The Hmong Language

Most linguists agree that Hmong is part of the Hmong-Mien language family. It’s Indigenous to China and Southeast Asia. There are two dialects of Hmong in use in the U.S. (three if you believe Moob Lees is its own dialect). They are White Hmong or Hmoob Dawb and Green Mong or Moob Lees/Moob Ntsuab. Hmong is a tonal language, which means each word—sometimes each syllable—has its own tone. Changes in tone usually mean a change in meaning. There are eight tones in Hmong.

While Hmong language is considered a stable language in the world as a whole, it is a less commonly-spoken and less commonly-taught language in many countries. In the U.S., research is showing that parents are either not passing Hmong on to their children, or children are choosing not to speak Hmong for a number of different reasons (See this article by Dr. Xong Xiong and this article by Dr. Vicky Xiong-Lor for more). This is a concern when elders’ language of preference is Hmong and children’s language of preference is English. This language mismatch could mean that knowledge is not being passed down.

According to the Pew Research Center, the U.S. Hmong population is at around 327,000 with 89% under 50 years of age. We are living in urgent times. We’re losing our elders faster than we’re able to maintain the Hmong language. If we don’t do something right now, we risk losing so much history and knowledge.

Having a commonly-used writing system helps with language reclamation.

Many writing systems have been developed for Hmong language. There is one called the Pollard Script that was developed by a Methodist missionary in 1936. This script is still in use, mostly in China. Another writing system is called Ntawv Phaj Hauj, which was developed in 1959 by a Hmong man named Soob Lwj Yaj. Romanized Popular Alphabet is considered the most widely used writing system for the Hmong language. It was developed between 1951 and 1953 in Laos by Father Yves Bertrais, G. Linwood Barney, and William Smalley who were missionary linguists. They had help from several Hmong speakers. They wanted to develop RPA to support their missionary purposes, which was to convert Hmong people. The idea was that if Hmong people could read and write in their own language, they could read The Bible in their own language. 

To read more about Hmong writing systems, specifically Ntawv Phaj Hauj and Soob Lwj Yaj, see the book Mother of Writing by William Smalley.

Just having a writing system, however, is not enough. We need to also do meaningful things with it.

What we need more than ever is more Hmong language teachers, more Hmong language materials, and more reasons and opportunities for Hmong children to use Hmong. We need a Hmong language movement.