| Hmu | |
|---|---|
| Qiandong Miao hveb Hmub |
|
| Spoken in | China |
| Region | mostly Guizhou |
| Native speakers | 2.1 million (1995)[1] |
| Language family |
Hmong–Mien
|
| Writing system | Latin |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | variously: hea – Northern hmq – Eastern hms – Southern |
The Hmu language, also known as Qiandong Miao and East Hmongic, is a dialect cluster of Hmongic languages that includes the Standard Miao language. According to Ethnologue, the three varieties are not mutually intelligible.
The Miao languages were traditionally written with various adaptations of Chinese characters. Around 1905, Samuel Pollard introduced a Romanized script, the Pollard script, for A-Hmao, and this is still used for White Miao.[2] Several more alphabets were devised by the Chinese government in the 1950s for other varieties of Miao; currently, four Miao Latin alphabets are used in China. Northern Qiandong Miao, also known as Central Miao and as Eastern Guizhou Hmu (黔东方言 Qián-Dōng fāngyán) has been chosen as the standard language for Miao-language textbooks in China.[3]