Hmong language

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Hmong
Hmoob
Spoken in: Sichuan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and USA.
Total speakers: over 4 million[1]
Language family: Hmong-Mien
 Hmong
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: hmn
ISO/FDIS 639-3: variously:
hmn — Hmong (generic)
mww — Hmong Daw (Laos, China)
hmv — Hmong Do (Vietnam)
hmf — Hmong Don (Vietnam)
blu — Hmong Njua (Laos, China)
hmz — Hmong Shua (Vietnam)
hmc — Hmong Central Huishui (China)
hmm — Hmong Central Mashan (China)
hmj — Hmong Chonganjiang (China)
hme — Hmong Eastern Huishui (China)
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

Hmong (Hmong Der: Hmoob) or Mong (Mong Leng: Moob) is the common name for a group of dialects of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmong-Mien/Miao-Yao language family spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos.[2] The total number of speakers worldwide has been estimated to be over 4 million,[1] including 170,000 Hmong Americans.[3] Some dialects are mutually intelligible while others are so distinct as to be considered separate languages.

Contents

[edit] Phonology

The dialect described here is known as White Hmong or (Hmong Der), one of the two dialects spoken by Hmong people in the United States.[4] The other major dialect spoken by Hmong Americans, Green/Blue Mong (Mong Leng), is mutually intelligible with White Hmong but differs in both lexicon and certain aspects of phonology; for instance it lacks the aspirated /m/ of Hmong Der and has a third nasalized vowel /ã/ (spelled aa). In English, "Hmong" and "Mong" are pronounced identically and "Hmong" or "Mong" is used to include both Hmong Der and Mong Leng, although some have suggested a compromise, such as: H'Mong, Mhong, and HMong.

[edit] Vowels

The vowel system of Hmong is as shown in the following charts:

Monophthongs Oral   Nasal
Front Central Back Front Back
Close i ɨ u    
Mid e   ɔ ẽ ɔ̃
Open   a      
Diphthongs Closing Centering
Close component is front ai iə
Close component is central aɨ  
Close component is back au uə

[edit] Consonants

Hmong uses a number of phonological features unfamiliar to English speakers, like aspiration, prenasalization, and lateral release, to make phonemic contrasts. The consonant inventory of Hmong is shown in the chart below.

  Bilabial Bilabial with
lateral release		 Labiodental Dental Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plain stop p  pʰ pˡ  pɬ   t  tʰ
d  dʰ		 ʈ  ʈʰ c  cʰ k  kʰ q  qʰ ʔ
Prenasalized stop mb  mbʰ mbˡ  mbɬ   nd  ndʰ ɳɖ  ɳɖʰ ɲɟ  ɲɟʰ ŋɡ  ŋɡʰ ɴɢ  ɴɢʰ  
Plain affricate       ts  tsʰ ʈʂ  ʈʂʰ        
Prenasalized affricate       ndz  ndzʰ ɳɖʐ  ɳɖʐʰ        
Nasal m  m̥ mˡ  m̥ɬ   n  n̥   ɲ  ɲ̥    
Fricative     f  v s ʂ  ʐ ç  ʝ     h
Lateral       ɬ  l          

[edit] 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 are prohibited, except that a weak coda [ŋ] may accompany nasal vowels and a weak coda [ʔ] may accompany the low-falling creaky tone.

[edit] Tones

Hmong is a tone language and makes use of seven distinct tones:

Tone Example
High /pɔ́/ "lump"
Mid /pɔ/ "pancreas"
Low /pɔ̀/ "thorn"
High-falling /pɔ̂/ "female"
Mid-rising /pɔ̌/ "throw"
Low-falling (creaky) tone /pɔ̰/ "see"
Mid-low (breathy) tone /pɔ̤/ "faith"

[edit] Orthography

The Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA) script given here was developed in Laos between 1951 and 1953 by three Western missionaries (William A. Smalley, G. Lindwood Barney, and Yves Bertrais) with the help of several Hmong assistants. It has since become the most widely used writing system for Hmong Daw and Mong Leng in the West. The 20th-century saw the development of several other scripts, including Chinese and Vietnamese Romanized Alphabet systems and Pahawh, a unique writing system developed by Shong Lue Yang, a Hmong farmer from Laos who believed the script to be revealed by god.[5]

  • a – /a/
  • ai – /ai/
  • au – /au/
  • c – /c/
  • ch – /cʰ/
  • d – /d/
  • dh – /dʰ/
  • e – /e/
  • ee – /ẽ/
  • f – /f/
  • h – /h/
  • hl – /ɬ/
  • hm – /m̥/
  • hn – /n̥/
  • hnl or hml – /m̥ɬ/
  • hny – /ɲ̥/
  • i – /i/
  • ia – /iə/
  • k - /k/
  • kh – /kʰ/
  • l – /l/
  • m – /m/
  • n – /n/
  • nc – /ɲɟ/
  • nch – /ɲɟʰ/
  • nk – /ŋɡ/
  • nkh – /ŋɡʰ/
  • nl or ml – /mˡ/
  • np – /mb/
  • nph – /mbʰ/
  • npl – /mbˡ/
  • nplh – /mbɬ/
  • nq – /ɴɢ/
  • nqh – /ɴɢʰ/
  • nr – /ɳɖ/
  • nrh – /ɳɖʰ/
  • nt - /ⁿd/
  • nth - /ⁿdʰ/
  • nts - /ɳɖʐ/
  • ntsh - /ɳɖʐʰ/
  • ntx - /ⁿʣ/
  • ntxh – /ⁿʣʰ/
  • ny – /ɲ/
  • o – /ɔ/
  • oo – /ɔ̃/
  • p – /p/
  • ph – /pʰ/
  • pl – /pˡ/
  • plh – /pɬ/
  • q – /q/
  • qh – /qʰ/
  • r - /ʈ/
  • rh - /ʈʰ/
  • s – /ʂ/
  • t - /t/
  • th – /tʰ/
  • ts – /ʈʂ/
  • tsh – /ʈʂʰ/
  • tx - /ʦ/
  • txh - /ʦʰ/
  • u – /u/
  • ua – /uə/
  • v – /v/
  • w - /ɨ/
  • x – /s/
  • xy – /ç/
  • y - /ʝ/
  • z - /ʐ/

The glottal stop is not indicated in the orthography. The few truly vowel-initial words are indicated by an apostrophe.

The mid tone is not indicated in the orthography. The others are indicated by letters written at the end of the syllable.

  • -b – high tone
  • -s – low tone
  • -j – high-falling tone
  • -v – mid-rising tone
  • -m – low-falling (creaky) tone
  • -g – mid-low (breathy) tone
  • -d - phrase-final low-rising variant of -m

[edit] Hmong names

Main article: List of Hmong surnames

In the United States, Hmong usually spell their names in a way so that Americans can more easily pronounce them, rather than using Hmong orthography, which they use mainly among themselves. So, rather than Xaab Vaaj for example, the name will be written Sa Vang.

Other common names besides Vang are:
Her (何 Hawj in Hmong),
Moua (莫 Muas),
Xiong (熊 Xyooj),
Chang (張 Tsab),
Yang (楊 Yaj),
Lor (劉 Lauj),
Khang (Khaab),
Thao (Thoj),
and Lee (or Ly) (李 Lis).

Some of these names are also found among Chinese; for example, Hawj corresponds to Chinese He or Ho (何), and Vang corresponds to Wang or Wong (王).

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b http://hmongstudies.org/LemoineHSJ6.pdf Lemoine, Jacques. "What is the actual number of the (H)mong in the World." Hmong Studies Journal, Vol 6, 2005.
  2. ^ Ratliff, Martha (1992). Meaningful Tone: A Study of Tonal Morphology in Compounds, Form Classes, and Expressive Phrases in White Hmong. Dekalb, Illinois: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University.
  3. ^ http://www.mla.org/map_data_states&lang_id=722&mode=lang_tops
  4. ^ Golston, Chris, Phong Yang (2001). “Hmong loanword phonology”, in: C. Féry, A. D. Green, and R. van de Vijver (eds.),: Proceedings of HILP 5, Linguistics in Potsdam 12, Potsdam: University of Potsdam, 40-57. ISBN 3935024274.
  5. ^ http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hmong.htm

[edit] External links

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