Proto-Hmong–Mien language

Hmongic languages in red, Mienic languages in green

The Proto-Hmong–Mien language(Chinese: 原始苗瑶语) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Hmong–Mien languages. The time of proto-Hmong-Mien has been estimated to be about 2500 BP by Sagart, Blench, and Sanchez-Mazas and about 4243 BP by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP).[1] Lower-level reconstructions include Proto-Hmongic and Proto-Mienic.

Reconstructions

Reconstructions of Proto-Hmong-Mien include those of Wang & Mao (1995), Ratliff (2010), and Ostapirat (2016).

Ratliff (2010)

Martha Ratliff (2010) used 11 criterion languages for her reconstruction.

  1. East Hmongic (Qiandong); Northern vernacular: Yanghao 养蒿, Yanghao Township, Taijiang County, Guizhou
  2. North Hmongic (Xiangxi); Western vernacular: Jiwei 吉卫, Jiwei Township, Huayuan County, Hunan
  3. West Hmongic (Chuanqiandian): White Hmong of Laos and Thailand
  4. West Hmongic (Chuanqiandian); Mashan subdialect, Central vernacular: Zongdi 宗地, Zongdi Township, Ziyun County, Guizhou
  5. West Hmongic (Chuanqiandian); Luopohe subdialect: Fuyuan 复员, Fuyuan County, Yunnan
  6. Hmongic; Jiongnai: Changdong Township 长垌, Jinxiu County, Guangxi
  7. Hmongic; Baiyun Pa-Hng: Baiyun 白云, Rongshui County, Guangxi
  8. Mienic; Mien, Luoxiang vernacular: Luoxiang Township 罗香, Jinxiu County, Guangxi
  9. Mienic; Mun: Lanjin Township 览金, Lingyun County, Guangxi
  10. Mienic; Biao Min: Dongshan Yao Township 东山, Quanzhou County, Guangxi
  11. Mienic; Zao Min: Daping Township 大平, Liannan County, Guangdong

Wang & Mao (1995)

Wang & Mao (1995) base their Proto-Hmong-Mien reconstruction from the following 23 criterion Hmong-Mien languages.

  1. Yanghao 养蒿; Hmu, North (ISO 693-3: [hea])
  2. Jiwei 吉卫; Qo Xiong, West [mmr]
  3. Xianjin 先进 ( = Dananshan 大南山); Chuanqiandian Miao, 1st lect [cqd]
  4. Shimenkan 石门坎; Diandongbei Miao [hmd]
  5. Qingyan 青岩;[2] Guiyang Miao, North [huj]
  6. Gaopo 高坡; Huishui Miao, North [hmi]
  7. Zongdi 宗地; Mashan Miao, Central [hmm]
  8. Fuyuan 复员;[3] Luopohe Miao, 2nd lect [hml]
  9. Fengxiang 枫香; Chong'anjiang Miao [hmj]
  10. Qibainong 七百弄; Bunu, Dongnu [bwx]
  11. Yaoli 瑶里;[4] Nao Klao, Baonuo [bwx]
  12. Wenjie 文界; Pa-Hng, Sanjiang [pha]
  13. Changdong 长峒; Jiongnai [pnu]
  14. Duozhu 多祝;[5] She [shx]
  15. Jiangdi 江底; Iu Mien, Guangdian [ium]
  16. Xiangjiang 湘江; Iu Mien, Xiangnan [ium]
  17. Luoxiang 罗香; Luoxiang Mien AKA Ao Biao [ium]
  18. Changping 长坪; Changping Mien AKA Biao Mon [ium]
  19. Liangzi 梁子; Kim Mun [mji]
  20. Lanjin 览金; Kim Mun [mji]
  21. Dongshan 东山; Biao Mon, Dongshan [bmt]
  22. Sanjiang 三江; Biao Mon, Shikou AKA Chao Kong Meng [bmt]
  23. Daping 大坪; Dzao Min [bpn]

Phonology

Martha Ratliff's 2010 reconstruction contains the following phonemic inventory.

  • 51–54 consonants (including pre-glottalized and pre-nasalized consonants)
  • 9 monophthong vowels
  • 7 diphthongs
  • 11 nasal rimes

Medial consonants are *-j-, *-l-, and *-r-.

Proto-Hmong–Mien had the following syllable structure (Ratliff 2010:10):

  (C) C [j/w/l] [i̯/u̯] (V) V C (C)T

Ratliff does not reconstruct vowel length for either Proto-Mienic or Proto-Hmong-Mien. Even though Mienic languages usually have vowel length, Ratliff ascribes this to areal features that were borrowed after the breakup of Proto-Mienic.[6] Neighboring languages with vowel length include Cantonese and Zhuang.

Vocabulary

Below are some reconstructed words roughly belonging to the semantic domains of agriculture and subsistence (Ratliff 2004; Greenhill et al. 2008; Starling 1998). Terms for domesticated animals and non-rice crops are usually shared with Chinese, while vocabulary relating to hunting, rice crops, and local plants and animals are usually not shared with Chinese.

Proto-
Hmong–Mien		Proto-HmongicOld ChineseEnglish
*ntshu C1lhaŋʔ (象)elephant
*ʔlen A1w(h)an (猿)monkey
*ŋgeu B2krun (麇)river deer
*tʂo B1hlāʔ (虎)tiger
*Glɐn B2shōŋ (蔥)Chinese onion
*Nqaːn A1mrū (茅)cogon grass
*n̥Ak B1nhāʔ (弩)crossbow
*pwɒn B1 ~
*pənX		m-lak-s (射)to shoot
*ɳõ C2łhuk (逐)to track, follow
*qəi A1kē (雞)chicken
*m-nɔkttiwʔ (鳥)bird
*qlAu B1 ~
*qluwX		*hmaŋ Ckkhwirʔ (犬)dog
*ʔaːp B1ʔrāp (鴨)duck
*mpɒ C1prā (豝)pig
*ʑwɒəːŋ A2g(h)ʷān (羊)sheep/goat
*ŋɔːŋ A2lhijʔ (兕)water buffalo
*dəp D2d(h)ōs　(豆)bean
*peu B1snikʷ (菽)soybean
*vəu C2was (芋)taro
*mblau A2lhūʔ (稻)rice plant;
growing/unhusked rice
*ntsəːi C1mhījʔ (米)husked rice
*ɲaːŋ C1mhījʔ (米)cooked rice

The ethnonym Hmong is reconstructed as *hmʉŋA in Proto-Hmongic by Ratliff (2010), while Mien is reconstructed as *mjænA in Proto-Mienic. In comparison, William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart (2014)[7] reconstruct the Old Chinese name of the Mán 蠻 (Nanman 南蠻, or southern foreigners) as 蠻 *mˤro[n].

External relationships

The Proto-Hmong-Mien language shares many lexical similarities with neighboring language families, including Austroasiatic, Kra-Dai (Tai-Kadai), Austronesian, and Tibeto-Burman (Ratliff 2010). Martha Ratliff (2010:233-237) lists the following lexical resemblances between Proto-Hmong-Mien (abbreviated below as PHM) and other language families. Proto-Hmongic and Proto-Mienic are provided if the Proto-Hmong-Mien form is not reconstructed.

Austroasiatic

Many lexical resemblances are found between the Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic language families (Ratliff 2010), some of which had earlier been proposed by Haudricourt (1951).[8]

Lexical resemblances with Austroasiatic
  • PHM *ʔu̯əm 'water'
  • PHM *ntshjamX 'blood'
  • PHM *ntju̯əŋH 'tree'
  • PHM *ʔɲæmX 'to weep, cry'
  • PHM *pənX 'to shoot'
  • PHM *tu̯eiX 'tail'
  • PHM *mpeiH 'to dream'
  • PHM *ʔpu̯ɛŋX 'full'
  • Proto-Hmongic *mbrɔD 'ant'
  • Proto-Mienic *səpD 'centipede'
  • PHM *klup 'grasshopper'
  • PHM *ntshjeiX 'head louse'

Other Austroasiatic parallels listed by Kosaka (2002:94) are:[9]

  • PHM *tshuŋX 'bone'
  • PHM *S-phreiX 'head'
  • PHM *pji̯əuX 'fruit'
  • PHM *pjɔu 'three'

Ostapirat (2018:116-117)[10] lists compares the following basic vocabulary items in Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic.

GlossProto-Hmong-Mien
(Ratliff 2010)		Proto-Vietic
(Ferlus 1991)[11]		Proto-Wa
(Diffloth 1980)[12]
louse *ntshjeiX*ciʔ*siʔ
fruit *pji̯əuX*pleʔ*pliʔ
road *kləuX*khraʔ*kraʔ
shoot *pənX*paɲʔ*pɤɲ
blood *ntshjamX*asaːmʔ*hnam
weep *ʔɲæmX*jaːmʔ, *ɲaːmʔ*jam
hawk *qlaŋX*klaːŋʔ*klaŋ
cooked *sjenX (Proto-Hmongic)*ciːnʔ*sin
heavy *hnjeinX*naŋʔ(*s-jen)
full *pu̯ɛŋXpɔiŋ (Mon)phoiɲ (Khasi)
nose *mbruiH*muːs*mɨs
name *mpɔuHjhmoh (Middle Khmer)*mɨs
horn *klɛɔŋ*kərəŋ*ʔrɤŋ
water *ʔu̯əmʔom (Palaung)*rʔom
live, alive *ʔjəmʔim (Palaung)*ʔem
I *ʔja (Proto-Mienic)ʔoa (Mon)*ʔɨʔ
thou *mu̯eimày (Vietnamese)me (Khasi)
one *ʔɨ-ʔu (Palaung)
two *ʔu̯i-ʔa (Palaung)
three *pjɔupaj (Kui)-

Further lexical resemblances between Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic are listed in Hsiu (2017).[13]

Kra-Dai

Many lexical resemblances are found between the Hmong-Mien and Kra-Dai language families, although the tones often do not correspond (Ratliff 2010). Proto-Tai (abbreviated here as PT) reconstructions are from Pittayaporn (2009).[14] Many of the Proto-Tai forms also have close parallels with Proto-Austronesian.

Lexical resemblances with Kra-Dai
  • Proto-Hmongic *kɛŋB 'I, 1.SG'; PT *kuːA (strong form), *kawA (weak form)
  • PHM *mu̯ei 'thou, 2.SG'; PT *mɯŋA (strong form), *maɰA (weak form)
  • PHM *təjH 'to die', *dəjH 'to kill'; PT *p.taːjA 'to die'
  • PHM *ʔneinX 'this'; PT *najC
  • PHM *m-nɔk 'bird'; PT *C̬.nokD
  • PHM *mbrəuX 'fish'; PT *plaːA
  • Proto-Hmongic *hmaŋC 'wild dog'; PT *ʰmaːA 'dog'
  • Proto-Hmongic *ʔlinA 'monkey'; PT *liːŋA

Kosaka (2002)[9] lists many lexical between Kra-Dai and Hmong-Mien languages, and proposes that they form part of a larger Miao-Dai language family.

Tibeto-Burman

Ratliff notes that the Hmong-Mien numerals from 4-9 and various culture-related vocabulary have been borrowed from Tibeto-Burman. The Proto-Tibeto-Burman (abbreviated as PTB) forms provided below are from James Matisoff (2003).[15]

Lexical borrowings from Tibeto-Burman
  • PHM *plei 'four' < PTB *b-ləy (STEDT #2409)
  • PHM *prja 'five' < PTB *b-ŋa (STEDT #1306)
  • PHM *kruk 'six' < PTB *d-k-ruk (STEDT #2621)
  • PHM *dzjuŋH 'seven'
  • PHM *jat 'eight' < PTB *b-r-gyat ~ *b-g-ryat (STEDT #2259)
  • PHM *N-ɟuə 'nine' < PTB *d/s-kəw (STEDT #2364)
  • Proto-Hmongic *hnɛŋA and Proto-Mienic *hnu̯ɔiA 'sun, day' < PTB *s-nəy (STEDT #85)
  • PHM *hlaH 'moon, month' < PTB *s-la (STEDT #1016)
  • PHM *hməŋH 'night' (also 'dark') < PTB *s-muːŋ 'dark' (STEDT #522; #2465)
  • PHM *ʔɲam 'sister-in-law' (also 'daughter-in-law') < PTB *nam 'daughter-in-law' (STEDT #2486)
  • PHM *ʔweiX 'son-in-law' < PTB *krwəy (STEDT #2348)
  • PHM *hlep 'to slice' < PTB *s-lep (STEDT #2401)
  • PHM *hmjænX 'footprint, track' < PTB *s-naŋ 'to follow' (STEDT #2488)
  • Proto-Hmongic *mjænB 'horse' < PTB *mraŋ (STEDT #1431)

Additionally, Paul K. Benedict (1987)[16] notes that Proto-Hmong-Mien contain loanwords from an unknown Tibeto-Burman language or branch, which Benedict refers to as Donor Miao-Yao. Reconstructions for some numerals that Benedict (1987) reconstructed for Proto-Donor Miao-Yao are given below.

  • *pliA 'four'
  • *praA 'five'
  • *truk 'six'
  • *znis 'seven'
  • *hryat 'eight'
  • *t-guA 'nine'
  • *gup 'ten'

See also

References and notes

  1. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  2. ↑ Baituo, Qingyan Township, Huaxi District, Guiyang 贵阳市花溪区青岩乡摆托寨
  3. ↑ Yejipo, Ganba Township, Fuquan County 福泉县甘坝乡野鸡坡寨
  4. ↑ Mangjiang, Yaoli Township, Nandan County 南丹县瑶里乡芒降村
  5. ↑ Chenhu, Duozhu Township, Huidong County 惠东县多祝乡陈湖村
  6. ↑ http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/ratliff2007contrastive.pdf
  7. ↑ Baxter, William H. and Laurent Sagart. 2014. Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-994537-5.
  8. ↑ Haudricourt, André-Georges. 1951. Introduction à la phonologie historique des langues miao-yao [An introduction to the historical phonology of the Miao-Yao languages]. Bulletin de l’École Française d'Extrême-Orient 44(2). 555–576.
  9. 1 2 Kosaka, Ryuichi. 2002. "On the affiliation of Miao-Yao and Kadai: can we posit the Miao-Dai Family?" In The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal, 32: 71-100.
  10. ↑ Ostapirat, Weera. 2018. "Macrophyletic Trees of East Asian Languages Re examined." In Let's Talk about Trees, ed. by Ritsuko Kikusawa and Lawrence A. Reid. Osaka: Senri Ethnological Studies, Minpaku. doi:10.15021/00009006
  11. ↑ Ferlus, Michel. 1991. Vocalisme du Proto-Viet-Muong. Paper presented at the 24th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Thailand, 7–11 October, 1991.
  12. ↑ Diffloth, Gérard. 1980. The Wa Languages. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 5(2): 1–182.
  13. ↑ Hsiu, Andrew. 2017. Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic look-alikes.
  14. ↑ Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2009. The Phonology of Proto-Tai. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Linguistics, Cornell University.
  15. ↑ Matisoff, James A. (2003), Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman: System and Philosophy of Sino-Tibetan Reconstruction, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-09843-5.
  16. ↑ Benedict, Paul K. 1987. "Early MY/TB Loan Relationships." In Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, 10 , no. 2: 12-21.
  • Niederer, Barbara (1998). Les langues Hmong-Mjen (Miao-Yao): phonologie historique. Munich: Lincom Europa.
  • Ostapirat, Weera (2016). "Issues in the Reconstruction and Affiliation of Proto-Miao-Yao" (PDF). Language and Linguistics. 17 (1): 133–145. doi:10.1177/1606822X15614522. (revision of paper presented at IsCLL-14, Taipei, Taiwan)
  • Ratliff, Martha (1992). Meaningful Tone: A Study of Tonal Morphology in Compounds, Form Classes, and Expressive Phrases in White Hmong. Dekalb, Illinois: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University. ISBN 1-877979-77-5.
  • Ratliff, Martha (2004). Tapp, Michaud, Culas, and Lee, eds. Vocabulary of Environment and Subsistence in the Hmong–Mien Protolanguage. Symposium on the Hmong/Miao in Asia. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books. pp. 147–165. Manuscript.
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  • Benedict, Paul K. (1942). "Thai, Kadai and Indonesian: a new alignment in south east Asia". American Anthropologist. 44: 576–601. doi:10.1525/aa.1942.44.4.02a00040.
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  • Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). "Proto-Hmongic word list". Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database. Department of Psychology, University of Auckland. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
  • Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). "Proto-Mienic word list". Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database. Department of Psychology, University of Auckland. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
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  • Wang Fushi 王辅世, Mao Zongwu 毛宗武. 1995. Miao-Yao yu guyin gouni 苗瑤语古音构拟. Beijing: China Social Sciences Academy 中国社会科学出版社.
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