Vietnamese alphabet
The Vietnamese alphabet created by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries with works starting in the 17th century replaced chữ Nôm as the preferred way to record Vietnamese literature from 1920s. While Chinese characters are still used for decorative, historic and ceremonial value, chữ Nôm has fallen out of mainstream use in modern Vietnam. The task of studying and translating Vietnamese texts written in chữ Nôm to the Vietnamese alphabet is conducted in the Institute of Hán-Nôm Studies at Hanoi.