Hmong or Mong (/ˈmʌŋ/ MUNG; RPA: Hmoob, CHV: Hmôngz, Nyiakeng Puachue: 𞄀𞄩𞄰, Pahawh: 𖬌𖬣𖬵, [m̥ɔ̃́]) is a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmongic languages spoken by the Hmong people of Southwestern China, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos.

Mong Leng (Moob Leeg) and Hmong Daw (Hmoob Dawb) are part of a dialect cluster known in China as Chuanqiandian Miao (Chinese: 川黔滇苗; lit.

"[7] Several Chinese varieties may overlap with or be more distinct than the varieties listed above: 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.

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.

i ⟨i⟩ 𖬂, 𖬃 ɨ ⟨w⟩ 𖬘, 𖬙 u ⟨u⟩ 𖬆, 𖬇 e ⟨e⟩ 𖬈, 𖬉 ẽ~eŋ ⟨ee⟩ 𖬀, 𖬁 ɔ ⟨o⟩ 𖬒, 𖬓 ɔ̃~ɔŋ ⟨oo⟩ 𖬌, 𖬍 a ⟨a⟩ 𖬖, 𖬗 ã~aŋ ⟨aa⟩ 𖬚, 𖬛‡ ai ⟨ai⟩ 𞄤𞄦, 𞄣‎𖬊, 𖬋 iə ⟨ia⟩ 𞄦𞄤, 𞄞‎𖬔, 𖬕† aɨ ⟨aw⟩ 𞄤𞄬, 𞄢‎𖬎, 𖬏 au ⟨au⟩ 𞄤𞄨, 𞄠‎𖬄, 𖬅 uə ⟨ua⟩ 𞄧𞄤, 𞄜‎𖬐, 𖬑 The Dananshan standard of China is similar.

Phonemic differences from Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded and marked as absent or added.

(Phonemic differences from Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg are color-coded and marked as absent or added.

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. /tˡʰ/, 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[15]).

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.

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: 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 playing a Jew's harp to convey vowel sounds.

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."

[20] 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.

In addition, in 1959 Shong Lue Yang, a Hmong spiritual leader from Laos, created an 81 symbol writing system called Pahawh.

[23] 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.

The list is ordered alphabetically by the RPA, apart from prenasalized stops and voiceless sonorants, which come after their oral and voiced homologues.

These are the personal pronouns of Hmong Daw and Mong Leeg: cur𖬆𖬲 𞄎𞄧𞄳‎ ưz𖬘𖬰𖬮𖬰 𞄬𞄰‎ pêz𖬈𖬰𖬪𖬵 𞄚𞄪𞄰‎ cox𖬒𖬲 𞄎𞄨𞄲‎ nêz𖬈𖬰𖬬 𞄅𞄪𞄰‎ nêx𖬈𖬲𖬬 𞄅𞄪𞄲‎ nưs𖬙𖬲𖬬 𞄅𞄬𞄴‎ gơưk𖬎𖬱𖬢 𞄇𞄤𞄶𞄬‎ lơưr𖬎𖬶𖬞 𞄉𞄤𞄳𞄬‎ cur𖬆𖬲 𞄎𞄧𞄳‎ iz𖬂𖬲𖬮𖬰 𞄦𞄰‎ pêz𖬈𖬰𖬪𖬵 𞄚𞄪𞄰‎ cox𖬒𖬲 𞄎𞄨𞄲‎ mêz𖬈𖬰𖬦 𞄀𞄪𞄰‎ mêx𖬈𖬲𖬦 𞄀𞄪𞄲‎ nưs𖬙𖬶𖬬 𞄅𞄬𞄵‎ oz tus𖬒𖬰𖬮𖬰 𖬇𖬲𖬧𖬵 𞄨𞄰𞄃𞄧𞄵‎ puôz𖬐𖬶𖬪𖬵 𞄚𞄧𞄰𞄤‎ Classifiers are one of the features recurrently found in languages of Southeast Asia.

(definite and specific)Moreover, nominal possessive phrases are expressed with a classifier;[31] however, it may be omitted when the referent of the possessed noun is inalienable from the possessor as shown in the following Hmong Daw (White Hmong) phrases:[32] nws𖬙𖬲𖬬𞄅𞄬𞄴‎3SGrab𖬖𖬲𖬡𞄖𞄤𞄰‎CLFntaj𖬖𖬰𖬩𖬵𞄂𞄤𞄲‎swordnws rab ntaj𖬙𖬲𖬬 𖬖𖬲𖬡 𖬖𖬰𖬩𖬵𞄅𞄬𞄴‎ 𞄖𞄤𞄰‎ 𞄂𞄤𞄲‎3SG CLF sword'his sword'kuv𖬆𖬲𞄎𞄧𞄳‎1SGtxiv𖬂𖬶𖬯𖬵𞄔𞄦𞄳‎fatherkuv txiv𖬆𖬲 𖬂𖬶𖬯𖬵𞄎𞄧𞄳‎ 𞄔𞄦𞄳‎1SG father'my father'Relativization is also expressed with classifiers.

Here is an example from White Hmong: YamZav𖬖𖬤𞄘𞄤𞄱‎Thingzoojông𖬍𖬥𖬰𞄋𞄩‎besttshajtshax𖬖𖬰𖬪𖬰𞄁𞄄𞄤𞄲‎veryplaws,plơưs,𖬏𖬰𖬟𖬵,𞄡𞄤𞄬𞄴‎,full,nejnêx𖬈𖬲𖬬𞄅𞄪𞄲‎2PLyuavzuôr𖬐𖬲𖬤𞄘𞄧𞄤𞄳‎IRRtsumtsuv𖬆𖬝𖬰𞄁𞄧𞄱‎mustmus,mus,𖬇𖬰𖬦,𞄀𞄧𞄴‎,go,nrhiav,nriêz,𖬔𖬲𖬨𖬰,𞄑𞄄𞄦𞄤𞄳‎,seek,nug,nuv,𖬇𖬲𖬬,𞄅𞄧𞄶‎,ask,xyuas,shuôs,𖬑𖬲𖬧𖬰,𞄛𞄧𞄤𞄴‎,examine,saibsaiz𖬊𖬰𖬤𖬵𞄊𞄤𞄦𞄰‎lookluagluôv𖬑𖬶𖬞𞄉𞄧𞄤𞄶‎othersmuajmuôj𖬐𖬰𖬦𞄀𞄧𞄤𞄲‎havekevcêr𖬉𞄎𞄪𞄳‎servicespabpaz𖬖𖬲𖬪𖬵𞄚𞄤𞄰‎variationshomhov𖬒𖬟𞄄𞄨𞄱‎typedab_tsiđaz_tsi𖬖𖬲𖬞𖬰_𖬃𖬝𖬰𞄏𞄤𞄰‎_𞄁𞄦‎whatnyobnhoz𖬒𖬰𖬮𖬵𞄐𞄨𞄰‎be.atncigndil𖬃𖬲𖬤𖬰𞄌𞄦𞄶‎aroundibib𖬂𖬲𖬮𖬰𞄦𞄰‎onecheeb_tsamqênhz_tsav𖬀𖬶𖬧_𖬖𖬝𖬰𞄈𞄄𞄫𞄰‎_𞄁𞄤𞄱‎areantawmntơưv𖬎𖬰𖬩𖬵𞄂𞄤𞄬𞄱‎atnej.nêx.𖬈𖬲𖬬.𞄅𞄪𞄲‎.2PLYam zoo tshaj plaws, nej yuav tsum mus, nrhiav, nug, xyuas, saib luag muaj kev pab hom dab_tsi nyob ncig ib cheeb_tsam ntawm nej.Zav jông tshax plơưs, nêx zuôr tsuv mus, nriêz, nuv, shuôs, saiz luôv muôj cêr paz hov đaz_tsi nhoz ndil ib qênhz_tsav ntơưv nêx.𖬖𖬤 𖬍𖬥𖬰 𖬖𖬰𖬪𖬰 𖬏𖬰𖬟𖬵, 𖬈𖬲𖬬 𖬐𖬲𖬤 𖬆𖬝𖬰 𖬇𖬰𖬦, 𖬔𖬲𖬨𖬰, 𖬇𖬲𖬬, 𖬑𖬲𖬧𖬰, 𖬊𖬰𖬤𖬵 𖬑𖬶𖬞 𖬐𖬰𖬦 𖬉 𖬖𖬲𖬪𖬵 𖬒𖬟 𖬖𖬲𖬞𖬰_𖬃𖬝𖬰 𖬒𖬰𖬮𖬵 𖬃𖬲𖬤𖬰 𖬂𖬲𖬮𖬰 𖬀𖬶𖬧_𖬖𖬝𖬰 𖬎𖬰𖬩𖬵 𖬈𖬲𖬬.𞄘𞄤𞄱‎ 𞄋𞄩‎ 𞄁𞄄𞄤𞄲‎ 𞄡𞄤𞄬𞄴‎, 𞄅𞄪𞄲‎ 𞄘𞄧𞄤𞄳‎ 𞄁𞄧𞄱‎ 𞄀𞄧𞄴‎, 𞄑𞄄𞄦𞄤𞄳‎, 𞄅𞄧𞄶‎, 𞄛𞄧𞄤𞄴‎, 𞄊𞄤𞄦𞄰‎ 𞄉𞄧𞄤𞄶‎ 𞄀𞄧𞄤𞄲‎ 𞄎𞄪𞄳‎ 𞄚𞄤𞄰‎ 𞄄𞄨𞄱‎ 𞄏𞄤𞄰‎_𞄁𞄦‎ 𞄐𞄨𞄰‎ 𞄌𞄦𞄶‎ 𞄦𞄰‎ 𞄈𞄄𞄫𞄰‎_𞄁𞄤𞄱‎ 𞄂𞄤𞄬𞄱‎ 𞄅𞄪𞄲‎.Thing best very full, 2PL IRR must go, seek, ask, examine, look others have services variations type what be.at around one area at 2PL'The best thing you can do is to explore your neighborhood and find out what services are available.

'Because the verb form in Hmong does not change to indicate tense, the simplest way to indicate the time of an event is to use temporal adverb phrases like "last year," "today," or "next week."

'Lawm at the end of a sentence can also indicate that an action is underway: Tus𖬇𖬰𖬧𖬵𞄃𞄧𞄴‎CLFtub𖬆𖬰𖬧𖬵𞄃𞄧𞄰‎boytau𖬧𖬵𞄃𞄤𞄨‎getrab𖬖𖬲𖬡𞄖𞄤𞄰‎CLFhneev,𖬀𖬲𖬩,𞄅𞄄𞄳𞄫‎,crossbownws𖬙𖬲𖬬𞄅𞄬𞄴‎hethiaj𖬔𖬶𖬟𖬰𞄃𞄄𞄦𞄲𞄤‎thenmus𖬇𖬰𖬦𞄀𞄧𞄴‎goua si𖬑𖬮𖬰 𖬃𖬤𖬵𞄧𞄤‎ 𞄊𞄦‎playlawm.𖬎𖬰𖬞.𞄉𞄤𞄱𞄬‎.PFV(White Hmong)   Tus tub tau rab hneev, nws thiaj mus {ua si} lawm.𖬇𖬰𖬧𖬵 𖬆𖬰𖬧𖬵 𖬧𖬵 𖬖𖬲𖬡 𖬀𖬲𖬩, 𖬙𖬲𖬬 𖬔𖬶𖬟𖬰 𖬇𖬰𖬦 𖬑𖬮𖬰 𖬃𖬤𖬵 𖬎𖬰𖬞.𞄃𞄧𞄴‎ 𞄃𞄧𞄰‎ 𞄃𞄤𞄨‎ 𞄖𞄤𞄰‎ 𞄅𞄄𞄳𞄫‎, 𞄅𞄬𞄴‎ 𞄃𞄄𞄦𞄲𞄤‎ 𞄀𞄧𞄴‎ {𞄧𞄤‎ 𞄊𞄦‎} 𞄉𞄤𞄱𞄬‎.CLF boy get CLF crossbow he then go play PFV'The boy got the crossbow and went off to play.'

Lawv𖬎𖬶𖬞𞄉𞄤𞄳𞄬‎theytau𖬧𖬵𞄃𞄤𞄨‎attainnoj𖬒𖬲𖬬𞄅𞄨𞄲‎eatnqaij𖬊𖬶𖬬𖬰𞄙𞄤𞄲𞄦‎meatnyug.𖬇𖬲𖬮𖬵.𞄐𞄧𞄵‎.beef(White Hmong)   Lawv tau noj nqaij nyug.𖬎𖬶𖬞 𖬧𖬵 𖬒𖬲𖬬 𖬊𖬶𖬬𖬰 𖬇𖬲𖬮𖬵.𞄉𞄤𞄳𞄬‎ 𞄃𞄤𞄨‎ 𞄅𞄨𞄲‎ 𞄙𞄤𞄲𞄦‎ 𞄐𞄧𞄵‎.they attain eat meat beef'They ate beef.

Tau can also mark the fulfillment of a situation in the future: Thaum𖬄𖬟𖬰𞄃𞄄𞄤𞄱𞄨‎whentxog𖬓𖬯𖬵𞄔𞄨𞄵‎arrivepeb𖬈𖬰𖬪𖬵𞄚𞄪𞄰‎Newcaug𖬅𖬲𖬯𞄈𞄤𞄵𞄨‎Yearlawm𖬎𖬰𖬞𞄉𞄤𞄱𞄬‎PFVsawv daws𖬎𖬶𖬤𖬵 𖬏𖬰𖬞𖬰𞄊𞄤𞄳𞄬‎ 𞄏𞄤𞄴𞄬‎everybodythiaj𖬔𖬶𖬟𖬰𞄃𞄄𞄦𞄲𞄤‎thentau𖬧𖬵𞄃𞄤𞄨‎attainhnav𖬗𖬩𞄅𞄄𞄳𞄤‎wearkhaub ncaws𖬄𖬰𖬩𖬰 𖬏𖬰𖬤𖬰𞄎𞄄𞄤𞄰𞄨‎ 𞄌𞄤𞄴𞄬‎clothestshiab.𖬔𖬪𖬰.𞄁𞄄𞄦𞄰𞄤‎.new(White Hmong)   Thaum txog peb caug lawm {sawv daws} thiaj tau hnav {khaub ncaws} tshiab.𖬄𖬟𖬰 𖬓𖬯𖬵 𖬈𖬰𖬪𖬵 𖬅𖬲𖬯 𖬎𖬰𖬞 {𖬎𖬶𖬤𖬵 𖬏𖬰𖬞𖬰} 𖬔𖬶𖬟𖬰 𖬧𖬵 𖬗𖬩 {𖬄𖬰𖬩𖬰 𖬏𖬰𖬤𖬰} 𖬔𖬪𖬰.𞄃𞄄𞄤𞄱𞄨‎ 𞄔𞄨𞄵‎ 𞄚𞄪𞄰‎ 𞄈𞄤𞄵𞄨‎ 𞄉𞄤𞄱𞄬‎ {𞄊𞄤𞄳𞄬‎ 𞄏𞄤𞄴𞄬‎} 𞄃𞄄𞄦𞄲𞄤‎ 𞄃𞄤𞄨‎ 𞄅𞄄𞄳𞄤‎ {𞄎𞄄𞄤𞄰𞄨‎ 𞄌𞄤𞄴𞄬‎} 𞄁𞄄𞄦𞄰𞄤‎.when arrive New Year PFV everybody then attain wear clothes new'So when the New Year arrives, everybody gets to wear new clothes.

[38] That includes hypothetical or non-occurring situations with past, present, or future time references: Tus𖬇𖬰𖬧𖬵𞄃𞄧𞄴‎CLFTsov𖬒𖬶𖬝𖬰𞄁𞄨𞄳‎Tigerhais tias,𖬋𖬰𖬟 𖬕𖬰𖬧𖬵,𞄄𞄤𞄴𞄦‎ 𞄃𞄦𞄴𞄤‎,say,"Kuv"𖬆𖬲"𞄎𞄧𞄳‎Itshaib𖬊𖬰𖬪𖬰𞄁𞄄𞄤𞄰𞄦‎hungrytshaib𖬊𖬰𖬪𖬰𞄁𞄄𞄤𞄰𞄦‎hungryplab𖬖𖬲𖬟𖬵𞄡𞄤𞄰‎stomachli𖬃𖬞𞄉𞄦‎INTkuv𖬆𖬲𞄎𞄧𞄳‎Iyuav𖬐𖬲𖬤𞄘𞄧𞄳𞄤‎IRRnoj𖬒𖬲𖬬𞄅𞄨𞄲‎eatkoj".𖬒𖬲.

𞄉𞄤𞄳𞄬𞄆𞄤𞄲 𞄑𞄨𞄵𞄉𞄧𞄰𞄉𞄤𞄲𞄃𞄄𞄤𞄲𞄬 𞄃𞄄𞄦𞄰𞄤𞄉𞄧𞄰𞄊𞄦𞄰𞄤𞄃𞄄𞄦𞄰𞄤 𞄦𞄰𞄉𞄫𞄵𞄘𞄧𞄳𞄤𞄁𞄧𞄱𞄈𞄨𞄲 𞄧𞄤 𞄎𞄪𞄂𞄤𞄱𞄬𞄦𞄰𞄉𞄫𞄵𞄂𞄤𞄱𞄬𞄔𞄨𞄲𞄎𞄪𞄧𞄳 𞄧𞄤𞄎𞄬𞄳𞄃𞄦𞄲.‎Hmong RPA:[50]Txhua tus neeg yug los muaj kev ywj pheej thiab sib npaug zos hauv txoj cai.

Lawv xaj nrog lub laj thawj thiab lub siab thiab ib leeg yuav tsum coj ua ke ntawm ib leeg ntawm txoj kev ua kwv tij.Vietnamese Hmong:[50]Cxuô tus nênhl zul los muôx cêr zưx fênhx thiêz siz npâul jôs hâur txox chai.

Lơưr xax ndol luz lax thơưx thiêz luz siêz thiêz iz lênhl zuôr tsuv chox uô cê ntơưv iz lênhl ntơưv txôx cêr uô cưr tiz.Hmong IPA:tsʰuə˧ tu˩ neŋ˧˩̤ ʝu˧˩̤ lɒ˩ muə˥˧ ke˧˧˦ ʝɨ˥˧ pʰeŋ˥˧ tʰiə˦ ʂi˦ ᵐbau˧˩̤ ʐɒ˩ hau˧˦ tsɒ˥˧ cai˧.

Niaj hnoob tam sim no tseem muaj nyob thoob plaws hauv ntiaj teb, xws: es xias, yus lauv, auv tas lias, thiab as mes lis kas.

Tab sis nws muaj nws puav pheej teej tug, moj kuab, txuj ci, mooj kav moj coj, thiab txheeb meem mooj meej kheej ib yam nkaus li lwm haiv neeg.

M̥ɒŋ˦ ʝɒ˧˩̤ i˦ Hɒ˩̰ neŋ˧˩̤ uə˩ ɲiə˩̰ tsɒ˥˧ ke˧˦ ᶮɟa˥˧ ᶮɟeŋ˩, ɲiə˩̰ ke˧˦ ʝɨ˥˧ pʰeŋ˥˧, ɲiə˩̰ pʰɒŋ˥˧ ʝɨ˧˩̤, muə˥˧ ke˧˦ ca˩̰ hɨ˩̰, muə˥˧ tsɒ˥˧ ke˧˦ ʂi˦ l̥u˦, ʂi˦ pa˦ tʰiə˦ ʂi˦ tʂʰuə˧ heŋ˧˦.The 2008 film Gran Torino by Clint Eastwood features a large American Hmong speaking cast.

[60][61] As the current article is focused on the Hmong language proper as found in international published sources, the population figure here reflects this.