the Vietic subgroup of Austroasiatic language family. The history of the languages goes back to around 2000 BCE. The Vietnamese language, or Tiếng Việt, has a rich and complex history shaped by various cultural influences. Its origins can be traced to the Austroasiatic language family, which is native to Southeast Asia. The earliest form of Vietnamese is believed to have developed around 2,000 years ago, influenced by the indigenous Viet people of northern Vietnam.

Throughout history, Vietnam experienced significant Chinese influence, especially after the country came under Chinese rule for over a millennium (111 BCE to 938 CE). During this period, Vietnamese adopted a large number of Chinese loanwords, and classical Chinese became the language of literature and administration. This resulted in the development of "Hán-Nôm," a writing system combining Chinese characters and locally developed symbols to represent the Vietnamese language.

In the 17th century, Portuguese missionaries, followed by French missionaries, introduced the Latin alphabet to Vietnam. The Romanized script, called Quốc Ngữ, was further refined by French scholars and became the official writing system by the 20th century, replacing the traditional Hán-Nôm script.

Vietnamese has continued to evolve, with significant regional dialects and influences from French during the colonial period, as well as English in recent decades. Today, Vietnamese is the official language of Vietnam and is spoken by millions globally. Its development reflects a blend of indigenous roots, foreign influences, and a long history of cultural exchange.

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