Hmong language

Hmong
lus Hmoob / lug Moob / lol Hmongb
Native to	China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, USA, and French Guiana.
Native speakers	(2.6 million cited 1995)
Language family	Hmong–Mien Hmongic Western Hmongic Chuanqiandian cluster Hmong
Writing system	Pahawh Hmong, Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	blu – inclusive code Individual codes: hmv – Hmong Do (Vietnam) mww – Hmong Daw (Laos, China) hnj – Mong Njua (Laos, China) hmz – Hmong Shua (Sinicized) cqd – Chuanqiandian-cluster Miao (cover term for Hmong in China) hrm – Horned Miao (A-Hmo, China) hmf – Hmong Don (Vietnam)

Hmong (RPA: Hmoob) or Mong (RPA: Moob), known as Miao in China, is a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Miao languages, sometimes known as the Chuanqiandian Cluster, which is spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. There are some 2.7 million speakers of varieties which are largely mutually intelligible, including 200,000 Hmong Americans. Over half of all Hmong speakers speak the various dialects of the Chuanqiandian cluster in China, and the Dananshan (大南山) dialect of Chuanqiandian forms the basis of the standard language in China, but Hmong Daw (White Miao) and Mong Njua (Green Miao) are more widely known overseas due to emigration. There are also Hmong immigrants that live in Canada, though not as many as there are in the United States.

Varieties

Mong Njua and Hmong Daw are part of a dialect cluster known in China as Chuanqiandian Miao, that is, "Sichuan–Guizhou–Yunnan Miao", called the "Chuanqiandian cluster" in English, as Western Hmongic is also called Chuanqiandian (they are distinguished as the Chuanqiandian "subdialect" of the Chuanqiandian "dialect" in Chinese). Mong Njua and Hmong Daw are just those varieties of the cluster which migrated to Laos; the Western names Mong Njua, Mong Leng, Hmong Dleu/Der, and Hmong Daw are also used in China for various dialects of the Chuanqiandian cluster.

Ethnologue once distinguished only the Laotian varieties (Hmong Daw, Mong Njua), Sinicized Miao (Hmong Shua), and the Vietnamese varieties (Hmong Do, Hmong Don). The Vietnamese varieties are very poorly known; population estimates are not even available. In 2007, Horned Miao, Small Flowery Miao, and the Chuanqiandian cluster of China were split off from Mong Njua [blu]. These varieties are as follows, along with some alternate names ('Ch.' = Chinese name, 'auto.' = autonym [self name]):

• Hmong Daw (White Miao, Ch. Bai Miao, auto. Hmoob Dawb; Forest Miao, Hmong Rongd; Hmong Dleu / Hmongb Dleub)
• Mong Njua (Blue Miao, Green Miao, Ch. Qing Miao; Hmoob Ntsuab / Hmongb Nzhuab; in the US, also Mong Leng / Len, auto. Moob Leeg; Hmongb Shib)
• Hmong Shua (Sinicized Miao, auto. Hmongb Shuat)
• Horned Miao (Ch. Jiao Miao, auto. Hmo or A-Hmo)
• Hmong Do
• Hmong Don (assumed)
• the part of the Chuanqiandian cluster located in China.

Many of the above names used outside (White Miao, Blue/Green Miao, Flowery Miao, Mong Leng, etc.) are also used in China. Several Chinese varieties may be more distinct than the varieties listed above:

• Danashan Miao (Hmong Dou, auto. Hmong Drout Raol, Hmong Hout Lab), the basis of the Chinese standard of the Chuanqiandian cluster
• Black Miao (Ch. Hei Miao, auto. of sub-groups: Hmong Dlob, Hmong Buak / Hmoob Puas)
• Southern Hmong (auto. of sub-groups: Hmongb Shib, Hmongb Nzhuab, Hmongb Lens, Hmongb Dlex Nchab, Hmongb Sad; includes some of Mong Njua above)
• Northern Hmong (auto. of sub-groups: Hmongb Soud, Hmong Be / Hmongb Bes, Hmongb Ndrous)
• Western Sichuan Miao (Ch. Chuan Miao)

In the 2007 request to establish an ISO code for the Chuanqiandian cluster, corresponding to the "first local dialect" (第一土語) of the Chuanqiandian cluster in Chinese, the proposer made the following statement on mutual intelligibility:

A colleague has talked with speakers of a number of these closely-related lects in the US, in Thailand and in China, and has had many discussions with Chinese linguists and foreign researchers or community development workers who have had extensive contact with speakers of these lects. As a result of these conversations this colleague believes that many of these lects are likely to have high inherent mutual intelligibility within the cluster. Culturally, while each sub-group prides itself on its own distinctives, they also recognize that other sub-groups within this category are culturally similar to themselves and accept the others as members of the same general ethnic group. However, this category of lects is internally varied and geographically scattered and mixed over a broad land area, and comprehensive intelligibility testing would be required to confirm reports of mutual intelligibility throughout the cluster.

Phonology

The three dialects described here are known as Hmong Daw (also called White Miao or Hmong Der), Mong Njua (also called Blue or Green Miao or Mong Leng), and Dananshan (Standard Chinese Miao). Hmong Daw and Mong Njua are the two major dialects spoken by Hmong Americans. While mutually intelligible, the dialects differ in both lexicon and certain aspects of phonology. For instance, Mong Njua lacks the voiceless/aspirated /m̥/ of Hmong Daw (as exemplified by their names) and has a third nasalized vowel, /ã/; Danashan has a couple extra diphthongs in native words, numerous Chinese loans, and an eighth tone.

For comparison with another Hmongic language, see Hmu, the Chinese standard for Miao.

Vowels

The vowel systems of Hmong Daw and Mong Njua are as shown in the following charts. Phonemes particular to each dialect are color coded respectively:

Hmong Daw and Mong Njua vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	i		ɨ		u
Mid	e	ẽ~ʌŋ			ɔ	ɔ̃~oŋ
Open			a	ã~aŋ

Diphthongs

	Closing	Centering
Close component is front	ai	iə
Close component is central	aɨ
Close component is back	au	uə

The Dananshan standard of China is similar. Phonemic differences from Hmong Daw and Mong Njua are color coded.

Dananshan Miao vowels

	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	i		(ɨ)		u
Mid	e	en			o	oŋ
Open			a	aŋ

Diphthongs

	Closing	Centering
Close component is front	aj ⟨ai⟩
Close component is back	aw ⟨au⟩	ɒ ⟨ua⟩
	əw ⟨ou⟩ eβ ⟨eu⟩

Dananshan [ɨ] occurs only after non-palatal affricates, and is written ⟨i⟩, much like Mandarin Chinese. /u/ is pronounced [y] after palatal consonants. There is also a triphthong /jeβ/ ⟨ieu⟩, as well as other i- and u-initial sequences in Chinese borrowings, such as /je, waj, jaw, wen, waŋ/.

Consonants

Hmong makes a number of phonemic contrasts unfamiliar to English speakers. All non-glottal stops and affricates distinguish aspirated and unaspirated forms, most also prenasalization independently of this. The consonant inventory of Hmong is shown in the chart below. (Consonants particular to Hmong Daw and Mong Njua are color-coded respectively.)

Hmong Daw and Mong Njua consonants

		Bilabial		Labio- dental	Dental		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
		Plain	Lateral*		Plain	Lateral*
Nasal	Voiceless	m̥	(m̥ˡ)		n̥			ɲ̥
	Voiced	m	(mˡ)		n			ɲ
Plosive	Tenuis	p	(pˡ)		t	(tˡ)	ʈ	c	k	q	ʔ
	Asprirated	pʰ	(pˡʰ)		tʰ	(tˡʰ)	ʈʰ	cʰ	kʰ	qʰ
	Voiced				d dʱ
	Prenasalized**	ᵐb	(ᵐbˡ)		ⁿd	(ⁿdˡ)	ᶯɖ	ᶮɟ	ᵑɡ	ᶰɢ
		ᵐpʰ	(ᵐpˡʰ)		ⁿtʰ	(ⁿtˡʰ)	ᶯʈʰ	ᶮcʰ	ᵑkʰ	ᶰqʰ
Affricate	Tenuis				ts		tʂ
	Aspirated				tsʰ		tʂʰ
	Prenasalized**				ⁿdz		ⁿdʐ
					ⁿtsʰ		ⁿtʂʰ
Fricative	Voiceless			f	s	ɬ	ʂ	ç			h
	Voiced			v			ʐ	ʝ
Approximant						l

The Danashan standard of China is similar. (Phonemic differences from Hmong Daw and Mong Njua are color-coded. Minor differences, such as the voicing of prenasalized stops, or whether /c/ is an affricate or /h/ is velar, may be a matter of transcription.) Aspirates, voiceless fricatives, voiceless nasals, and glottal stop only occur with yin tones (1, 3, 5, 7). Standard orthography is added in ⟨brackets⟩. Glottal stop is not written; it is not distinct from a zero initial. There is also a /w/, which occurs only in foreign words.

Dananshan Miao consonants

		Bilabial		Labio- dental	Dental		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
		Plain	Lateral*		Plain	Lateral*
Nasal	Voiceless	m̥ ⟨hm⟩			n̥ ⟨hn⟩			ɲ̥ ⟨hni⟩
	Voiced	m ⟨m⟩			n ⟨n⟩			ɲ ⟨ni⟩	ŋ ⟨ngg⟩
Plosive	Tenuis	p ⟨b⟩	(pˡ) ⟨bl⟩		t ⟨d⟩	(tˡ) ⟨dl⟩	ʈ ⟨dr⟩		k ⟨g⟩	q ⟨gh⟩	(ʔ)
	Aspirated	pʰ ⟨p⟩	(pˡʰ) ⟨pl⟩		tʰ ⟨t⟩	(tˡʰ) ⟨tl⟩	ʈʰ ⟨tr⟩		kʰ ⟨k⟩	qʰ ⟨kh⟩
	Voiced
	Prenasalized**	ᵐp ⟨nb⟩	(ᵐpˡ) ⟨nbl⟩		ⁿt ⟨nd⟩		ᶯʈ ⟨ndr⟩		ᵑk ⟨ng⟩	ᶰq ⟨ngh⟩
		ᵐpʰ ⟨np⟩	(ᵐpˡʰ) ⟨npl⟩		ⁿtʰ ⟨nt⟩		ᶯʈʰ ⟨ntr⟩		ᵑkʰ ⟨nk⟩	ᶰqʰ ⟨nkh⟩
Affricate	Tenuis				ts ⟨z⟩		tʂ ⟨zh⟩	tɕ ⟨j⟩
	Aspirated				tsʰ ⟨c⟩		tʂʰ ⟨ch⟩	tɕʰ ⟨q⟩
	Prenasalized**				ⁿts ⟨nz⟩		ⁿtʂ ⟨nzh⟩	ⁿtɕ ⟨nj⟩
					ⁿtsʰ ⟨nc⟩		ⁿtʂʰ ⟨nch⟩	ⁿtɕʰ ⟨nq⟩
Fricative	Voiceless			f ⟨f⟩	s ⟨s⟩	ɬ ⟨hl⟩	ʂ ⟨sh⟩	ɕ ⟨x⟩	x ⟨h⟩
	Voiced			v ⟨v⟩			ʐ ⟨r⟩	ʑ ⟨y⟩
Approximant						l ⟨l⟩			(w)

^* The status of the consonants described here as single phonemes with lateral release is controversial. A number of scholars instead analyze them as biphonemic clusters with /l/ as the second element. The difference in analysis (e.g. between /pˡ/ and /pl/) is not based on any disagreement in the sound or pronunciation of the consonants in question, but on differing theoretical grounds. Those in favor of a unit-phoneme analysis generally argue for this based on distributional evidence (i.e. if clusters, these would be the only clusters in the language, although see below) and dialect evidence (the laterally released dentals in Green Mong, e.g. /tl/, correspond to the voiced dentals of White Hmong), while those in favor of a cluster analysis tend to argue on the basis of general phonetic principles (other examples of labial phonemes with lateral release appear extremely rare or nonexistent).

^** Some linguists prefer to analyze the prenasalized consonants as clusters whose first element is /n/. However, this cluster analysis is not as common as the above one involving /l/.

Syllable structure

Hmong syllables have a very simple structure: onsets are obligatory (except in a few particles), nuclei may consist of a monophthong or diphthong, and coda consonants apart from nasals are prohibited. In Hmong Daw and Mong Njua, nasal codas have become nasal vowels, though they may be accompanied by a weak coda [ŋ]. Similarly, a weak coda [ʔ] may accompany the low-falling creaky tone.

Dananshan has a syllabic /l̩/ (written ⟨l⟩) in Chinese loans, such as lf 'two' and lx 'child'.

Tones

Hmong is a tone language and makes use of seven (Hmong Daw and Mong Njua) or eight (Dananshan) distinct tones.

Tone	Hmong Daw example	Hmong/Mong spelling
High ˥	/pɔ́/ 'ball'	pob
Mid ˧	/pɔ/ 'spleen'	po
Low ˩	/pɔ̀/ 'thorn'	pos
High-falling ˥˧	/pɔ̂/ 'female'	poj
Mid-rising ˧˦	/pɔ̌/ 'to throw'	pov
Low checked (creaky) tone ˩ (phrase final: long low rising ˨˩˧)	/pɔ̰̀/ 'to see'	pom (phrase final: pod)
Mid-falling breathy tone ˧˩	/pɔ̤̂/ 'grandmother'	pog

The Dananshan tones are transcribed as pure tone. However, given how similar several of them are, it is likely that there are also phonational differences as in Hmong Daw and Mong Njua. Tones 4 and 6, for example, are said to make tenuis plosives breathy voiced (浊送气), suggesting they may be breathy/murmured like the Hmong g-tone. Tones 7 and 8 are used in early Chinese loans with entering tone, suggesting they may once have marked checked syllables.

Since voiceless consonants apart from tenuis plosives are restricted to appearing before certain tones (1, 3, 5, 7), those are placed first in the table:

Dananshan Miao tone

Tone	IPA	Orthography
1 high falling	˦˧ 43	b
3 top	˥ 5	d
5 high	˦ 4	t
7 mid	˧ 3	k
2 mid falling	˧˩ 31	x
4 low falling (breathy)	˨˩̤ 21	l
6 low rising (breathy)	˩˧̤ 13	s
8 mid rising	˨˦ 24	f

Orthography

Robert Cooper, an anthropologist, collected a Hmong folktale saying that the Hmong used to have a written language, and important information was written down in a treasured book. The folktale explains that cows and rats ate the book, so, in the words of Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, "no text was equal to the task of representing a culture as rich as that of the Hmong." Therefore, the folktale states that the Hmong language was exclusively oral from that point onwards.

Since the end of the 19th century, linguists created over two dozen Hmong writing systems, including systems using Chinese, Lao, Russian, Thai, and Vietnamese characters and alphabets. In addition, in 1959 Shong Lue Yang, a Hmong spiritual leader from Laos, created an 81 symbol writing system called Pahawh. Yang was not previously literate in any language. Chao Fang, an anti-Laotian government Hmong group, uses this writing system.

The Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA), the most widely used script for Hmong Daw and Mong Njua, was developed in Laos between 1951 and 1953 by three Western missionaries. In the United States Hmong do not use RPA for spelling of proper nouns, because they want their names to be easily pronounced by people unfamiliar with RPA. For instance Hmong in the U.S. spell Hmoob as "Hmong," and Liab Lis is spelled as Lia Lee.

The Dananshan standard in China is written in a pinyin-based alphabet, with tone letters similar to those used in RPA.

Correspondence between orthographies

The following is a list of pairs of RPA and Dananshan segments having the same sound (or very similar sounds). Note however that RPA and the standard in China not only differ in orthographic rules, but are also used to write different languages. The list is ordered alphabetically by the RPA, apart from prenasalized stops and voiceless sonorants, which come after their oral and voiced homologues. There are three overriding patterns to the correspondences: RPA doubles a vowel for nasalization, whereas pinyin uses ⟨ng⟩; RPA uses ⟨h⟩ for aspiration, whereas pinyin uses the voicing distinction of the Latin script; pinyin uses ⟨h⟩ (and ⟨r⟩) to derive the retroflex and uvular series from the dental and velar, whereas RPA uses sequences based on ⟨t, x, k⟩ vs. ⟨r, s, q⟩ for the same.

Vowels RPA Pinyin a aa ang ai au aw – e ee eng – eu i ia – o oo ong – ou u ua w i

Consonants RPA Danashan c j ch q nc nj nch nq d – dh – dl dlh tl ndl – ndlh – f h k g kh k nk ng nkh nk

Consonants (cont.) RPA Danashan l hl m hm ml – hml – n hn - ngg ny ni hny hni p b ph p np nb nph np

Consonants (cont.) RPA Danashan pl bl plh pl npl nbl  nplh  npl q gh qh kh nq ngh nqh nkh r dr rh tr nr ndr nrh ntr s sh t d th t nt nd nth nt

Consonants (cont.) RPA Danashan ts zh tsh ch nts nzh ntsh nch tx z txh c ntx nz ntxh nc v – w x s xy x y z r

There is no simple correspondence between the tone letters. The historical connection between the tones is as follows. The Chinese names reflect the tones given to early Chinese loan words with those tones in Chinese.

Tone class	Tone number	Dananshan orthog.	RPA
			Hmoob	Mong
平 or A	1	b ˦˧	b ˥
	2	x ˧˩	j ˥˧
上 or B	3	d ˥	v ˧˦
	4	l ˨˩̤	s	g
去 or C	5	t ˦	(unmarked) ˧
	6	s ˩˧̤	g ˧˩̤
入 or D	7	k ˧	s ˩
	8	f ˨˦	m ˩̰ ~ d ˨˩˧

Tones 4 and 7 merged in Hmoob Dawb, while tones 4 and 6 merged in Mong Njua.

Example: lus Hmoob (White Hmong) / lug Moob (Green Hmong) / lol Hmongb (Dananshan) "Hmong language".

Grammar

Hmong is an analytic SVO language in which adjectives and demonstratives follow the noun. Noun phrases can contain the following elements (parentheses indicate optional elements):

(possessive) + (quantifier) + (classifier) + noun + (adjective) + (demonstrative)

The Hmong pronominal system distinguishes between three grammatical persons and three numbers - singular, dual, and plural. They are not marked for case, that is, the same word is used to translate both "I" and "me", "she" and "her", and so forth. These are the personal pronouns of Hmong Daw and Mong Njua:

White Hmong Pronouns

Number:	Singular	Dual	Plural
First	kuv	wb	peb
Second	koj	neb	nej
Third	nws	nkawd	lawv

Mong Njua Pronouns

Number:	Singular	Dual	Plural
First	kuv	ib	peb
Second	koj	meb	mej
Third	nwg	ob tug	puab

Verbs

Hmong is an isolating language in which most morphemes are monosyllables. As a result, verbs are not overtly inflected. Tense, aspect, mood, person, number, gender, and case are indicated lexically.

Serial verb construction

Hmong verbs can be serialized. Two or more verbs can be combined in one clause. It is not uncommon for as many as five verbs to be strung together sharing the same subject.

Example (White Hmong)
Yam zoo tshaj plaws mas, nej yuav tsum mus nrhiav nug xyuas saib luag muaj kev pab hom dab tsi nyob ncig ib cheeb tsam ntawm nej.
thing good most top you must go look-for ask visit see others have way help kind what be-at around environs at you
'The best thing to do is for you to find people who live in your neighborhood who can help you with different things.'

Tense

Since the verb form in Hmong does not change to indicate tense, the simplest way to indicate the location in time of an event is to use temporal adverb phrases like "last year," "today," or "next week."

Example (White Hmong)
Nag hmo kuv mus tom khw.
yesterday I go loc. market
'I went to the market yesterday.'

Aspect

Aspectual differences are indicated by a number of verbal modifiers. The most common of which are:

Progressive: (Mong Njua) taab tom + verb, (White Hmong) tab tom + verb = situation in progess

Example: (Mong Njua)
Puab taab tom haus dlej.
they prog. drink water.
They are drinking water.

Taab/tab tom + verb can also be used to indicate a situation that is about to start. This is most clear when taab/tab tom occurs in conjunction with the irrealis marker yuav. It should be noted that the taab tom construction is used only when it is not clear from the context that a situation is ongoing or about to begin.

Perfective: sentence/clause + lawm = completed situation

Example (Green and White Hmong)
Kuv noj mov lawm.
I eat rice perf.
'I am finished/I am done eating.'

Lawm at the end of a sentence can also indicate that an action is underway.

Example (White Hmong)
Tus tub tau rab hneev, nws thiaj mus ua si lawm.
clf. boy get clf. crossbow; he then go play perf.
'The boy got the crossbow and went off to play.'

Another common way to indicate the accomplishment of an action or attainment is by using tau. Tau, as a main verb, means 'to get/obtain.' It takes on different connotations when combined with other verbs. When it occurs before the main verb (i.e. tau + verb), it conveys the attainment or fulfillment of a situation. Whether the situation took place in the past, present, or future is indicated at the discourse level rather than the sentence level. If the situation has taken place in the past, tau + verb translates to the past tense in English.

Example (White Hmong)
Lawv tau noj nqaij nyug.
they attain eat meat beef
'They ate beef.'

Tau is optional if an explicit past time marker is present (e.g. nag hmo, last night). Tau can also mark the fulfillment of a situation in the future.

Example (White Hmong)
Thaum txog peb caug lawm sawv daws thiaj tau hnav khaub ncaws tshiab.
when arrive New Year perf. everybody then attain wear clothes new
'So when the New Year arrives, everybody gets to wear new clothes.'

When tau follows the main verb (i.e. verb + tau), it indicates the accomplishment of the purpose of an action.

Example (Mong Njua)
Kuv xaav xaav ib plag, kuv xaav tau tswv yim.
I think think awhile, I think get idea.
'I thought it over and got an idea.'

Tau is also common in serial verb constructions made up of a verb followed by an accomplishment verb as in: (White Hmong) nrhiav tau, to look for; caum tau, to chase; yug tau, to give birth.

Mood

Future: yuav + verb

Example (Mong Njua)
Kuv yuav moog.
I will be going.

Yuav + verb may also be seen as indicative of the irrealis mood: situations that are unfulfilled or unrealized. This includes hypothetical or non-occurring situations with past, present, or future time references.

Example (from a White Hmong folk tale)
Tus Tsov hais tias, "Kuv tshaib tshaib plab li kuv yuav noj koj.
clf. Tiger say, "I hungry hungry stomach int. I irrls. eat you
'The Tiger said, "I'm very hungry and I'm going to eat you."

Tus Qav tsis paub yuav ua li cas li.
clf. Frog neg. know irrls. do what int.
'The Frog didn't know what to do.'

See also

• Hmong people
• Pahawh Hmong script
• Romanized Popular Alphabet

Bibliography

• Cooper, Robert, Editor. The Hmong: A Guide to Traditional Lifestyles. Singapore: Times Editions. 1998. pp. 35–41.
• Finck, John. "Clan Leadership in the Hmong Community of Providence, Rhode Island." In The Hmong in the West, Editors, Bruce T. Downing and Douglas P. Olney. Minneapolis, MN: Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota, 1982, pp. 22–25.
• Thao, Paoze, Mong Education at the Crossroads, New York: University Press of America, 1999, pp. 12–13.
• Xiong Yuyou, Diana Cohen (2005). Student's Practical Miao–Chinese–English Handbook / Npout Ndeud Xof Geuf Lol Hmongb Lol Shuad Lol Yenb. Yunnan Nationalities Publishing House, 539 pp. ISBN 7536732872.

Further reading

• Enwall, Joakim. Hmong Writing Systems in Vietnam: A Case Study of Vietnam's Minority Language Policy. Stockholm, Sweden: Center for Pacific Asian Studies, 1995.

External links

• White Hmong Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)
• White Hmong Swadesh List on Wiktionary (see Swadesh list)
• Lomation's Hmong Text Reader - free online program that can read Hmong words/text.
• Online Hmong dictionary (including audio clips)
• The Hmong Language: An Oral Memory
• Mong Literacy: consonants, vowels, tones of Mong Njua and Hmong Daw
• Comparison of Hmong and English grammar from the University of Minnesota
• Hmong Resources