Languages of the Miao
| Miao | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, United States | |
| Linguistic classification |
|
|
| Official status | ||
| Recognized minority / regional language in |
 People's Republic of China Vietnam French Guiana 
|
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -1 |
- |
|
| ISO 639 -2 |
hmn |
|
| ISO 639-3 |
hmn |
|
Several related but mutually incomprehensible languages or dialect groups are summarized as the languages of the Miao ( Chinese mehrere 支 ) or Hmongic languages ( English Hmongic languages ) . These include Hmu (or Qiandong-Miao), Qo Xiong (or Xong or Xiangxi-Miao), A-Hmao (or Diandongbei-Miao) and Hmong in the narrower sense (or Chuanqiandian-Miao).
Classification
The languages of the Miao belong to the language group of the Hmong Mien languages (Miao-Yao languages).
Chinese scholars usually include the Miao-Yao languages in the family of Sino-Tibetan languages .
However, they are also often included in a proposed superfamily of Australian languages along with the Austronesian languages and the Austro-Asian languages . However, this thesis has few supporters.
In China, people of the Miao nationality who do not speak Miao are also included. In Chengbu and Suining (Hunan), in Longsheng and Ziyuan ( Guangxi ) and in Jinping (Guizhou) there are Miao who speak Chinese (about 100,000 in total); in Sanjiang (Guangxi) speakers of the Dong / Gaeml language are assigned to the Miao (over 30,000); in the island province of Hainan , Yao speakers are assigned to the Miao (over 100,000). The A-Hmao (400,000) use a dialect of the Miao.
Written languages
The Miao use several written languages.
Historical written languages
In the 19th century Shí Bǎntáng 石板 塘 created a Miao script based on Chinese characters; Shí Qǐguì 石启贵 created a simpler script for the Miao language. Both were speakers of the West Hunan dialect. Lóng Shàohuá 龙 绍华 from Guizhou wrote several textbooks in Miao for which he used IPA .
Other writing systems were created by Christian missionaries from Europe and North America, including the script that the British missionary Samuel Pollard (Chinese: Bǎi Gélǐ 柏格 理) designed together with the Miao intellectual Yáng Yǎgè 杨 um in 1905 to describe the dialect from Shíménkǎn 石门坎 to be written. It went through several reforms until it finally got its final form with the publication of a New Testament in 1936. Pollard-Miao (A-Hmao) uses 24 large characters and 8 character combinations for the initial syllables, and 15 smaller characters for the final syllables. In the 1980s this script was still being used by around 250,000 Miao people in China, of which around 50,000 were also very good at it. In 1988, for example, the Patriotic Catholic Church of China published a New Testament in Pollard-Miao.
In 1949, the French Catholic missionary Bertrais created a Miao script in the Luang Prabang area of Laos. The Protestant missionary Barney from the USA designed a Miao alphabet around the same time and also in Laos. Both scriptures were reformed or unified after consultation with the US missionary and linguist William Smalley and the result, the Roman Popular Alphabet (RPA), is still used in several countries (especially by refugees in the USA).
In 1959, Shong Lue Yang (Soob Lwj Yaj) invented a script known as Pahawh Hmong in northern Laos on the border with Vietnam . Shong Lue Yang claimed that God revealed these scriptures to him. It is a relatively complex system that has been reformed several times. The letters are written from left to right, but the final syllable comes before the initial syllable. Eight different tones are expressed by diacritical marks. The script is still used today - in two differently reformed versions ( Pahawh Njia Dua O / Phajhauj Ntsiab Duas Ob and Pahawh Njia Dua Pe / Phajhauj Ntsiab Duas Peb ), but by very few Hmong speakers. A radically simplified version of the script ( Pahawh Tsa / Phajhauj Txha ) that Shong Lue Yang published in 1971 did not catch on at all.
Written languages in China
After the founding of the People's Republic of China , due to the great differences between the various dialects for the Miao in China, three (or four) different written languages based on the Latin alphabet were created: for the one in West Hunan (Xiangxi-Miao or Xong), for those in eastern Guizhou (Qiandong-Miao or Hmu (b)) and for those in Sichuan , Yunnan and other parts of Guizhou (Chuanqiandian-Miao or Hmong) - as well as a draft of a written language of a fourth dialect, which, however, never achieved official status.
However, these four written languages are rarely used by the speakers. Various political campaigns - the Great Leap Forward , the Movement Against the "deviants", the Four Purges and the Cultural Revolution - had devastating consequences for the languages of national minorities across China, and it was not until the 1980s that many languages could be used again . The market economy reforms, however, have left the education system and thus the teaching of minority languages behind in the poorer rural areas of China. The reorientation of the publishers towards profitability does not encourage the publication of books and magazines in languages of minorities with comparatively small numbers of speakers and low purchasing power.
Dut Xongb
The written language of the Miao in West Hunan (Eastern dialect; name of the language: Dut Xongb [tu53 ɕoŋ35]) was created in 1956 and reformed in April 1959. The written language is intended for the 1.1 million speakers of this dialect and uses the dialect of Làyǐpíng 腊 乙 坪村 in the community of Jíwèi 吉 卫 乡 in the district of Huāyuán Kreis 县 as the standard. It differentiates between 49 syllable sounds, 35 ends and six tones, which are expressed by letters that are placed at the end of the syllable.
Initial sounds
| p | b | pʰ | p | mp | nb | mpʰ | np | f | f | m | m | m̥ʰ | Hm | ||
| pɹ | bl | pɹʰ | pl | mpɹʰ | npl | mɹ | ml | ||||||||
| ʨʰ | q | nʨ | nj | nʨʰ | nq | ɕ | x | ʑ | j | ||||||
| t | d | tʰ | t | nt | nd | ntʰ | nt | s | s | n | n | n̥ʰ | hn | l̥ʰ | St. |
| ʦ | z | ʦʰ | c | nʦ | nz | nʦʰ | nc | ||||||||
| ʈ | zh | ʈʰ | ch | ɳ ʈ | nzh | ɳ ʈʰ | nch | ʂ | sh | ʐ | r | ɳ | nh | ||
| k | G | kʰ | k | ŋk | ngg | ŋkʰ | nk | ||||||||
| q | gh | qʰ | kh | ɴq | ngh | ɴqʰ | nkh | ||||||||
| w | w | H | m | j | y |
Finals
| i | i | ||||
| iu | iu | ||||
| ɑ | a | iɑ | ia | uɑ | among others |
| O | O | ok | ok | ||
| e | e | ie | ie | ue | ue |
| a | ea | ia | iea | among others | uea |
| egg | egg | uei | ui | ||
| ɔ | ao | iɔ | iao | ||
| ɤ | eu | iɤ | ieu | uɤ | ueu |
| ɯ | ou | iɯ | iou | uɯ | uou |
| ɛ̃ | on | iɛ̃ | ian | uɛ̃ | uan |
| en | en | ien | in | uen | U.N |
| ɑŋ | nec | iɑŋ | yang | uɑŋ | uang |
| oŋ | ong | ion | iong |
Sounds
| description | contour | spelling, orthography |
|---|---|---|
| rising high | 45 | b |
| falling deep | 21st | x |
| high | 44 | d |
| deep | 22nd | l |
| falling high | 53 | t |
| falling | 42 | s |
Text sample
From the declaration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
| Leb leb nis zib youl nangs, mex ad sheit nangd zend yanl nhangs njanl lib. Mix mex lix xinb gaot liangt send, leb leb lies nhangs ghob nab ghob geud nangd. | All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should meet one another in a spirit of brotherhood. |
Hmub
The written language of the Miao in East Guizhou (central dialect; 2.1 million speakers; own name: Hmub ) is based on the dialect of Yǎnghāo 养 蒿 村 in the large community of Sānkēshù 三棵树 镇, which belongs to the city of Kǎilǐ 凯里 市, and distinguishes 32 initial sounds, 26 final sounds and eight tones.
Text sample
| Laix laix diangl dangt lol sob dab yangx ghax maix zit yef, niangb diot gid zenb nieef haib gid quaif lit gid nongd jus diel pinf denx. Nenx dol maix loaf lix xent haib jox hvib vut, nenx dol nongt liek bed ut id xit deit dait. | All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should meet one another in a spirit of brotherhood. |
Hmongb or Hmaob
The third written language of the Miao in China, the Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan dialect (Chinese: Chuān-Qián-Diān fāngyán 川黔 滇 方言; own names: Hmongb and Hmaob ), is based on the dialect of Dànánshān 大 南山 村 in the large community of Yànzik燕子 口镇, which belongs to Bìjié 毕节 市 City in Guizhou Province. It differentiates 56 initial sounds, 27 final sounds and eight tones. The western dialect is very inconsistent, there are seven subgroups: Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan in the narrower sense, Northeast Yunnan (with its own written language, see below), Guìyáng 贵阳, huìshuǐ 惠 水, Máshān 麻 山, Luóbó Hé 罗 泊 河 and Zhòngān Jing重 安 江. It is spoken by over 2.5 million people.
Text sample
| Cuat lenx cuat dol bongb deul ndax dex douf muax zif youx, nyaob shout zub yinx tab ndas dos id, dax zis ib suk. Nil buab daf lol jaox muax lid xinf hlub hout tab liangx xinb shab nzhuk, yinf gaib keuk suk gud dix mol lol nit jinb shenx lol shib daf shib hlad. | All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should meet one another in a spirit of brotherhood. |
Northwest Yunnan
The fourth written language is the dialect of Northeast Yunnan. Your status is not entirely clear. According to the official classification, it is a subgroup of the western dialect (Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan). The written form is based on the dialect of Shíménkǎn 石门坎 in the Weining Autonomous Okrug of the Yi, Hui and Miao nationalities (Wēiníng Yízú Huízú Miáozú zìzhìxiàn 威宁 彝族 回族 苗族 自治县) in the Guizhou Province. It distinguishes 55 initial sounds, 21 final sounds and eight tones. The dialect had around 400,000 speakers in 1990.
In 1999 a dictionary was published that attempts to standardize this variety. The dialect was written down in a modified version of the Pollard alphabet. In 2007 a proposal was submitted to encode this modified Pollard alphabet in Unicode . (newer version: as of the status of the discussion end of 2009:)
Modern written languages outside of China
Hmong in the narrower sense (in Chinese terminology the Chuanqiandian dialects of Miao) is the only language or dialect group of the Miao languages that is also available outside of China, namely in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, as well as in the USA and others as a result of emigration western countries, is common.
At the end of the 1980s the Protestant pastor Txawj Vang designed another font for the Hmong, which he called Ntawv Paj Ntaub ("embroidery font "). It consists of a total of sixty characters and is used by some Christian communities under the influence of the United Christian Liberty Evangelical Church in the USA.
In Thailand , Hmong is written using the Thai alphabet.
In Vietnam , Hmong (Mẹo, Mèo, Hmông) is written using the Latin alphabet, based on the Vietnamese spelling.
literature
- Wáng Fǔshì 王 辅 世: Miáoyǔ jiǎnzhì苗语 简 志 (Introduction to the Miao language). Minzu chubanshe 民族 出版社 (Nationalities Publisher), Beijing 1985.
- Xiàng Rìzhēng 向日 征: Hàn-Miáo cídiǎn汉 苗 词典 (Chinese-Miao dictionary). Sichuan minzu chubanshe 四川 民族 出版社 (Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House ), Chengdu 1992, ISBN 7540903007 . [West Hunan dialect]
Web links
- Hmong Language Institute of Australia
- A Hua Miao Archive Songs and Stories and a Glossary of Phrases of the Hua Miao of South West China
Footnotes
- ↑ 苗 文 新 约 全书 . cass.cn. Archived from the original on January 11, 2005. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ↑ Miáo-Hàn jiǎnmíng cídiǎn《苗 汉 简明 词典》 / m'ao 3 váo 6 ndlie ndeu qw 3 . Kunming, Yúnnán mínzú chūbǎnshè 云南 民族 出版社 1999, ISBN 9787536715127 .
- ↑ Michael Everson: Preliminary proposal for encoding the Northeastern Yunnan Simple Miao script (PDF; 1.2 MB) Dansk UNIX-system Bruger Group, September 14, 2007.
- ↑ (National Body of) China: Proposal for encoding the Miao script (PDF; 1.2 MB) ISO / IEC SC2 / WG2 group document N3669
- ↑ Miao Ad-Hoc Committee (of SC2 / WG2): Miao Ad-Hoc Meeting Report (of 2009-10-28) (PDF; 64 kB) ISO / IEC SC2 / WG2 group document N3730