White Hmong Language
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Hmong or Mong ( ; RPA: , CHV: ''Hmôngz'',
Nyiakeng Puachue Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong (Hmong: ; RPA: ''Ntawv Nyiajkeeb Puajtxwm Hmoob'') is an alphabet script devised for White Hmong and Green Hmong in the 1980s by Reverend Chervang Kong for use within his United Christians Liberty Evangelical Church. Th ...
: ,
Pahawh Pahawh Hmong (Romanized Popular Alphabet, RPA: Phaj hauj Hmoob , Pahawh: ; known also as ''Ntawv Pahawh, Ntawv Keeb, Ntawv Caub Fab, Ntawv Soob Lwj'') is an indigenous Semi-syllabary, semi-syllabic writing system, script, invented in 1959 by Sh ...
: , ) is a
dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...
of the
West Hmongic The West Hmongic languages, also known as Chuanqiandian Miao () and Western Miao, are a major branch of the Hmongic languages of China and Southeast Asia. The name ''Chuanqiandian'' is used both for West Hmongic as a whole and for one of its bra ...
branch of the
Hmongic languages The Hmongic languages, also known as Miao languages ( zh, s=苗语, p=Miáoyǔ), include the various languages spoken by the Miao people (such as Hmong, Hmu, and Xong). Hmongic languages also include various languages spoken by non- Mienic-spe ...
spoken by the
Hmong people The Hmong people ( RPA: , CHV: ''Hmôngz'', Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh Hmong: , , zh, c=苗族蒙人) are an indigenous group in East Asia and Southeast Asia. In China, the Hmong people are classified as a sub-group of the Miao people. Th ...
of
Southwestern China Southwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xizang. Geography Southwestern China is a rugged and mountainous region, ...
, northern
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, and
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
. There are an estimated 4.5 million speakers of varieties that are largely mutually intelligible, including over 280,000
Hmong Americans Hmong Americans ( RPA: ''Hmoob Mes Kas'', Pahawh Hmong: "") are Americans of Hmong ancestry. Many Hmong Americans immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1970s, with a second wave in the 1980s and 1990s. Over half of the Hmong ...
as of 2013. Over half of all Hmong speakers speak the various dialects in China, where the
Dananshan The Nanshan Mountains or Nanshan are a set of mountains in Shenzhen. The largest of them are the Dananshan (大南山) and the Xiaonanshan (小南山). They are located at the southern tip of Nanshan District, itself named after the mountains ...
dialect forms the basis of the standard language. However, Hmong Daw and Mong Leng are widely known only in Laos and the United States; Dananshan is more widely known in the native region of Hmong.


Varieties

Mong Leng () and Hmong Daw () are part of a dialect cluster known in China as (), called the "Chuanqiandian ''cluster''" in English (or "Miao cluster" in other languages) since West Hmongic is also called . The variety spoken from Sichuan in China to Thailand and Laos is referred to in China as the "First Local Variety" () of the cluster. Mong Leng and Hmong Daw are just those varieties of the cluster that migrated to Laos. The names ''Mong Leng'', ''Hmong Dleu/Der'', and ''Hmong Daw'' are also used in China for various dialects of the cluster. ''
Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
'' once distinguished only the Laotian varieties (Hmong Daw, Mong Leng), Sinicized Miao (Hmong Shua), and the Vietnamese varieties (Hmong Dô, Hmong Don). The Vietnamese varieties are very poorly known; population estimates are not even available. In 2007, Horned Miao,
Small Flowery Miao Gha-Mu, often translated as Small Flowery Miao (), is a Miao language of China spoken by the Gha-Mu people. It is closely related to the Hmong dialects of China and Laos; both Gha-Mu and Hmong are members of the ''Chuanqiandian'' cluster of W ...
, and the Chuanqiandian cluster of China were split off from Mong Leng lu These varieties are as follows, along with some alternative names. * Hmong/Mong/Chuanqiandian Miao macrolanguage (China, Laos, also spoken by minorities in Thailand and the United States), including: ** Hmong Daw (''Hmong Der'', , , , 'White Hmong'; Chinese: , , 'White Miao'), ** Mong Leng (, , , 'Blue/Green Hmong'; Chinese: , , 'Blue-Green Miao'), ** Hmong Shua (; 'Sinicized Miao'), ** Hmo or A-Hmo (Chinese: , , 'Horned Miao'), **
Small Flowery Miao Gha-Mu, often translated as Small Flowery Miao (), is a Miao language of China spoken by the Gha-Mu people. It is closely related to the Hmong dialects of China and Laos; both Gha-Mu and Hmong are members of the ''Chuanqiandian'' cluster of W ...
, ** and the rest of the Chuanqiandian Miao cluster located in China. * Hmong languages of Vietnam, not considered part of the China/Laos macrolanguage and possibly forming their own distinct macrolanguage — they are still not very well classified even if they are described by ''Ethnologue'' as having vigorous use (in Vietnam) but without population estimates; they have most probably been influenced by
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...
, as well as by
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
(in the former Indochina colonies) and later
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
, and they may be confused with varieties spoken by minorities living today in the United States, Europe or elsewhere in Asia (where their varieties may have been assimilated locally, but separately in each area, with other Hmong varieties imported from Laos and China): ** Hmong Dô (Vietnam), ** Hmong Don (Vietnam, assumed). The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...
(CDC) stated that the White and Leng dialects "are said to be mutually intelligible to a well-trained ear, with pronunciation and vocabulary differences analogous to the differences between
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
and
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
."Chapter 2. Overview of Lao Hmong Culture
"
Archive
''Promoting Cultural Sensitivity: Hmong Guide''.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...
. p. 14. Retrieved on 5 May 2013.
Several Chinese varieties may overlap with or be more distinct than the varieties listed above: * Dananshan Miao (, ; called in Northern Hmong), the basis of the Chinese standard of the Chuanqiandian cluster * Black Miao (subgroups: , /; Chinese: , ) * Southern Hmong (subgroups: , , , ; includes Mong Leng) * Northern Hmong (subgroups: , /, ) * Western Sichuan Miao (Chinese: , ) In the 2007 request to establish an ISO code for the Chuanqiandian cluster, corresponding to the "first local dialect" () of the Chuanqiandian cluster in Chinese, the proposer made the following statement on mutual intelligibility:


Varieties in Laos

According to the CDC, "although there is no official preference for one dialect over the other, White Hmong seems to be favored in many ways": the
Romanized Popular Alphabet The Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA) or Hmong RPA (also Roman Popular Alphabet), is a system of romanization for the various dialects of the Hmong language. Created in Laos between 1951 and 1953 by a group of missionaries and Hmong advisers, it ha ...
(RPA) most closely reflects that of White Hmong (''Hmong Daw''); most educated Hmong speak White Hmong because White Hmong people lack the ability to understand Mong Leng; and most Hmong dictionaries only include the White Hmong dialect. Furthermore, younger generations of Hmong are more likely to speak White Hmong, and speakers of Mong Leng are more likely to understand White Hmong than speakers of White Hmong are.


Varieties in the United States

Most Hmong in the United States speak White Hmong (Hmoob Dawb) and Mong Leng (Moob Leeg), with around 60% speaking White Hmong and 40% Mong Leng. The
CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...
states that "though some Hmong report difficulty understanding speakers of a dialect not their own, for the most part, Mong Leng seem to do better when understanding both dialects."


Phonology

The three dialects described here are Hmong Daw (also called White Miao or Hmong Der), Mong Leeg (also called Blue/Green Miao or Mong Leng), and Dananshan (Standard Chinese Miao). Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are the two major dialects spoken by
Hmong Americans Hmong Americans ( RPA: ''Hmoob Mes Kas'', Pahawh Hmong: "") are Americans of Hmong ancestry. Many Hmong Americans immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1970s, with a second wave in the 1980s and 1990s. Over half of the Hmong ...
. Although mutually intelligible, the dialects differ in both lexicon and certain aspects of phonology. For instance, Mong Leeg lacks the voiceless/aspirated of Hmong Daw (as exemplified by their names) and has a third nasalized vowel, ; Dananshan has a couple of extra diphthongs in native words, numerous Chinese loans, and an eighth tone.


Vowels

The vowel systems of Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are as shown in the following charts. (Phonemes particular to Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded and indicated by a dagger or double dagger respectively.) # 1st Row: IPA, Hmong RPA # 2nd Row: Nyiakeng Puachue # 3rd Row: Pahawh The Dananshan standard of China is similar. Phonemic differences from Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded and marked as absent or added. Dananshan occurs only after non-palatal affricates, and is written , much like Mandarin Chinese. is pronounced after palatal consonants. There is also a triphthong , as well as other i- and u-initial sequences in Chinese borrowings, such as .


Consonants

Hmong makes a number of phonemic contrasts unfamiliar to English speakers. All non-glottal stops and affricates distinguish aspirated and unaspirated forms, and most also distinguish
prenasalization Prenasalized consonants are phonetic sequences of a nasal and an obstruent (or occasionally a non-nasal sonorant) that behave phonologically like single consonants. The primary reason for considering them to be single consonants, rather than clus ...
independently of this. The consonant inventory of Hmong is shown in the chart below. (Consonants particular to Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded and indicated by a dagger or double dagger respectively.) #1st Row: IPA, Hmong RPA #2nd Row: Nyiakeng Puachue #3rd Row: Pahawh The Dananshan standard of China is similar. (Phonemic differences from Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded and marked as absent or added. Minor differences, such as the voicing of prenasalized stops, or whether is an affricate or 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 angled brackets. The glottal stop is not written; it is not distinct from a zero initial. There is also a , which occurs only in foreign words. 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 as the second element. The difference in analysis (e.g., between and ) 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 Mong Leeg, e.g. , correspond to the voiced dentals of White Hmong), whereas 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 . However, this cluster analysis is not as common as the above one involving . Only used in
Hmong RPA The Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA) or Hmong RPA (also Roman Popular Alphabet), is a system of romanization for the various dialects of the Hmong language. Created in Laos between 1951 and 1953 by a group of missionaries and Hmong advisers, it ha ...
and not in
Pahawh Hmong Pahawh Hmong (Romanized Popular Alphabet, RPA: Phaj hauj Hmoob , Pahawh: ; known also as ''Ntawv Pahawh, Ntawv Keeb, Ntawv Caub Fab, Ntawv Soob Lwj'') is an indigenous Semi-syllabary, semi-syllabic writing system, script, invented in 1959 by Sh ...
, since Hmong RPA uses
Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...
and Pahawh Hmong does not. For example, in Hmong RPA, to write , the order Consonant + Vowel + Tone (CVT) must be followed, so it is ''k'' + ''ee'' + ''b'' = , but in Pahawh Hmong, it is just "" (3rd-Stage Version).


Syllable structure

Hmong
syllable A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...
s have simple structure: all syllables have an onset consonant (except in a few particles), nuclei may consist of a monophthong or diphthong, and the only coda consonants that occur are nasals. In Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg, nasal codas have become nasalized vowels, though they may be accompanied by weakly articulated . Similarly, a short may accompany the low-falling
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