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Hmong / Miao
	lus Hmoob / lug Moob / lol Hmongb / lus Hmôngz / 𖬇𖬰𖬞 𖬌𖬣𖬵 / 𞄉𞄧𞄵𞄀𞄩𞄰
Pronunciation	Template:IPA-Hmn
Native to	China , Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
Ethnicity	Hmong
Native speakers	(3.7 million cited 1995–2009); not counting Vietnam
Language family	Hmong–Mien Hmongic West Hmongic Chuanqiandian cluster Hmong / Miao; ; ; ;
Writing system	Hmong writing: inc. Pahawh Hmong, Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong, multiple Latin standards
Language codes
ISO 639-1	hmn Hmong, Mong (China, Laos)
ISO 639-3	hmn – inclusive code for the Hmong/Mong/Miao (China, Laos) macrolanguage, including all the following varieties except hmf and hmv.; Individual codes:; hmf – Hmong Don (Vietnam); hmv – Hmong Dô (Vietnam); hnj – Mong Njua/Mong Leng (China, Laos), “Blue/Green Hmong” (United States); mww – Hmong Daw (China, Laos), “White Hmong” (United States); hmz – Sinicized Miao (Hmong Shua); hrm – Horned Miao (A-Hmo, China); sfm – Small Flowery Miao; cqd – Chuanqiandian Cluster Miao (cover term for Hmong in China); hea – Northern Qiandong Miao; hma – Southern Mashan Miao; hmc – Central Huishui Miao; hmd – Large Flowery Miao; hme – Eastern Huishui Miao; hmg – Southwestern Guiyang Miao; hmh – Southwestern Huishui Miao; hmi – Northern Huishui Miao; hmj – Ge (Chonganjiang Miao); hml – Luopohe Miao; hmm – Central Mashan Miao; hmp – Northern Mashan Miao; hmq – Eastern Qiandong Miao; hms – Southern Qiandong Miao; hmw – Western Mashan Miao; hmy – Southern Guiyang Miao; huj – Northern Guiyang Miao; muq – Eastern Xiangxi Miao; mmr – Western Xiangxi Miao
Glottolog	firs1234
Linguasphere	48-AAA-a
	Map of Hmong-Mien languages, the West Hmongic language is in purple.
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Short description: West Hmongic dialect continuum

{{Contains special characters | special = Pahawh Hmong Unicode characters | fix = Help:Multilingual support | error = question marks, boxes, or other symbols | characters = the Pahawh Hmong characters | image = Kab_Ntsab.png | link = Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character | alt = <𖬖𖬲 𖬖𖬲𖬝> | compact = Hmong / Mong (/ˈmʌŋ/; RPA: Hmoob, Template:IPA-Hmn; Nyiakeng Puachue: 𞄀𞄩𞄰; Pahawh: 𖬌𖬣𖬵, Template:IPA-Hmn) is a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmongic languages spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hainan, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos.^[3] There are some 2.7 million speakers of varieties that are largely mutually intelligible, including over 280,000 Hmong Americans as of 2013.^[4] Over half of all Hmong speakers speak the various dialects in China, where the Dananshan (大南山) dialect forms the basis of the standard language.^[5] However, Hmong Daw and Mong Leng are widely known only in Laos and the United States; Dananshan is more widely known in the native region of Hmong.

Varieties

Mong Leng (Moob Leeg) and Hmong Daw (Hmoob Dawb) are part of a dialect cluster known in China as Chuanqiandian Miao, that is, "Sichuan–Guizhou–Yunnan Miao", called the "Chuanqiandian cluster" in English (or "Miao cluster" in other languages) as West Hmongic is also called Chuanqiandian, while the variety spoken from Sichuan in China to Thailand and Laos is referred to as the "First Local Variety" (第一土语) of the cluster. Mong Leng and Hmong Daw are just those varieties of the cluster that migrated to Laos; the Western names, Mong Leng, Hmong Dleu/Der, and Hmong Daw are also used in China for various dialects of the Chuanqiandian Miao cluster.

Ethnologue once distinguished only the Laotian varieties (Hmong Daw, Mong Leng), Sinicized Miao (Hmong Shua), and the Vietnamese varieties (Hmong Dô, Hmong Don). The Vietnamese varieties are very poorly known; population estimates are not even available. In 2007, Horned Miao, Small Flowery Miao, and the Chuanqiandian cluster of China were split off from Mong Leng [blu].^[6] These varieties are as follows, along with some alternative names ('Ch.' = Chinese name, 'auto.' = autonym [self name]):

Hmong/Mong/Chuanqiandian Miao (China, Laos) macrolanguage (also spoken by minorities in Thailand and the United States) including:
- Hmong Daw (White Miao, Ch. Bai Miao, auto. Hmoob Dawb; Forest Miao, Hmong Rongd; Hmong Dleu / Hmongb Dleub; in the US, “White Hmong”, frequently just “Hmong”, auto. Hmong Der);
- Mong Leng (Blue Miao, Green Miao, Ch. Qing Miao; Moob Ntsuab / Mong Nzhuab; in the US, also “Blue/Green Hmong”, Mong Leng / Len, auto. Moob Leeg; Mongb Shib)
- Hmong Shua (Sinicized Miao, auto. Hmongb Shuat);
- Horned Miao (Ch. Jiao Miao, auto. Hmo or A-Hmo);
- Small Flowery Miao;
- the part of the Chuanqiandian Miao cluster located in China.
Individual Hmong languages of Vietnam, not considered part of the China/Laos macrolanguage, and possibly forming their own distinct macrolanguage; they are still not very well classified even if they are described by Ethnologue as having a vigorous use (in Vietnam) but without population estimates; they have most probably been influenced by Vietnamese, as well as French (in the former Indochina colonies) and later by American English, and they may be confused with varieties spoken by minorities living today in the United States, Europe or elsewhere in Asia (where their varieties may have been assimilated locally, but separately in each area, with other Hmong varieties imported from Laos and China) :
- Hmong Dô (Vietnam);
- Hmong Don (Vietnam, assumed).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that the White and Leng dialects "are said to be mutually intelligible to a well-trained ear, with pronunciation and vocabulary differences analogous to the differences between British and American English."^[7]

Many of the above names used outside (White Miao, Blue/Green Miao, Flowery Miao, Mong Leng, etc.) are also used in China. Several Chinese varieties may be more distinct than the varieties listed above:

Dananshan Miao (Hmong Dou, auto. Hmong Drout Raol, Hmong Hout Lab), the basis of the Chinese standard of the Chuanqiandian cluster
Black Miao (Ch. Hei Miao, auto. of subgroups: Hmong Dlob, Hmong Buak / Hmoob Puas)^[8]
Southern Hmong (auto. of subgroups: Hmongb Shib, Mong Leng, Hmongb Lens, Hmongb Dlex Nchab, Hmongb Sad; includes some of Mong Leng above)
Northern Hmong (auto. of subgroups: Hmongb Soud, Hmong Be / Hmongb Bes, Hmongb Ndrous)
Western Sichuan Miao (Ch. Chuan Miao)

In the 2007 request to establish an ISO code for the Chuanqiandian cluster, corresponding to the "first local dialect" (第一土语) of the Chuanqiandian cluster in Chinese, the proposer made the following statement on mutual intelligibility:

A colleague has talked with speakers of a number of these closely-related lects in the US, in Thailand and in China, and has had many discussions with Chinese linguists and foreign researchers or community development workers who have had extensive contact with speakers of these lects. As a result of these conversations this colleague believes that many of these lects are likely to have high inherent mutual intelligibility within the cluster. Culturally, while each sub-group prides itself on its own distinctives, they also recognize that other sub-groups within this category are culturally similar to themselves and accept the others as members of the same general ethnic group. However, this category of lects is internally varied and geographically scattered and mixed over a broad land area, and comprehensive intelligibility testing would be required to confirm reports of mutual intelligibility throughout the cluster.^[9]

Varieties in Laos

According to the CDC, "although there is no official preference for one dialect over the other, White Hmong seems to be favored in many ways":^[7] the Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA) most closely reflects that of White Hmong (Hmong Daw); most educated Hmong speak White Hmong because White Hmong people lack the ability to understand Mong Leng; and most Hmong dictionaries only include the White Hmong dialect. Moreover, younger generations of Hmong are more likely to speak White Hmong, and speakers of Mong Leng are more likely have the ability to understand White Hmong than speakers of White Hmong are to understand Mong Leng.^[7]

Varieties in the United States

Most Hmong in the United States speak the White Hmong (Hmong Daw) and Mong Leeg (Moob Leeg) dialects, with about sixty percent speaking White Hmong and about forty percent Mong Leeg. The CDC states that "though some Hmong report difficulty understanding speakers of a dialect not their own, for the most part, Mong Leng seem to do better when understanding both dialects.".^[7]

Phonology

The three dialects described here are known as Hmong Daw (also called White Miao or Hmong Der),^[10] Mong Leeg (also called Leng Miao or Mong Leng),^[11] and Dananshan (Standard Chinese Miao).^[12] Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are the two major dialects spoken by Hmong Americans. Although mutually intelligible, the dialects differ in both lexicon and certain aspects of phonology. For instance, Mong Leeg lacks the voiceless/aspirated /m̥/ of Hmong Daw (as exemplified by their names) and has a third nasalized vowel, /ã/; Dananshan has a couple of extra diphthongs in native words, numerous Chinese loans, and an eighth tone.

Vowels

The vowel systems of Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are as shown in the following charts. Phonemes particular to each dialect are color-coded respectively:^[13]

1st Row: IPA, Hmong RPA
2nd Row: Nyiakeng Puachue
3rd Row: Pahawh

Monophthongs
	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	File:I - Hmong word.wavi ⟨i⟩ 𖬂, 𖬃		File:W - Hmong word.wavɨ ⟨w⟩ 𖬘, 𖬙		File:U - Hmong word.wavu ⟨u⟩ 𖬆, 𖬇
Mid	File:E - Hmong word.wave ⟨e⟩ 𖬈, 𖬉	File:Ee - Hmong word.wavẽ~eŋ ⟨ee⟩ 𖬀, 𖬁
Open			File:A - Hmong word.wava ⟨a⟩ 𖬖, 𖬗	File:Aa - Green Hmong word.wavã~aŋ ⟨aa⟩ 𖬚, 𖬛	File:O - Hmong word.wavɔ ⟨o⟩ 𖬒, 𖬓	File:Oo - Hmong word.wavɔ̃~ɔŋ ⟨oo⟩ 𖬌, 𖬍

Diphthongs
	Closing	Centering
Close component is front	File:Ai - Hmong word.wavai ⟨ai⟩ 𞄤𞄦, 𞄣 𖬊, 𖬋	File:Ia - Hmong word.waviə ⟨ia⟩ 𞄦𞄤, 𞄞 𖬔, 𖬕
Close component is central	File:Aw - Hmong word.wavaɨ ⟨aw⟩ 𞄤𞄬, 𞄢 𖬎, 𖬏
Close component is back	File:Au - Hmong word.wavau ⟨au⟩ 𞄤𞄨, 𞄠 𖬄, 𖬅	File:Ua - Hmong word.wavuə ⟨ua⟩ 𞄧𞄤, 𞄜 𖬐, 𖬑

The Dananshan standard of China is similar. Phonemic differences from Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded.

Dananshan Miao vowels
	Front		Central		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	i		(ɨ)		u
Mid	e	en			o	oŋ
Open			a	aŋ

Diphthongs
	Closing	Centering
Close component is front	aj ⟨ai⟩
Close component is back	aw ⟨au⟩	wɒ ⟨ua⟩
Close component is back	əw ⟨ou⟩ eβ ⟨eu⟩

Dananshan [ɨ] occurs only after non-palatal affricates, and is written ⟨i⟩, much like Mandarin Chinese. /u/ is pronounced [y] after palatal consonants. There is also a triphthong /jeβ/ ⟨ieu⟩, as well as other i- and u-initial sequences in Chinese borrowings, such as /je, waj, jaw, wen, waŋ/.

Consonants

Hmong makes a number of phonemic contrasts unfamiliar to English speakers. All non-glottal stops and affricates distinguish aspirated and unaspirated forms, most also prenasalization independently of this. The consonant inventory of Hmong is shown in the chart below. (Consonants particular to Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded respectively.)

1st Row: IPA, Hmong RPA
2nd Row: Nyiakeng Puachue
3rd Row: Pahawh

Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg consonants
		Bilabial		Labio- dental	Dental		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
		plain	lateral^*	Labio- dental	plain	lateral^*	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	voiceless	m̥ ⟨hm⟩ 𞄀𞄄 𖬣𖬵	(m̥ˡ) ⟨hml⟩ 𞄠𞄄 𖬠𖬰		n̥ ⟨hn⟩ 𞄅𞄄 𖬩			ɲ̥ ⟨hny⟩ 𞄐𞄄 𖬣𖬰
Nasal	voiced	m ⟨m⟩ 𞄀 𖬦	(mˡ) ⟨ml⟩ 𞄠 𖬠		n ⟨n⟩ 𞄅 𖬬			ɲ ⟨ny⟩ 𞄐 𖬮𖬵		⟨ɴ⟩ 𞄢
Plosive	tenuis	p ⟨p⟩ 𞄚 𖬪𖬵	(pˡ) ⟨pl⟩ 𞄡 𖬟𖬵		t ⟨t⟩ 𞄃 𖬧𖬵	(tˡ) ⟨dl⟩ 𞄏 𖬭	ʈ ⟨r⟩ 𞄖 𖬡	c ⟨c⟩ 𞄈 𖬯	k ⟨k⟩^*** 𞄎	q ⟨q⟩ 𞄗 𖬦𖬵	ʔ ⟨au⟩ 𞄠 𖬮𖬰
	aspirated	pʰ ⟨ph⟩ 𞄚𞄄 𖬝𖬵	(pˡʰ) ⟨plh⟩ 𞄡𞄄 𖬪		tʰ ⟨th⟩ 𞄃𞄄 𖬟𖬰	(tˡʰ) ⟨dlh⟩ 𞄏𞄄 𖬭𖬴	ʈʰ ⟨rh⟩ 𞄖𞄄 𖬢𖬵	cʰ ⟨ch⟩ 𞄈𞄄 𖬧	kʰ ⟨kh⟩ 𞄎𞄄 𖬩𖬰	qʰ ⟨qh⟩ 𞄗𞄄 𖬣
	voiced				d ⟨d⟩ 𞄏 𖬞𖬰
	murmured				dʱ ⟨dh⟩ 𞄏𞄄 𖬞𖬵
	prenasalized^**	ᵐb ⟨np⟩ 𞄜 𖬨𖬵	(ᵐbˡ) ⟨npl⟩ 𞄞 𖬫𖬰		ⁿd ⟨nt⟩ 𞄂 𖬩𖬵	(ⁿdˡ) ⟨ndl⟩ 𞄝 𖬭𖬰	ᶯɖ ⟨nr⟩ 𞄑 𖬜𖬰	ᶮɟ ⟨nc⟩ 𞄌 𖬤𖬰	ᵑɡ ⟨nk⟩ 𞄇 𖬢	ᶰɢ ⟨nq⟩ 𞄙 𖬬𖬰
	prenasalized^**	ᵐpʰ ⟨nph⟩ 𞄜𞄄 𖬡𖬰	(ᵐpˡʰ) ⟨nplh⟩ 𞄞𞄄 𖬡𖬵		ⁿtʰ ⟨nth⟩ 𞄂𞄄 𖬫	(ⁿtˡʰ) ⟨ndlh⟩ 𞄝𞄄 𖬭𖬵	ᶯʈʰ ⟨nrh⟩ 𞄑𞄄 𖬨𖬰	ᶮtʃʰ ⟨nch⟩ 𞄌𞄄 𖬨	ᵑkʰ ⟨nkh⟩ 𞄇𞄄 𖬫𖬵	ᶰqʰ ⟨nqh⟩ 𞄙𞄄 𖬬𖬵
Affricate	tenuis				ts ⟨tx⟩ 𞄔 𖬯𖬵		tʂ ⟨ts⟩ 𞄁 𖬝𖬰
	aspirated				tsʰ ⟨txh⟩ 𞄔𞄄 𖬦𖬰		tʂʰ ⟨tsh⟩ 𞄁𞄄 𖬪𖬰
	prenasalized^**				ⁿdz ⟨ntx⟩ 𞄓 𖬢𖬰		ᶯdʐ ⟨nts⟩ 𞄍 𖬝
	prenasalized^**				ⁿtsʰ ⟨ntxh⟩ 𞄓𞄄 𖬥𖬵		ᶯtʂʰ ⟨ntsh⟩ 𞄍𞄄 𖬯𖬰
Continuant	voiceless			f ⟨f⟩ 𞄕 𖬜𖬵	s ⟨x⟩ 𞄆 𖬮	l̥ ⟨hl⟩ 𞄄𞄉 𖬥	ʂ ⟨s⟩ 𞄊 𖬤𖬵	ɕ ~ ç ⟨xy⟩ 𞄛 𖬧𖬰			h ⟨h⟩ 𞄄 𖬟
Continuant	voiced			v ⟨v⟩ 𞄒 𖬜		l ⟨l⟩ 𞄉 𖬞	ʐ ⟨z⟩ 𞄋 𖬥𖬰	ʑ ~ ʝ ⟨y⟩ 𞄘 𖬤
Approximant	voiceless
Approximant	voiced						⟨ɻ⟩ 𞄣

The Dananshan standard of China is similar. (Phonemic differences from Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded. Minor differences, such as the voicing of prenasalized stops, or whether /c/ is an affricate or /h/ is velar, may be a matter of transcription.) Aspirates, voiceless fricatives, voiceless nasals, and glottal stop only occur with yin tones (1, 3, 5, 7). Standard orthography is added in angled brackets. Glottal stop is not written; it is not distinct from a zero initial. There is also a /w/, which occurs only in foreign words.

Dananshan Miao consonants
		Bilabial		Labio- dental	Dental		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
		plain	lateral^*	Labio- dental	plain	lateral^*	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	voiceless	m̥ ⟨hm⟩			n̥ ⟨hn⟩			ɲ̥ ⟨hni⟩
Nasal	voiced	m ⟨m⟩			n ⟨n⟩			ɲ ⟨ni⟩	ŋ ⟨ngg⟩
Plosive	tenuis	p ⟨b⟩	(pˡ) ⟨bl⟩		t ⟨d⟩	(tˡ) ⟨dl⟩	ʈ ⟨dr⟩		k ⟨g⟩	q ⟨gh⟩	(ʔ)
	aspirated	pʰ ⟨p⟩	(pˡʰ) ⟨pl⟩		tʰ ⟨t⟩	(tˡʰ) ⟨tl⟩	ʈʰ ⟨tr⟩		kʰ ⟨k⟩	qʰ ⟨kh⟩
	voiced
	prenasalized^**	ᵐp ⟨nb⟩	(ᵐpˡ) ⟨nbl⟩		ⁿt ⟨nd⟩		ᶯʈ ⟨ndr⟩		ᵑk ⟨ng⟩	ᶰq ⟨ngh⟩
	prenasalized^**	ᵐpʰ ⟨np⟩	(ᵐpˡʰ) ⟨npl⟩		ⁿtʰ ⟨nt⟩		ᶯʈʰ ⟨ntr⟩		ᵑkʰ ⟨nk⟩	ᶰqʰ ⟨nkh⟩
Affricate	tenuis				ts ⟨z⟩		tʂ ⟨zh⟩	tɕ ⟨j⟩
	aspirated				tsʰ ⟨c⟩		tʂʰ ⟨ch⟩	tɕʰ ⟨q⟩
	prenasalized^**				ⁿts ⟨nz⟩		ᶯtʂ ⟨nzh⟩	ⁿtɕ ⟨nj⟩
	prenasalized^**				ⁿtsʰ ⟨nc⟩		ᶯtʂʰ ⟨nch⟩	ⁿtɕʰ ⟨nq⟩
Continuant	voiceless			f ⟨f⟩	s ⟨s⟩	l̥ ⟨hl⟩	ʂ ⟨sh⟩	ɕ ⟨x⟩	x ⟨h⟩
Continuant	voiced			v ⟨v⟩		l ⟨l⟩	ʐ ⟨r⟩	ʑ ~ ʝ ⟨y⟩	(w)

^* The status of the consonants described here as single phonemes with lateral release is controversial. A number of scholars instead analyze them as biphonemic clusters with /l/ as the second element. The difference in analysis (e.g. between /pˡ/ and /pl/) is not based on any disagreement in the sound or pronunciation of the consonants in question, but on differing theoretical grounds. Those in favor of a unit-phoneme analysis generally argue for this based on distributional evidence (i.e. if clusters, these would be the only clusters in the language, although see below) and dialect evidence (the laterally released dentals in Mong Leeg, e.g. /tl/, correspond to the voiced dentals of White Hmong), whereas those in favor of a cluster analysis tend to argue on the basis of general phonetic principles (other examples of labial phonemes with lateral release appear extremely rare or nonexistent^[14]).

^** Some linguists prefer to analyze the prenasalized consonants as clusters whose first element is /n/. However, this cluster analysis is not as common as the above one involving /l/.

^*** Only used in Hmong RPA and not in Pahawh Hmong, since Hmong RPA uses Latin script and Pahawh Hmong does not. For example, in Hmong RPA, to write keeb, the order Consonant + Vowel + Tone (CVT) must be followed, so it is k + ee + b = keeb, but in Pahawh Hmong, it is just Keeb "𖬀𖬶" (2nd-Stage Version).

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 apart from nasals are prohibited. In Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg, nasal codas have become nasal vowels, though they may be accompanied by a weak coda [ŋ]. Similarly, a weak coda [ʔ] may accompany the low-falling creaky tone.

Dananshan has a syllabic /l̩/ (written ⟨l⟩) in Chinese loans, such as lf 'two' and lx 'child'.

Tones

Hmong is a tone language and makes use of seven (Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg) or eight (Dananshan) distinct tones.

Tone	Hmong Daw example^[15]	Hmong/Mong RPA spelling	Vietnamese Hmong spelling	Nyiakeng Puachue	Pahawh Hmong	Hmong Pronunciation
High ˥	/pɔ́/ 'ball'	pob	poz	𞄚𞄨𞄰	𖬒𖬰𖬪𖬵	File:Pob - Hmong word.wav
Mid ˧	/pɔ/ 'spleen'	po	po	𞄚𞄨	𖬓𖬰𖬪𖬵	File:Po - Hmong word.wav
Low ˩	/pɔ̀/ 'thorn'	pos	pos	𞄚𞄨𞄴	𖬓𖬲𖬪𖬵	File:Pos - Hmong word.wav
High-falling ˥˧	/pɔ̂/ 'female'	poj	pox	𞄚𞄨𞄲	𖬒𖬲𖬪𖬵	File:Poj - Hmong word.wav
Mid-rising ˧˦	/pɔ̌/ 'to throw'	pov	por	𞄚𞄨𞄳	𖬒𖬶𖬪𖬵	File:Pov - Hmong word.wav
Low checked (creaky) tone ˩ (phrase final: long low rising ˨˩˧)	/pɔ̰̀/ 'to see'	pom	pov	𞄚𞄨𞄱	𖬒𖬪𖬵	File:Pom - Hmong word.wav
Mid-falling breathy tone ˧˩	/pɔ̤̂/ 'grandmother'	pog	pol	𞄚𞄨𞄵	𖬓𖬪𖬵	File:Pog - Hmong word.wav

The Dananshan tones are transcribed as pure tone. However, given how similar several of them are, it is likely that there are also phonational differences as in Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg. Tones 4 and 6, for example, are said to make tenuis plosives breathy voiced (浊送气), suggesting they may be breathy/murmured like the Hmong g-tone. Tones 7 and 8 are used in early Chinese loans with entering tone, suggesting they may once have marked checked syllables.

Because voiceless consonants apart from tenuis plosives are restricted to appearing before certain tones (1, 3, 5, 7), those are placed first in the table:

Dananshan Miao tone
Tone	IPA	Orthography
1 high falling	˦˧ 43	b
3 top	˥ 5	d
5 high	˦ 4	t
7 mid	˧ 3	k
2 mid falling	˧˩ 31	x
4 low falling (breathy)	˨˩̤ 21	l
6 low rising (breathy)	˩˧̤ 13	s
8 mid rising	˨˦ 24	f

So much information is conveyed by the tones that it is possible to speak intelligibly using musical tunes only; there is a tradition of young lovers communicating covertly this way by playing on a jew's harp (though this method may only convey vowel sounds).^[16]

Orthography

Robert Cooper, an anthropologist, collected a Hmong folktale saying that the Hmong used to have a written language, and important information was written down in a treasured book. The folktale explains that cows and rats ate the book, so, in the words of Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, "no text was equal to the task of representing a culture as rich as that of the Hmong." Therefore, the folktale states that the Hmong language was exclusively oral from that point onwards.^[17]

Natalie Jill Smith, author of "Ethnicity, Reciprocity, Reputation and Punishment: An Ethnoexperimental Study of Cooperation among the Chaldeans and Hmong of Detroit (Michigan)", wrote that the Qing Dynasty had caused a previous Hmong writing system to die out when it stated that the death penalty would be imposed on those who wrote it down.^[18]

Since the end of the 19th century, linguists created over two dozen Hmong writing systems, including systems using Chinese characters, the Lao alphabet, the Russian alphabet, the Thai alphabet, and the Vietnamese alphabet. In addition, in 1959 Shong Lue Yang, a Hmong spiritual leader from Laos, created an 81 symbol writing system called Pahawh. Yang was not previously literate in any language. Chao Fa, an anti-Laotian government Hmong group, uses this writing system.^[17]

In the 1980s, Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong script was created by a Hmong Minister, Reverend Chervang Kong Vang, to be able to capture Hmong vocabulary clearly and also to remedy redundancies in the language as well as address semantic confusions that was lacking in other scripts. Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong script was mainly used by United Christians Liberty Evangelical Church, a church also founded by Vang, although the script have been found to be in use in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, France, and Australia.^[19] The script bears strong resemblance to the Lao alphabet in structure and form and characters inspired from the Hebrew alphabets, although the characters themselves are different.^[20]

Other experiments by Hmong and non-Hmong orthographers have been undertaken using invented letters.^[21]

The Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA), the most widely used script for Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg, was developed in Laos between 1951 and 1953 by three Western missionaries.^[17] In the United States Hmong do not use RPA for spelling of proper nouns, because they want their names to be easily pronounced by people unfamiliar with RPA. For instance Hmong in the U.S. spell Hmoob as "Hmong," and Liab Lis is spelled as Lia Lee.^[22]

The Dananshan standard in China is written in a pinyin-based alphabet, with tone letters similar to those used in RPA.

Correspondence between orthographies

The following is a list of pairs of RPA and Dananshan segments having the same sound (or very similar sounds). Note however that RPA and the standard in China not only differ in orthographic rules, but are also used to write different languages. The list is ordered alphabetically by the RPA, apart from prenasalized stops and voiceless sonorants, which come after their oral and voiced homologues. There are three overriding patterns to the correspondences: RPA doubles a vowel for nasalization, whereas pinyin uses ⟨ng⟩; RPA uses ⟨h⟩ for aspiration, whereas pinyin uses the voicing distinction of the Latin script; pinyin uses ⟨h⟩ (and ⟨r⟩) to derive the retroflex and uvular series from the dental and velar, whereas RPA uses sequences based on ⟨t, x, k⟩ vs. ⟨r, s, q⟩ for the same.

Vowels
RPA	Pinyin	Vietnamese	Pahawh
a			𖬖, 𖬗
aa	ang		𖬚, 𖬛
ai			𖬊, 𖬋
au		âu	𖬄, 𖬅
aw	–	ơư	𖬎, 𖬏
e		ê	𖬈, 𖬉
ee	eng	ênh	𖬀, 𖬁
–	eu	–	–
i			𖬂, 𖬃
ia	–	iê	𖬔, 𖬕
o			𖬒, 𖬓
oo	ong	ông	𖬌, 𖬍
–	ou	–	–
u		u	𖬆, 𖬇
ua		uô	𖬐, 𖬑
w	i	ư	𖬘, 𖬙

Consonants
RPA	Dananshan	Vietnamese	Pahawh
c	j	ch	𖬯
ch	q		𖬧
nc	nj	nd	𖬤𖬰
nch	nq		𖬨
d	–	đ	𖬞𖬰
dh	–	đh	𖬞𖬵
dl		đr	𖬭
dlh	tl	đl	𖬭𖬴
ndl	–	nđr	𖬭𖬰
ndlh	–	nđl	𖬭𖬵
f		ph	𖬜𖬵
h			𖬟
k	g	c	–
kh	k	kh	𖬩𖬰
nk	ng	g	𖬢
nkh	nk	nkh	𖬫𖬵

Consonants (cont.)
RPA	Dananshan	Vietnamese	Pahawh
l			𖬞
hl			𖬥
m			𖬦
hm			𖬣𖬵
ml	–	mn	𖬠
hml	–	hmn	𖬠𖬰
n			𖬬
hn		hn	𖬩
–	ngg	–	–
ny	ni	nh	𖬮𖬵
hny	hni	hnh	𖬣𖬰
p	b	p	𖬪𖬵
ph	p	ph	𖬝𖬵
np	nb	b	𖬨𖬵
nph	np	mf	𖬡𖬰

Consonants (cont.)
RPA	Dananshan	Vietnamese	Pahawh
pl	bl	pl	𖬟𖬵
plh	pl	fl	𖬪
npl	nbl	bl	𖬫𖬰
nplh	npl	mfl	𖬡𖬵
q	gh	k	𖬦𖬵
qh	kh	qh	𖬣
nq	ngh	ng	𖬬𖬰
nqh	nkh	nkr	𖬬𖬵
r	dr	tr	𖬡
rh	tr	rh	𖬢𖬵
nr	ndr	r	𖬜𖬰
nrh	ntr	nr	𖬨𖬰
s	sh	s	𖬤𖬵
t	d	t	𖬧𖬵
th	t	th	𖬟𖬰
nt	nd	nt	𖬩𖬵
nth	nt	nth	𖬫

Consonants (cont.)
RPA	Dananshan	Vietnamese	Pahawh
ts	zh	ts	𖬝𖬰
tsh	ch	tsh	𖬪𖬰
nts	nzh	nts	𖬝
ntsh	nch	ntsh	𖬯𖬰
tx	z	tx	𖬯𖬵
txh	c	cx	𖬦𖬰
ntx	nz	nz	𖬢𖬰
ntxh	nc	nx	𖬥𖬵
v			𖬜
–	w	–	–
x	s	x	𖬮
xy	x	sh	𖬧𖬰
y		z	𖬤
z	r	j	𖬥𖬰

There is no simple correspondence between the tone letters. The historical connection between the tones is as follows. The Chinese names reflect the tones given to early Chinese loan words with those tones in Chinese.

Tone class	Tone number	Dananshan orthog.	RPA		Vietnamese Hmong
Tone class	Tone number	Dananshan orthog.	Hmoob	Moob	Vietnamese Hmong
平 or A	1	b ˦˧	b ˥		z
平 or A	2	x ˧˩	j ˥˧		x
上 or B	3	d ˥	v ˧˦		r
上 or B	4	l ˨˩̤	s	g	s
去 or C	5	t ˦	(unmarked) ˧
去 or C	6	s ˩˧̤	g ˧˩̤		l
入 or D	7	k ˧	s ˩		s
入 or D	8	f ˨˦	m ˩̰ ~ d ˨˩˧		v ~ k

Tones 4 and 7 merged in Hmoob Dawb, whereas tones 4 and 6 merged in Mong Leeg.^[23]

Example: lus Hmoob /̤ lṳ˧˩ m̥̥õ˦ / 𞄉𞄧𞄴𞄀𞄄𞄰𞄩 / (White Hmong) / lug Moob / 𞄉𞄧𞄵𞄀𞄩𞄰 / (Mong Leng) / lol Hmongb (Dananshan) / lus Hmôngz (Vietnamese) "Hmong language".

Grammar

Hmong is an analytic SVO language in which adjectives and demonstratives follow the noun. Noun phrases can contain the following elements (parentheses indicate optional elements):^[24]

(possessive) + (quantifier) + (classifier) + noun + (adjective) + (demonstrative)

The Hmong pronominal system distinguishes between three grammatical persons and three numbers – singular, dual, and plural. They are not marked for case, that is, the same word is used to translate both "I" and "me", "she" and "her", and so forth. These are the personal pronouns of Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg:

1st Row: IPA, Hmong RPA
2nd Row: Vietnamese Hmong
3rd Row: Pahawh Hmong
4th Row: Nyiakeng Puachue

White Hmong Pronouns
Number:	Singular	Dual	Plural
First	kuv cur 𖬆𖬲 𞄎𞄧𞄳	wb ưz 𖬘𖬰𖬮𖬰 𞄬𞄰	peb pêz 𖬈𖬰𖬪𖬵 𞄚𞄪𞄰
Second	koj cox 𖬒𖬲 𞄎𞄨𞄲	neb nêz 𖬈𖬰𖬬 𞄅𞄪𞄰	nej nêx 𖬈𖬲𖬬 𞄅𞄪𞄲
Third	nws nưs 𖬙𖬲𖬬 𞄅𞄬𞄴	nkawd gơưk 𖬎𖬱𖬢 𞄇𞄤𞄶𞄬	lawv lơưr 𖬎𖬶𖬞 𞄉𞄤𞄳𞄬

Green Hmong Pronouns
Number:	Singular	Dual	Plural
First	kuv cur 𖬆𖬲 𞄎𞄧𞄳	ib iz 𖬂𖬲𖬮𖬰 𞄦𞄰	peb pêz 𖬈𖬰𖬪𖬵 𞄚𞄪𞄰
Second	koj cox 𖬒𖬲 𞄎𞄨𞄲	meb mêz 𖬈𖬰𖬦 𞄀𞄪𞄰	mej mêx 𖬈𖬲𖬦 𞄀𞄪𞄲
Third	nwg nưs 𖬙𖬶𖬬 𞄅𞄬𞄵	ob tug oz tus 𖬒𖬰𖬮𖬰 𖬇𖬲𖬧𖬵 𞄨𞄰𞄃𞄧𞄵	puab puôz 𖬐𖬶𖬪𖬵 𞄚𞄧𞄰𞄤

Verbs

Hmong is an isolating language in which most morphemes are monosyllables. As a result, verbs are not overtly inflected. Tense, aspect, mood, person, number, gender, and case are indicated lexically.^[25]

Serial verb construction

Hmong verbs can be serialized, with two or more verbs combined in one clause. It is common for as many as five verbs to be strung together, sharing the same subject.

Here is an example from White Hmong: