Abstract

The reply letter to Mr H. (Thuong Huyen) is a piece of literary work in the complete works of Ho Chi Minh (vol. 2, 2nd edition, 2000). A short piece of writing as it is, it contains many important ideas in linguistics. The letter was written under the pseudonym of LT (the name Ho Chi Minh used during the time when he stayed in China for his revolutionary activities) to "present all the remarks" by its author in response to Mr H. about his writings on the theme of revolution. The ideas presented in The reply letter reveal thoughts which had long been formed in Ho Chi Minh's mind about the Vietnamese and about language in general. These viewpoints were later further developed whenever He had the chance to refer to them, and He showed this even in his speech acts.