Hmong-Mien Languages - Encyclopedia Britannica

Classification

Most Chinese scholars have claimed that Hmong-Mien belongs to the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family, along with Chinese, Tibeto-Burman (which includes Tibetan, Burmese, Karen, and many smaller languages of southern and western Asia), and Tai-Kadai (which includes Thai, Lao, Shan, Zhuang, and many smaller languages of Southeast Asia). Although a genetic relationship between Chinese and Tibeto-Burman is generally accepted, the belief that this family also includes Hmong-Mien and Tai-Kadai is not widely shared by linguists outside China. Despite massive numbers of Chinese loanwords in Hmong-Mien languages, an examination of recurrent sound correspondences in basic vocabulary, the methodology upon which the determination of genetic affiliation has rested since the 19th century, does not support the theory that Chinese and Hmong-Mien are related. Furthermore, linguists outside China reject similarities in grammar, word structure, and phonological systems as evidence of genetic relationship; these similarities have been ascribed to the power of Chinese influence in the area and widespread bilingualism.

Other possible family connections have been proposed. In 1948 the English linguist R.A.D. Forrest accepted and elaborated on Henry R. Davies’s hypothesis (1909) of a link between Hmong-Mien and Mon-Khmer. In 1975 the American linguist Paul K. Benedict linked Hmong-Mien to Austronesian and Tai-Kadai as part of a family he had labeled “Austro-Tai” in earlier work. Although the Austric hypothesis, first proposed by the German linguist Wilhelm Schmidt, originally linked only Austroasiatic and Austronesian, Hmong-Mien has been mentioned as a possible member of this constellation as well. None of these proposals has gained general acceptance among scholars. Until a careful separation of layers of Chinese borrowings from native Hmong-Mien vocabulary has been completed, the question of wider family connections cannot be resolved. The most prudent position to take in the meantime is that Hmong-Mien constitutes an independent family of languages.

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Within the family two main branches have been identified: the Hmongic and the Mienic. The Hmongic (Miao) subfamily is an internally diverse group that includes mutually unintelligible languages such as Hmu (spoken in Guizhou and Guangxi), Hmong (spoken in Guizhou and Yunnan and in Southeast Asia), Qo Xiong (spoken in Hunan), Bunu (spoken in Guangxi), and Ho Ne (also known as She; spoken in Guangdong). The Mienic (Yao) subfamily is smaller and less diverse but is scattered over the entire geographical area. It includes the languages Iu Mien, Mun, and Biao Min, among others. Further research on lesser-known members of the family may lead to the refinement of this simple family tree.

The designation Miao-Yao, the name of these ethnic groups and an alternate name for the language family, is of Chinese origin. It represents the concept of “nationality,” which is not a purely linguistic classification but also takes into account culture, politics, and self-identification. For example, speakers of Mien together with speakers of Bunu, a Hmongic language, and Lakkia, a Tai-Kadai language, are classified in China as members of the Yao nationality. Conversely, for cultural reasons, speakers of the Mun language on Hainan Island are classified in China as members of the Miao nationality despite the fact that their language is Mienic. To avoid this confusion of ethnic and linguistic categories, many Western scholars have adopted the name Hmong-Mien to refer to this language family.

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