Hmong–Mien languages
Hmong–Mien | |
---|---|
Miao–Yao Yangtzean | |
Geographic distribution | China, Southeast Asia |
Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary language families |
Proto-language | Proto-Hmong–Mien |
Subdivisions | |
ISO 639-5 | hmx |
Glottolog | hmon1336 |
Distribution of Hmong-Mien languages |
The Hmong–Mien languages (also known as Miao–Yao and rarely as Yangtzean)[1] are a highly tonal language family of southern China and northern Southeast Asia. They are spoken in mountainous areas of southern China, including Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Hubei provinces; the speakers of these languages are predominantly "hill people", in contrast to the neighboring Han Chinese, who have settled the more fertile river valleys.
Relationships
Early linguistic classifications placed the Hmong–Mien in the Sino-Tibetan family, where they remain in many Chinese classifications. The current consensus among Western linguists is that they constitute a family of their own, the lexical and typological similarities among Hmong–Mien and Sinitic languages being attributed to contact-induced influence.[2]
Paul K. Benedict, an American scholar, extended the Austric theory to include the Hmong–Mien languages. The hypothesis never received much acceptance for Hmong–Mien, however.[3] Kosaka (2002) argued specifically for a Miao–Dai family.[4]
Homeland
The most likely
The date of
Names
The Mandarin names for these languages are Miáo and Yáo.
In Vietnamese, the name for Hmong is H'Mông, and the name for Mien is Dao (i.e., Yao), although Miền is also used.
Meo, Hmu, Mong, Hmao, and Hmong are local names for Miao, but since most Laotian refugees in the United States call themselves Hmong/Mong, this name has become better known in English than the others in recent decades. However, except for some scholars who prefer the word, the term 'Hmong/Mong' is only used within certain Hmong/Miao language speaking communities in China, where the majority of the Miao speakers live. In Mandarin, despite the fact that it was once a derogatory term, the word Miao (Chinese: 苗; the tone varies according to the Sinitic dialect) is now commonly used by members of all nationalities to refer to the language and the ethnolinguistic group.[9]
The Mandarin name Yao, on the other hand, is for the
Characteristics
Like many languages in southern China, the Hmong–Mien languages tend to be
They are
Besides their tonality and lack of adpositions, another striking feature is the abundance of
Mixed languages
Various unclassified
See also
References
- ^ van Driem, George. 2018. "The East Asian linguistic phylum: A reconstruction based on language and genes Archived 2021-01-10 at the Wayback Machine", Journal of the Asiatic Society, LX (4): 1-38.
- .
- ^ "On the Thai evidence for Austro-Tai" (PDF), in Selected Papers on Comparative Tai Studies, ed. R.J. Bickner et al., pp. 117–164. Center for South and Southeast Asian studies, the University of Michigan.
- ^ Kosaka, Ryuichi. 2002. "On the affiliation of Miao-Yao and Kadai: Can we posit the Miao-Dai family." Mon-Khmer Studies 32:71-100.
- ^ Blench, Roger. 2004. Stratification in the peopling of China: how far does the linguistic evidence match genetics and archaeology? Paper for the Symposium "Human migrations in continental East Asia and Taiwan: genetic, linguistic and archaeological evidence". Geneva June 10–13, 2004. Université de Genève.
- S2CID 2533393.
- PMID 21904623.
- ^ "Automated Dating of the World's Language Families based on Lexical Similarity" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
- ^ Tapp, Nicholas. The Hmong of China: Context, Agency, and imaginary. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
- ISBN 0-19-924860-5
- ^ Goddard, The Languages of East and Southeast Asia; p. 121
Further reading
- Chen Qiguang [陈其光] (2013). Miao and Yao language [苗瑶语文]. Beijing: Ethnic Publishing House [民族出版社]. )
- Paul K. Benedict (1942). "Thai, Kadai and Indonesian: a new alignment in south east Asia." American Anthropologist 44.576-601.
- Paul K. Benedict (1975). Austro-Thai language and culture, with a glossary of roots. New Haven: HRAF Press. ISBN 0-87536-323-7.
- Enwall, J. (1995). Hmong writing systems in Vietnam: a case study of Vietnam's minority language policy. Stockholm, Sweden: Center for Pacific Asian Studies.
- Enwall, J. (1994). A myth become reality: history and development of the Miao written language. Stockholm East Asian monographs, no. 5-6. [Stockholm?]: Institute of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University. ISBN 91-7153-269-2
- Lombard, S. J., & Purnell, H. C. (1968). Yao-English dictionary.
- Lyman, T. A. (1979). Grammar of Mong Njua (Green Miao): a descriptive linguistic study. [S.l.]: The author.
- Lyman, T. A. (1974). Dictionary of Mong Njua: a Miao (Meo) language of Southeast Asia. Janua linguarum, 123. The Hague: Mouton.
- Lyman, T. A. (1970). English/Meo pocket dictionary. Bangkok, Thailand: German Cultural Institute, Goethe-Institute.
- Purnell, H. C. (1965). Phonology of a Yao dialect spoken in the province of Chiengrai, Thailand. Hartford studies in linguistics, no. 15.
- ISBN 978-0-85883-615-0.
- ISBN 0-226-76286-6
- Smith, P. (1995). Mien–English everyday language dictionary = Mienh in-wuonh dimv nzangc sou. Visalia, CA: [s.n.].