Hmongic languages
| Hmongic | |
|---|---|
| Miao | |
| Ethnicity | Miao people |
| Geographic distribution |
China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and the US |
| Linguistic classification |
Hmong–Mien
|
| Subdivisions | |
| ISO 639-2 / 5 | |
| Glottolog | hmon1337 |
Hmongic languages are in red
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The Hmongic a.k.a. Miao languages include the various languages spoken by the Miao people (such as Hmong, Hmu, and Xong), Pa-Hng, and the "Bunu" languages used by non-Mien-speaking Yao people.
The most common name used for the languages is Miao (苗), the Chinese name and the one used by Miao in China. However, Hmong is more familiar in the West, due to Hmong emigration. Many overseas Hmong prefer the name Hmong, and claim that Miao is both inaccurate and pejorative. Despite the fact that the term "Miao" has negative connotations in the Guizhou dialect of Chinese, nowadays it is generally considered neutral by the Miao community in China.
Of the Hmongic languages spoken by ethnic Miao, there are a number of overlapping names. The three branches are as follows, as named by Purnell (in English and Chinese), Ma, and Ratliff, as well as the descriptive names based on the patterns and colors of traditional dress:
* No common name. Miao speakers use forms like Hmong (Mong), Hmang (Mang), Hmao, Hmyo. Yao speakers use names based on Nu.
The Hunan Province Gazetteer (1997) gives the following autonyms for various peoples classified by the Chinese government as Miao.
The Hmongic languages have been written with at least a dozen different scripts, none of which has been universally accepted among Hmong people as standard. Tradition has it that the ancestors of the Hmong, the Nanman, had a written language with a few pieces of significant literature. When the Han-era Chinese began to expand southward into the land of the Hmong, whom they considered barbarians, the script of the Hmong was lost, according to many stories. Allegedly, the script was preserved in the clothing. Attempts at revival were made by the creation of a script in the Qing Dynasty, but this was also brutally suppressed and no remnant literature has been found. Adaptations of Chinese characters have been found in Hunan, recently. However, this evidence and mythological understanding is disputed. For example, according to Professor S. Robert Ramsey, there was no writing system among the Miao until the missionaries created them. It is currently unknown for certain whether or not the Hmong had a script historically.
Around 1905, Samuel Pollard introduced the Pollard script, for the A-Hmao language, an abugida inspired by Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics, by his own admission. Several other syllabic alphabets were designed as well, the most notable being Shong Lue Yang's Pahawh Hmong script, which originated in Laos for the purpose of writing Hmong Daw, Hmong Njua, and other dialects of the standard Hmong language.
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Wikipedia