ABSTRACT
Naming is an integral part of the process of identification when first coming into contact with a natural object, be it plant or animal. This is true for bamboo, as not only is the plant itself given a name but so are its different parts and the various operations performed in order to use it. In this chapter, the process of identification of bamboo is linked to its denomination based on the study of lexicography in vernacular characters (Nôm) (Chỉ nam ngọc âm giải nghĩa 指南玉音解義. Explanation of the guide, to words as precious as jade, 17th c.), in Romanized Vietnamese (Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum by the Jesuit Alexandre de Rhodes, 1651), and the findings from field work in Vietnam are carried out by Đinh Trọng Hiếu.
