The ascendancy of the Cham script: how a literacy workshop became the catalyst

Abstract

This article focuses on the Eastern Cham of Vietnam, who have an ancient script descended from Sanskrit, the result of contact with Hindu grammarians in the second century. The author and her husband came to the Cham area in the 1960s and found the ancient script was prestigious but essentially useless since only the old men knew the script and it was not used for communication in the culture. The introduction of romanized primers for a headstart grade in Cham schools brought much opposition, which also renewed interest in the Cham script. In choosing the traditional script for their language in the 1970s, the Eastern Cham people revealed that their script is an important visible evidence of their distinctiveness as a unique people.