the majority of the characters used in nôm are of chinese origin, chosen because they have an appropriate pronunciation or meaning. for example, the character used to write the word "nôm" 喃 is pronounced "nán" in chinese and means “chattering.” the fit between the chinese character and the vietnamese word is not always exact. the word "nôm" does not have any negative connotation in vietnamese, but rather suggests plain talk, something easy to understand.