Vowel shift:Do Van Xuyen explains his process of deciphering ancient scripts at the launch of his book. — Photo vtcnews.com

HA NOI (VNS)— A book on Vietnamese ancient scripts was released yesterday in Ha Noi by the Viet Nam Federation of UNESCO Associations and Hong Duc Publishing House, with the attendance of its author, researcher Do Van Xuyen.

Entitled Cuoc Hanh Trinh Di Tim Chu Viet Co (An Itinerary to Find Vietnamese Ancient Scripts), the 120-page book marked 50 years of research on ancient scripts dating from the Hung Kings era (about 2000-1000 BC).

Xuyen spent days and nights trying to decipher writings and ancient scripts.

Through the book, he proved that Vietnamese people in the Hung Kings era had a system of written language, separate from the Chinese, used in maps, educational documents and books and on bronze drums.

"I didn't look for information on available documents but I went to many places to consult old people," Xuyen said, "I tried to find a trace of ancient scripts and the method to understand them."

The ancient script system, named Khoa Dau, has full consonants and vowels, but due to the lack of tones, the alphabet used two kinds of consonants. The letters which look like a tadpole were onomatopoeia. A word was created by combining letters together. — VNS