A-Hmao language

The A-Hmao (or Ahmao) language, also known as Large Flowery Miao (pinyin: Dà Huā Miáo), Hua Miao, or Northeast Yunnan Miao (Chinese: 苗语滇东北方言; pinyin: Miáoyǔ Diàndōngběi fāngyán), is a Hmongic language spoken in China. It is the language the Pollard script was designed for, and displays extensive tone sandhi. There is a high degree of literacy in Pollard among the older generation.

A-Hmao
Large Flowery Miao
ad Hmaob lul, A-hmaos
Native to	China
Region	Guizhou, Yunnan
Ethnicity	A-Hmao
Native speakers	(300,000 cited 1995)
Language family	Hmong–Mien Hmongic West Hmongic A-Hmao
Writing system	Latin, Pollard
Language codes
ISO 639-3	hmd
Glottolog	larg1235

The standard written language, both in Pollard and in Latin script, is that of Shíménkǎn (石门坎) village in Weining County.

Classification

The A-Hmao language is a branch of the West Hmongic languages, also known as Chuanqiandian Miao (Chinese: 川黔滇苗; lit. 'Sichuan–Guizhou–Yunnan Miao') and Western Miao, which is a major branch of the Hmongic languages of China and Southeast Asia.

Wang Fushi (1985) grouped the Western Miao languages into eight primary divisions:

1. Chuanqiandian Miao
2. Northeast Yunnan Miao (A-Hmao language)
3. Guiyang Miao
4. Huishui Miao
5. Mashan Miao
6. Luobohe Miao
7. Chong'anjiang Miao
8. Pingtang Miao

Geographic distribution

The A-Hmao language is distributed in Zhaotong, Kunming, Qujing and Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture in the Northeast of Yunnan Province. And also Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao autonomous county, Hezhang county, Liupanshui, and Ziyun Miao and Buyi autonomous county in the West of Guizhou Province. There are 300,000 native speakers. The standard dialect is that of Shimenkan (石门坎), Weining County (威宁县).

Phonology

Consonants

			Labial	Alveolar			Retroflex			Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
				plain	sibilant	lateral	plain	sibilant	lateral
Plosive / Affricate	plain	plain	b /p/	d /t/	z /ts/	dl /tl̥/	dr /ʈ/	zh /ʈʂ/		j /tɕ/	g /k/	gh /q/	/ʔ/
		prenasal	nb /ᵐp/	nd /ⁿt/	nz /ⁿts/	ndl /ⁿtl̥/	ndr /ᶯʈ/	nzh /ᶯʈʂ/		nj /ⁿtɕ/	ng /ᵑk/	ngh /ᶰq/
	aspirated	plain	p /pʰ/	t /tʰ/	c /tsʰ/	tl /tl̥ʰ/	tr /ʈʰ/	ch /ʈʂʰ/		q /tɕʰ/	k /kʰ/	kh /qʰ/
		prenasal	np /ᵐpʰ/	nt /ⁿtʰ/	nc /ⁿtsʰ/	ntl /ⁿtl̥ʰ/	ntr /ᶯʈʰ/	nch /ᶯʈʂʰ/		nq /ⁿtɕʰ/	nk /ᵑkʰ/	nkh /ᶰqʰ/
	voiced	plain	b /b/	d /d/	z /dz/	dl /dl/	dr /ɖ/	zh /ɖʐ/		j /dʑ/	g /ɡ/	gh /ɢ/
		prenasal	nb /ᵐb/	nd /ⁿd/	nz /ⁿdz/	ndl /ⁿdl/	ndr /ᶯɖ/	nzh /ᶯɖʐ/		nj /ⁿdʑ/	ng /ᵑɡ/	ngh /ᶰɢ/
Fricative / Lateral		voiceless	f /f/		s /s/	hl /l̥/		sh /ʂ/	hlr /ɭ̊/	x /ɕ/	hx /x/	(h /χ/)	h /h/
		voiced	v /v/		r /z/	l /l/		rh /ʐ/	lr /ɭ/	y /ʑ/	hy /ɣ/
Nasal		voiced	m /m/	n /n/			nr /ɳ/			ni /n̠ʲ/	ngg /ŋ/
		voiceless	hm /m̥/	hn /n̥/						hni /n̠̥ʲ/	hng /ŋ̊/
Semivowel		voiced	w /w/

Moreover, Gerner (2022) treats breathiness as a property of the onset, such as [lʱ] in the word lif [lʱi¹¹] 'two', and reports a fricative aspirated lateral [ɬʰ], as in the word [ɬʰi¹¹] 'become'.

Vowels

		Front		Central	Back
		unrounded	rounded		unrounded	rounded
Close		i /i/	yu /y/		w /ɯ/	u /u/
Mid		e /e/		e /ə/		o /o/
Open					a /ɑ/
Diphthong	rising	ai /ai̯/	eu /œy̯/		ang /ɑɯ̯/	ao /ɑu̯/
	falling	ie /i̯e/			iw /i̯ɯ/ ia /i̯ɑ/	iu /i̯u/ io /i̯o/
Triphthong		iai /i̯ai̯/			iang /i̯ɑɯ̯/	iao /i̯ɑu̯/

Tones

Tone	Symbol	Value
1	b	˥˧ 54
2	x	˧˥ 35
3	d	˥ 55
4	l	˩ 11
5	t	˨ 33
6	s	˧˩ 31
7	k	˩ 11
8	f	˧˩ 31

On the basis of the eight tones of A-Hmao, in the eastern region, the fourth, sixth, and eighth tones are broken up partially or entirely into two categories. At most, there can be up to eleven tones. Essentially, nouns and quantifiers are part of the first category, and they are higher in pitch. Other word classes are part of the second category, and they are lower in pitch.

The A-Hmao language displays extensive tone sandhi. Similar to other branches of the West Hmongic languages, the tone sandhi happens on the second syllable when the first syllable of a disyllable word is level tone (first and second tone).

Grammar

Morphology and vocabulary

The morphology of the three branches of the Hmong language is basically the same. The following examples are from Central Miao. A-Hmao is similar to Hmong, which 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.

Single-morpheme word

1. Monosyllable single-morpheme word. (single-morpheme words are mostly monosyllable in Hmong language)

   Example:

   naxi 'human being'

   xed 'tiger'

   et 'tree'

   wil 'I'

   mongx 'you'

   nenx 'he'

   hsangb 'thousand'

   wangs 'ten thousand'

   bat 'hundred'

   lol 'come'

   mongl go; 'leave'

2. Multisyllable single-morpheme word. (There is a small number of multisyllable single-morpheme words in the Hmong language. Mostly, they are disyllabic, and there are very few with three or more syllables.)
   1. Alliterative. Example:

      gangt git 'hurry up; quickly'

      qut qat 'itchy'

      hcud hxangd 'nausea'

   2. Vowel rhyme. Example:

      Same tone:

      bal nial 'girl'

      box jox 'run'

      bux lux 'boiling'

      daib ghaib 'star'

      dent ent 'cloud'

      vongs nongs 'dirty'

      Different tones:

      hsab ngas 'clean'

      hsangd dangl 'in case'

      kak liax 'magpie'

   3. Non-alliterative and vowel rhyme. Example:

      ak wol 'crow'

      bil hsaid 'nearly; almost'

      ghob yenl 'chair'

   4. Reiterative syllable. Example:

      gid gid 'slowly'

      seix seix 'together'

      nangl nangl 'still'

      xangd xangd 'occasionally'

Compound word

1. Coordinating
   1. Noun morpheme compound with noun morpheme. Example:

      hveb hseid 'language'

      haxub khat 'relative'

      nangx bit 'name'

      niangx hniut 'age'

   2. Verb morpheme compound with verb morpheme. Example:

      cub nul 'rebuke'

      tid xongt 'construct'

      khab job 'lesson'

   3. Adjective morpheme compound with adjective morpheme. Example:

      ghongl jangl 'bend'

      khed hxat 'poverty'

2. Modifying
   1. Noun morpheme modifying noun morpheme. Example:

      det diangx 'candle'

      det diux 'key'

      eb mais 'tears'

      gad wangx 'corn'

   2. Adjective morpheme modifying noun morpheme. Example:

      bad yut 'uncle'

      mais lul 'aunt'

3. Dominating
   1. Verb morpheme dominating noun morpheme. Example:

      dlangd wangb 'dress up'

      qet ves 'rest'

   2. Adjective morpheme dominating noun morpheme. Example:

      dad hvib 'patience'

      hvent ves 'pleasantly cool'

      mais bil 'proficiency'

      mais ves 'tired'

4. Affixes

   Mostly are prefixes, and commonly used prefixes are ghab-, diub-, hangd-, gid-, jib-, daib-, bod-, xuk-, and so on. Ghab- is the most commonly used.

   1. Ghab- means human or animal body and part, plant part and things related to plants, natural objects, things related to buildings, utensils and abstract objectives. Example:

      ghab jid 'body'

      ghab naix 'ear'

      ghab ghaib 'root'

      ghab nex 'leaf'

      ghab qangb 'living room'

      ghab sot 'kicken'

      ghab dliux 'soul'

      ghabnangs 'destiny'

   2. Diub- means location. Example:

      diub senx 'provincial capital'

      dioub ghaib on the street

      diub zaid at home

   3. Hangd-/khangd- means aspect and direction. Example:

      hangd nongx hangd nangl aspect of eating and wearing

      hangd nongd 'here'

      hangd momgx 'there'

      hangd deis 'where'

   4. Gid- means aspect and direction. Example:

      gid waix 'above'

      gid dab 'below'

      gid gux 'outside'

      gid niangs 'inside'

   5. Jib- means person. Example:

      jib daib 'child'

      jib hlangb 'grandchild'

      jib bad 'man'

   6. Daib- means person and some kinship terminology. Example:

      daib pik 'girl'

      daib jangs 'man, boy, husband'

      daib nenl 'uncle'

   7. Bod- means round object. Example:

      bod vib 'stone'

      bod ghof jus 'knee'

      bod liul 'fist'

   8. Xuk- means uncertain quantity.

      xuk laix 'a handful of'

Syntax

As with other Hmongic languages, the basic word order of A-Hmao is SVO. Within the noun phrase, possessors precede possessed nouns, while relative clauses precede the nouns they modify. Noun phrases have the form as (possessive) + (quantifier) + (classifier) + noun + (adjective) + (demonstrative). Question formation in Ahmao does not involve word order change: question words generally remain in situ, rather than appear in sentence-initial position, and pseudo-clefting is also generally used in questions.

Overview

A-Hmao exhibits the grammatical patterns as in the table below.

Grammatical Relations by Element Order in A-Hmao

Relation Type	First Element	Second Element
Possessive	Possessor Noun	Possessed Noun
Restrictive adjectival	Adjective	Noun
Non-restrictive adjectival	Noun	Adjective
Nominalization	Relative clause	Noun
Adpositional	Preposition	Noun phrase

Question formation

Questions are typically formed with the wh- question word in situ, i.e., it appears where the corresponding noun would in the sentence, rather than appear sentence-initially:

ʦɑ⁵⁵ndɑɯ³³

TsaDaw

ɑ²¹n̥ɑɯ²¹

yesterday

ntʂɿ⁵³

met

qɑ²¹ndy²²

who

ʦɑ⁵⁵ndɑɯ³³ ɑ²¹n̥ɑɯ²¹ ntʂɿ⁵³ qɑ²¹ndy²²

TsaDaw yesterday met who

'Who did TsaDaw meet yesterday?'

Writing system

The A-Hmao have no indigenous writing system. In the beginning of the 20th century, missionary Samuel Pollard invented the Pollard script, which was based on the decorative symbols on their clothing. Before the introduction of the Pollard script, the A-Hmao people recorded their history through their ancient songs and weaving the history of their memories on their clothes. Those images formed a history of the A-Hmao.

Sources

• Chang, Melody Ya-Yin (2010). ""Sluicing" in Hmong (A-Hmao)". In Clemens, L.E.; Liu, C.-M. L. (eds.). Proceedings of the 22nd North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics (NACCL-22) & the 18th International Conference on Chinese Linguistics (IACL-18). Vol 2. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. pp. 102–116.
• Gerner, Matthias (2019). Highlights from three Language Families in Southwest China. Duisburg, Germany: Research Foundation Language and Religion.
• Li, Jinping 李锦平 (2002). Miáozú yǔyán yǔ wénhuà 苗族语言与文化 [Miao Language and Culture]. Guìzhou minzu xueyuan xueshu.
• Liu, Yuanchao 刘援朝 (1993). "Wēiníng Miáoyǔ gǔ diào zhí gòunǐ" 威宁苗语古调值构拟. Zhōngyāng mínzú xuéyuàn xuébào 中央民族学院学报 (in Chinese). 1993 (3): 85–91. doi:10.15970/j.cnki.1005-8575.1993.03.019.
• Wang, Fushi 王辅世; Mao, Zongwu 毛宗武 (1995). Miáo-Yáoyǔ gǔyīn gòunǐ 苗瑶语古音构拟 (in Chinese). Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe.

Further reading

• Ji, Hongli 季红丽 (2021). Dianbei Miaoyu yanjiu 滇北苗语研究. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. OCLC 1294549562.
• Li, Hongli 季红丽 (2018). "Diānběi Dàhuā Miáo Miáoyǔ gàikuàng" 滇北大花苗苗语概况 [A Sketch Grammar of Dianbei Ahmao]. Mínzú yǔwén 民族语文. 2018 (5): 86–97. Archived from the original on 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2021-08-11. [Big Flowery Miao 大花苗 of Sapushan 洒普山, Wulong Village 乌龙村, Shishan Town 狮山镇, Wuding County, Yunnan]

External links

• A-Hmao (Diandongbei) basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• 283-word wordlists in Wuding Jiyi A-Hmao 花苗 dialect, elicited in Standard Mandarin, archived with Kaipuleohone. (KG2-003, KG2-019)