View source for Hmong–Mien languages

{{Short description|Language family of south China and Southeast Asia}}
{{Infobox language family
  |name=Hmong–Mien
  |altname=Miao–Yao<br>Yangtzean
  |region=[[China]], [[Southeast Asia]]
  |familycolor=Hmong-Mien
  |family=One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]]
  |protoname=[[Proto-Hmong–Mien language|Proto-Hmong–Mien]]
  |child1=[[Hmongic languages|Hmongic (Miao)]]
  |child2=[[Mienic languages|Mienic (Yao)]]
  |iso5=hmx
  |glotto=hmon1336
|glottorefname=Hmong–Mien
  |map=Hmong Mien lang.png  
  |mapcaption=Distribution of Hmong-Mien languages
}}

The '''Hmong–Mien languages''' (also known as '''Miao–Yao''' and rarely as '''Yangtzean''')<ref>van Driem, George. 2018. "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210110235952/https://himalayanlanguages.org/files/driem/pdfs/2018i.pdf The East Asian linguistic phylum: A reconstruction based on language and genes]}}", ''Journal of the Asiatic Society'', LX (4): 1-38.</ref> are a highly tonal [[language family]] of southern [[China]] and northern [[Southeast Asia]]. They are spoken in mountainous areas of southern China, including [[Guizhou]], [[Hunan]], [[Yunnan]], [[Sichuan]], [[Guangxi]], [[Guangdong]] and [[Hubei]] provinces; the speakers of these languages are predominantly "[[hill people]]", in contrast to the neighboring [[Han Chinese]], who have settled the more fertile river valleys.

==Relationships==
[[File:Hmong-Mien-en.svg|thumb|{{legend|FF3C00|Hmongic / Miao (in red)}}{{legend|55D400|Mienic / Yao (in green)}}]]
[[Hmongic languages|Hmongic]] (Miao) and [[Mienic languages|Mienic]] (Yao) are closely related, but clearly distinct. For internal classifications, see [[Hmongic languages]] and [[Mienic languages]]. The largest differences are due to divergent developments in their [[Phonology|phonological systems]]. The Hmongic languages appear to have kept the large set of initial consonants featured in the [[Proto-Hmong-Mien|protolanguage]] but greatly reduced the distinctions in the syllable finals, in particular losing all glides and stop [[syllable|codas]]. The Mienic languages, on the other hand, have largely preserved syllable finals but reduced the number of initial consonants.

Early linguistic classifications placed the Hmong–Mien languages in the [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan family]], where they remain in many Chinese classifications. The current consensus among Western [[linguistics|linguist]]s is that they constitute a family of their own, the lexical and typological similarities among Hmong–Mien and [[Sinitic languages]] being attributed to contact-induced influence.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Handel|first=Zev|date=2008|title=What is Sino-Tibetan? Snapshot of a Field and a Language Family in Flux: Sino-Tibetan: a Snapshot|journal=Language and Linguistics Compass|language=en|volume=2|issue=3|pages=422–441|doi=10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00061.x}}</ref>

[[Paul K. Benedict]], an American scholar, extended the [[Austric languages|Austric theory]] to include the Hmong–Mien languages. The hypothesis never received much acceptance for Hmong–Mien, however.<ref name="gedney">[http://www.sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/gedney1989thai.pdf "On the Thai evidence for Austro-Tai" (PDF)], in Selected Papers on Comparative Tai Studies, ed. R.J. Bickner et al., pp. 117–164. Center for South and Southeast Asian studies, the University of Michigan.</ref> Kosaka (2002) argued specifically for a Miao–[[Kra–Dai languages|Dai]] family.<ref name="Kosaka">Kosaka, Ryuichi. 2002. "[http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/kosaka2002affiliation.pdf On the affiliation of Miao-Yao and Kadai: Can we posit the Miao-Dai family]." ''[[Mon-Khmer Studies]]'' 32:71-100.</ref>

== Homeland ==
The most likely [[Linguistic homeland|homeland]] of the Hmong–Mien languages is in [[Southern China]] between the [[Yangtze River|Yangtze]] and [[Mekong River|Mekong]] rivers, but speakers of these languages might have migrated from [[Central China]] either as part of the [[Han Chinese]] expansion or as a result of exile from an original homeland by Han Chinese.<ref>[[Roger Blench|Blench, Roger]]. 2004. [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/China/Geneva%20paper%202004%20submit.pdf ''Stratification in the peopling of China: how far does the linguistic evidence match genetics and archaeology?''] Paper for the Symposium "Human migrations in continental East Asia and Taiwan: genetic, linguistic and archaeological evidence". Geneva June 10–13, 2004. Université de Genève.</ref> Migration of people speaking these languages from South China to [[Southeast Asia]] took place during the 17th century (1600–1700). Ancient [[DNA]] evidence suggests that the ancestors of the speakers of the Hmong–Mien languages were a population genetically distinct from that of the Tai–Kadai and Austronesian language source populations at a location on the [[Yangtze River]].<ref name="PMID 17657509">{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Hui |last2=Huang |first2=Ying |last3=Mustavich |first3=Laura F. |last4=Zhang |first4=Fan |last5=Tan |first5=Jing-Ze |last6=Wang |first6=Ling-E |last7=Qian |first7=Ji |last8=Gao |first8=Meng-He |last9=Jin |first9=Li  |title=Y chromosomes of prehistoric people along the Yangtze River |journal=Human Genetics |volume=122 |issue=3–4 |pages=383–8 |year=2007 |pmid=17657509 |doi=10.1007/s00439-007-0407-2|s2cid=2533393 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Recent Y-DNA phylogeny evidence supports the proposition that people who speak the Hmong–Mien languages are descended from a population that is distantly related to those who now speak the Mon-Khmer languages.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cai |first1=X |last2=Qin |first2=Z |last3=Wen |first3=B |last4=Xu |first4=S |last5=Wang |first5=Y |last6=Lu |first6=Y |last7=Wei |first7=L |last8=Wang |first8=C |last9=Li |first9=S |last10=Huang |first10=X |last11=Jin |first11=L |last12=Li |first12=H |last13=Genographic |first13=Consortium |year=2011 |title=Human Migration through Bottlenecks from Southeast Asia into East Asia during Last Glacial Maximum Revealed by Y Chromosomes |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=6 |issue=8 |page=e24282 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0024282 |pmid=21904623 |pmc=3164178|bibcode=2011PLoSO...624282C |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The date of [[Proto-Hmong–Mien]] has been estimated to be about 2500 BP (500 BC) by Sagart, Blench, and Sanchez-Mazas using traditional methods employing many lines of evidence, and about 4243 BP (2250 BC) by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP), an experimental algorithm for automatic generation of phonologically based phylogenies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wwwstaff.eva.mpg.de/~wichmann/AutomatedDatingFinal.pdf |title=Automated Dating of the World's Language Families based on Lexical Similarity |access-date=2013-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127082301/http://wwwstaff.eva.mpg.de/~wichmann/AutomatedDatingFinal.pdf |archive-date=2013-11-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Names==
The Mandarin names for these languages are ''Miáo'' and ''Yáo''.

In [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], the name for Hmong is ''H'Mông'', and the name for Mien is ''Dao'' (i.e., Yao), although ''Miền'' is also used.

''Meo'', ''Hmu'', ''Mong'', ''Hmao'', and ''Hmong'' are local names for Miao, but since most [[Lao people|Laotian]] refugees in the United States call themselves ''Hmong/Mong'', this name has become better known in English than the others in recent decades. However, except for some scholars who prefer the word, the term 'Hmong/Mong' is only used within certain Hmong/Miao language speaking communities in China, where the majority of the Miao speakers live. In Mandarin, despite the fact that it was once a derogatory term, the word ''Miao'' (Chinese: 苗; the tone varies according to the Sinitic dialect) is now commonly used by members of all nationalities to refer to the language and the ethnolinguistic group.<ref>Tapp, Nicholas. The Hmong of China: Context, Agency, and imaginary. Leiden: Brill, 2001.</ref>

The Mandarin name Yao, on the other hand, is for the [[Yao nationality]], which is a multicultural rather than ethnolinguistic group. It includes peoples speaking Mien, [[Kra–Dai languages|Kra–Dai]], [[Yi language|Yi]], and Miao languages, the latter called ''Bùnǔ'' rather than ''Miáo'' when spoken by Yao. For this reason, the [[ethnonym]] ''Mien'' may be preferred as less ambiguous.

==Characteristics==
Like many languages in southern China, the Hmong–Mien languages tend to be [[monosyllabic]] and [[Analytic language|syntactically analytic]]. They are some of the most highly [[tone (linguistics)|tonal]] languages in the world: Longmo and Zongdi Hmong have as many as twelve distinct tones.<ref>Goddard, Cliff; ''The Languages of East and Southeast Asia: An Introduction''; p. 36. {{ISBN|0-19-924860-5}}</ref> They are notable phonologically for the occurrence of [[voicelessness|voiceless]] [[sonorant]]s and [[uvular consonant]]s; otherwise their phonology is quite typical of the region.

They are [[subject–verb–object|SVO]] in word order but are not as rigidly [[right-branching language|right-branching]] as the Tai–Kadai languages or most [[Mon–Khmer languages]], since they have [[genitive]]s and [[Numeral (linguistics)|numerals]] before the noun like Chinese. They are extremely poor in [[adposition]]s: serial verb constructions replace most functions of adpositions in languages like English. For example, a construction translating as "be near" would be used where in English prepositions like "in" or "at" would be used.<ref>Goddard, ''The Languages of East and Southeast Asia''; p. 121</ref>

Besides their tonality and lack of adpositions, another striking feature is the abundance of [[numeral classifier]]s and their use where other languages use [[article (grammar)|definite articles]] or demonstratives to modify nouns.

==Mixed languages==
Various unclassified [[Varieties of Chinese|Sinitic]] languages are spoken by ethnic [[Miao people|Miao]] and [[Yao people|Yao]]. These languages have variously been proposed as having Hmong-Mien [[Stratum (linguistics)|substrata]] or as [[mixed language]]s, including languages such as [[She Chinese]], [[:zh:喇叭苗话|Laba]], [[Lingling dialect|Lingling]], [[Maojia dialect|Maojia]], [[Badong Yao language|Badong Yao]], various Lowland Yao languages  including [[Yeheni language|Yeheni]], [[Shaozhou Tuhua]], and various [[Pinghua]] dialects.

==See also==
* [[Proto-Hmong–Mien language]]
* [[Wiktionary:Appendix:Hmong-Mien comparative vocabulary list|Hmong-Mien comparative vocabulary list]] (Wiktionary)
* [[Hmong writing]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Chen Qiguang [陈其光] (2013). ''Miao and Yao language'' [苗瑶语文]. Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House [民族出版社]. {{ISBN|9787566003263}} (CLDF Dataset on Zenodo {{doi|10.5281/zenodo.3537712}})
* Paul K. Benedict (1942). "Thai, Kadai and Indonesian: a new alignment in south east Asia." ''American Anthropologist'' 44.576-601.
* Paul K. Benedict (1975). ''Austro-Thai language and culture, with a glossary of roots''. New Haven: HRAF Press. {{ISBN|0-87536-323-7}}.
* Enwall, J. (1995). ''Hmong writing systems in Vietnam: a case study of Vietnam's minority language policy''. Stockholm, Sweden: Center for Pacific Asian Studies.
* Enwall, J. (1994). ''A myth become reality: history and development of the Miao written language''. Stockholm East Asian monographs, no. 5-6. [Stockholm?]: Institute of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University. {{ISBN|91-7153-269-2}}
* Lombard, S. J., & Purnell, H. C. (1968). ''Yao-English dictionary''.
* Lyman, T. A. (1979). ''Grammar of Mong Njua (Green Miao): a descriptive linguistic study''. [S.l.]: The author.
* Lyman, T. A. (1974). ''Dictionary of Mong Njua: a Miao (Meo) language of Southeast Asia''. Janua linguarum, 123. The Hague: Mouton.
* Lyman, T. A. (1970). ''English/Meo pocket dictionary''. Bangkok, Thailand: German Cultural Institute, Goethe-Institute.
* Purnell, H. C. (1965). ''Phonology of a Yao dialect spoken in the province of [[Chiengrai]], Thailand''. Hartford studies in linguistics, no. 15.
* {{cite book |surname=Ratliff |given=Martha |author-link=Martha Ratliff |title=Hmong-Mien language history |location=Canberra, Australia |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-85883-615-0 |hdl=1885/146760 |hdl-access=free |ref=none }}
* [[William A. Smalley|Smalley, W. A.]], Vang, C. K., & Yang, G. Y. (1990). ''Mother of writing: the origin and development of a Hmong messianic script''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-76286-6}}
* Smith, P. (1995). ''Mien–English everyday language dictionary = Mienh in-wuonh dimv nzangc sou''. Visalia, CA: [s.n.].

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130605092357/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/classification.php?node=Hmong-Mien, Basic vocabulary word lists of Hmong–Mien languages]

{{Hmong-Mien languages}}
{{language families}}
{{Eurasian languages}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hmong-Mien Languages}}
[[Category:Hmong–Mien languages| ]]
[[Category:Language families]]