Pa-Hng (also spelled Pa-Hung; ''Bāhēng yǔ'') is a divergent Hmongic (Miao) language spoken in

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

, Guangxi, and

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

southern China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not ...

as well as

northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam ( vi, Bắc Bộ) is one of three geographical regions within Vietnam. It consists of three administrative regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng S ...

Classification

Pa-Hng has long been recognized as divergent. Benedict (1986) argued that one of its dialects constituted a separate branch of the Miao–Yao family. Ratliff found it to be the most divergent Hmongic (Miao) language that she analyzed.Ratliff, Martha. 2010. ''Hmong–Mien language history''. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics. This Bahengic branch also includes Younuo (Yuno) and Wunai (Hm Nai).毛宗武, 李云兵 / Mao Zongwu, Li Yunbing. 1997. 巴哼语研究 / Baheng yu yan jiu (A Study of Baheng a-Hng. Shanghai: 上海远东出版社 / Shanghai yuan dong chu ban she.

Names

Pa-Hng speakers are called by the following names (Mao & Li 1997). *' (巴哼) *' (唔奈) *Red Yao (红瑶) *Flowery Yao (花瑶) *Eight Surname Yao (八姓瑶) In

Liping County Liping County () is a county in the southeast of Guizhou province, China, bordering Hunan to the east and Guangxi to the southeast. It is part of the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture. History The county was affected by the Miao ...

, Guizhou, the Dong people call the Pa-Hng ' (嘎优), while the Miao people call them ' (大达优). In Tongdao County, Hunan, the Pa-Hng (') are also known as the Seven Surname Yao 七姓瑶, since they have the seven surnames of Shen 沈, Lan 兰, Dai 戴, Deng 邓, Ding 丁, Pu 蒲, and Feng 奉.''Tongdao Dong Autonomous County Ethnic Gazetteer'' 通道侗族自治县民族志 (2004). In China, Pa-Hng speakers are classified as Yao, even though their language is Hmongic rather than Mienic.

Varieties

Mao & Li (1997) splits Pa-Hng into the following subdivisions, and most closely related to Hm Nai: *Pa-Hng proper (巴哼 ') **Northern **Southern * Hm Nai (唔奈 ') Vocabulary word lists for these three Pa-Hng varieties can be found in Mao & Li (1997). An additional dialect is found in Vietnam. *''Northern Pa-Hng'': Gundong 滚董,

黎平, Guizhou *''Southern Pa-Hng'': Wenjie 文界,

Sanjiang County Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County (; Standard Zhuang: ) is under the administration of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. It is a region traditionally inhabited by the Dong people, bordering the prefecture-level divisions of Qiandongn ...

三江, Guangxi *''Hm Nai'': Huxingshan 虎形山, Longhui County 隆回, Hunan The ''Na-e'' dialect (also known by the Vietnamese rendition of Pa-Hng, ''Pà Then'' ateng, is a geographic outlier. Paul Benedict (1986) argued that it is not actually Pa-Hng, or even Hmongic, but a separate branch of the Miao–Yao language family. However, Strecker (1987) responded that it does appear to be a Pa-Hng dialect, though it has some peculiarities, and that Pa-Hng as a whole is divergent. Jerold A. Edmondson has reported Pa-Hng dialects in Bac Quang District and Hong Quang Village of Chiem Hoa District in

, and found that they were most closely related to the Pa-Hng dialect spoken in Gaoji Township 高基,

, Guangxi.

Distribution

China

Pa-Hng speakers are distributed in the following counties in China. Most of the counties have 1,000 - 6,000 Pa-Hng speakers (Mao & Li 1997). *

** Longhui County, Shaoyang (Hm-Nai speakers) ***''Hm-Nai'': Huxingshan 虎形山乡, Xiaoshajiang 小沙江乡, Motang 磨塘乡, Dashuitian 大水田乡 **

Dongkou County Dongkou County () is a county in the Province of Hunan, China, it is under the administration of Shaoyang City. Located in west-central Hunan, the county is bordered to the northeast by Longhui County, to the northwest by Xupu County and Hongj ...

, Shaoyang (Hm-Nai speakers) ** Chenxi County,

Huaihua Huaihua () is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Hunan province, China. It covers and is bordered by Xiangxi to the northwest, Zhangjiajie and Changde to the north, Yiyang, Loudi and Shaoyang to the east, Guilin and Liuzhou of ...

(Hm-Nai speakers) ** Xupu County,

(Hm-Nai speakers) ** Tongdao County,

(Hm-Nai speakers): 1,779 people (2000), in Chuansu Township 传素瑶族乡 and Linkou Township 临口镇 (in Shangdong 上洞村 and Xiadong 下洞村 villages). Highly endangered status.毛宗武 / Mao Zongwu. 优诺语研究 / Younuo yu yan jiu (A Study of Younuo). Beijing: 民族出版社 / Min zu chu ban she, 2007. **

Chengbu Miao Autonomous County Chengbu Miao Autonomous County (; usually referred to as "Chengbu County", commonly abbreviated as "Chengbu", ) is an autonomous county of Miao people in the Province of Hunan, China, it is under the administration of Shaoyang City. Located ...

, Shaoyang ** Xinning County, Shaoyang ** Suining County, Shaoyang (100+ speakers) *

***''Northern Pa-Hng'': Gundong 滚董乡, Shunhua 顺化乡 ** Congjiang County ***''Southern Pa-Hng'': Gaomang 高忙乡 * Guangxi **

Rongshui County Rongshui Miao Autonomous County (; Standard Zhuang: ) is under the administration of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The seat of Rongshui County is Rongshui Town. It borders the prefecture-level divisions of Qiandongnan (Guizhou) ...

(12,000+ speakers) ***''Northern Pa-Hng'': Dalang 大浪乡, Danian 大年乡, Antai 安太乡, Dongtou 洞头乡, Gunbei 滚贝乡, Wangdong 汪洞乡, Gandong 杆洞乡; Huaibao 怀宝镇 ***''Southern Pa-Hng'': Baiyun 白云乡, Dalang 大浪乡, Anchui 安陲乡, Xiangfen 香粉乡 **

***''Northern Pa-Hng'': Tongle 同乐乡, Laobao 老堡乡 ***''Southern Pa-Hng'': Wenjie 文界乡, Liangkou 良口乡 **

Longsheng County Longsheng Various Nationalities (Gezu) Autonomous County ( zh, s=龙胜各族自治县, t=龍勝各族自治縣, p=Lóngshèng Gèzú Zìzhìxiàn; za, Lungzhingz Gakcuz Swciyen; usually referred to as "Longsheng County" ) is a county in the nort ...

***''Southern Pa-Hng'': Sanmen 三门乡, Pingdeng 平等乡 **

Lingui County Lingui District () is the county seat and district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning region ...

**(13 other counties)

Vietnam

Pa-Hng is also spoken in small pockets of northern Vietnam. In Vietnam, the Pa-Hng are an officially recognized ethnic group numbering around a few thousand people, where they are called Pà Thẻn. ''Na-e'' as reported by Bonifacy (1905) is also found in northern Vietnam. *Tân Trịnh, Quang Bình District,

Hà Giang Province Hà is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as He in Chinese and Ha in Korean. Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hà. It is also the anglicized variation of Hạ. Notable people with the surname Hà * Hà Kiều Anh, ...

, Vietnam (Niederer 1997, 2004) * Bắc Quang District,

, VietnamEdmondson, J.A. and Gregerson, K.J. 2001, "Four Languages of the Vietnam-China Borderlands", in ''Papers from the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society'', ed. K.L. Adams and T.J. Hudak, Tempe, Arizona, pp. 101-133. Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies. **Minh Thương Village, Tân Lập Township **Tân Thịnh Township *Hồng Quang Village, Chiêm Hoá District, Tuyên Quang Province (62 km northwest of Chiêm Hoá City), where the speakers are known as ''Mèo Hoa'' (Flowery Miao) According to Vu (2013:12-15),Vũ Quốc Khánh. 2013. ''Người Pà Thẻn ở Việt Nam

he Pa Then in Vietnam He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

'. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản thông tấn. the ancestors of the Pà Thẻn had first migrated from Guangxi to Hải Ninh (now Quảng Ninh Province), and then from Hải Ninh to the

Thái Nguyên Thái Nguyên () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital and largest city of Thái Nguyên Province. The city is listed as a first class city and is the ninth largest city in Vietnam. It has long been famous throughout Vietnam for its Tân Cư� ...

area. The Pà Thẻn then split off to settle in three main areas. *Linh Phú ( Chiêm Hoá District, Tuyên Quang) and Trung Sơn ( Yên Sơn District, Tuyên Quang) *Lăng Can ( Na Hang District, Tuyên Quang), Hồng Quang ( Chiêm Hoá District, Tuyên Quang), and Hữu Sản ( Bắc Quang District, Hà Giang) *From Xuân Minh ( Quang Bình District, Hà Giang), the Pà Thẻn migrated to the communes of Yên Bình, Yên Thành, Tân Trịnh, Tân Nam (all in Quang Bình District, Hà Giang) and Tân Lập ( Bắc Quang District, Hà Giang).

Phonology

Consonants

* Alveolar sounds are heard as retroflex in the Laobao dialect.

Vowels

can also be centralized to or when following initial sounds.

References

* Mao Zongwu ��宗武 Li Yunbing ��云兵 1997. ''A study of Pa-Hng'' ��哼语研究 Shanghai: Shanghai Far East Publishing House ��海远东出版社

External links

* http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/edmondson1992pa-hng.pdf * Pa-Hng and Hm Nai comparative vocabulary list on Wiktionary (6 dialects compared)
ABVD: Pa-Hng (Gundong) word list

Hm Nai of Longhui County, Hunan

Yao of Malin Township, Xinning County, Hunan
*https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224052/http://cema.gov.vn/modules.php?name=Content&op=details&mid=524 {{Languages of China Hmongic languages Languages of China Languages of Vietnam