The Vietnamese people or Kinh people are a Southeast Asian ethnic group originally native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and South China. The native language is Vietnamese, the most widely spoken Austroasiatic language. Although Vietnamese language are Austroasiatic in origin, it was heavily sinicized throughout history and its vocabulary was influenced by Chinese. Sino-Vietnamese provides a Vietnamese form for almost all Chinese characters and are treated as native words by Vietnamese speakers. Some French words were also naturized into the Vietnamese language.