Which writing system is used for modern standard Vietnamese?

Chữ Quốc Ngữ is the writing system used for modern standard Vietnamese.

The name means “national language script.” It is a Latin-based alphabet that uses additional marks for Vietnamese sounds and tone, including several vowel signs and tone marks. The system allows written Vietnamese to distinguish meanings that would otherwise look identical.

Portuguese missionary Francisco de Pina and other missionaries helped develop early romanized Vietnamese writing in the 17th century. Alexandre de Rhodes later published an influential Vietnamese–Portuguese–Latin dictionary in 1651, although the script’s development involved multiple contributors.

Before Chữ Quốc Ngữ became dominant, Vietnamese was written with classical Chinese and chữ Nôm, a character-based system adapted for Vietnamese. French colonial education and later Vietnamese nationalist use helped spread the Latin-based script. Chữ Nôm remains important for historical and literary study but is not the normal script of modern Vietnamese publishing.