*vietnamese.txt* For Vim version 9.1.  Last change: 2026 Jan 25


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL	  by Phạm Bình An


Vietnamese language support in Vim		*vietnamese* *Vietnamese*

1. Introduction				  |vietnamese-intro|
2. Vietnamese keymaps			  |vietnamese-keymap|
3. Localization				  |vietnamese-l10n|

==============================================================================
1. Introduction
							*vietnamese-intro*
Vim supports Vietnamese language in the following ways:

- Built-in |vietnamese-keymap|, which allows you to type Vietnamese characters
  in |Insert-mode| and |search-commands| using US keyboard layout.
- Localization in Vietnamese. See |vietnamese-l10n|

==============================================================================
2. Vietnamese keymaps
							*vietnamese-keymap*
To switch between languages you can use your system native keyboard switcher,
or use one of the Vietnamese keymaps included in the Vim distribution, like
below >
    :set keymap=vietnamese-telex_utf-8
<
See 'keymap' for more information.

In the latter case, you can type Vietnamese even if you do not have a
Vietnamese input method engine (IME) or you want Vim to be independent from a
system-wide keyboard settings (when 'imdisable' is set). You can also |:map|
a key to switch between keyboards.

Vim comes with the following Vietnamese keymaps:
- *vietnamese-telex_utf-8*	Telex input method, |UTF-8| encoding.
- *vietnamese-viqr_utf-8*	VIQR input method, |UTF-8| encoding.
- *vietnamese-vni_utf-8*	VNI input method, |UTF-8| encoding.

                                                   *vietnamese-ime_diff*
Since these keymaps were designed to be minimalistic, they do not support all
features of the corresponding input methods. The differences are described
below:

- You can only type each character individually, entering the base letter
  first and then the diacritics later.  For example, to type the word `nến`
  using |vietnamese-vni_utf-8|, you must type `ne61n`, not `nen61` or `ne6n1`
- For characters with more than 1 diacritic, you need to type vowel mark
  before tone mark. For example, to type `ồ` using |vietnamese-telex_utf-8|, you
  need to type `oof`, not `ofo`.
- With |vietnamese-telex_utf-8|, you need to type all uppercase letters to
  produce uppercase characters with diacritics. For example, `Ừ` must be typed
  as `UWF`.
- With |vietnamese-telex_utf-8|, the escape character `\` from VNI is added,
  hence the confusing `ooo` input to type `oo` is removed, which could lead to
  ambiguities.  For example, to type the word `Đoòng`, you would type
  `DDo\ofng`.
- Simple Telex (both v1 and v2), including the `w[]{}` style, is not
  supported.
- Removing diacritics using `z` in Telex or `0` in VNI and VIQR is not supported.

==============================================================================
3. Localization
							*vietnamese-l10n*
Vim |messages| are also available in Vietnamese.  If you wish to see messages
in Vietnamese, you can run the command |:language| with an argument being the
name of the Vietnamese locale.  For example, >
	:language vi_VN
< or >
	:language vi_VN.utf-8
<
Note that the name of the Vietnamese locale may vary depending on your system.
See |mbyte-first| for details.

|vimtutor| is also available in Vietnamese. To start Vimtutor in Vietnamese,
run the following command in terminal: >
	vimtutor vi
<
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vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl:
