Proto-Hmong–Mien language

Proto-Hmong–Mien (Chinese: 原始苗瑶语) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Hmong–Mien languages. Lower-level reconstructions include Proto-Hmongic and Proto-Mienic.

Proto-Hmong-Mien
Reconstruction of	Hmong-Mien languages
Region	Yangtze River Basin
Era	ca. 2200? BCE-500 BCE
Lower-order reconstructions	Proto-Hmongic Proto-Mienic

The date of proto-Hmong-Mien has been estimated to be about 2500 BP by Sagart, Blench, and Sanchez-Mazas. It has been estimated to about 4243 BP by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP),^[1] however, ASJP is not widely accepted among historical linguists as an adequate method to establish or evaluate relationships between language families.^[2]

Reconstructions

Reconstructions of Proto-Hmong–Mien include those of Purnell (1970),^[3] Wang & Mao (1995), Ratliff (2010), and Chen (2013), and Ostapirat (2016). Proto-Hmongic (Proto-Miao) has also been reconstructed by Wang (1994),^[4] while Proto-Mienic (Proto-Mjuenic; reconstruction excludes Biao Min and Zao Min) has been reconstructed by Luang-Thongkum (1993).^[5]

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;^[a] Guiyang Miao, North [huj]
6. Gaopo 高坡; Huishui Miao, North [hmi]
7. Zongdi 宗地; Mashan Miao, Central [hmm]
8. Fuyuan 复员;^[b] 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;^[c] Nao Klao, Baonuo [bwx]
12. Wenjie 文界; Pa-Hng, Sanjiang [pha]
13. Changdong 长峒; Jiongnai [pnu]
14. Duozhu 多祝;^[d] She [shx]
15. Jiangdi 江底; Iu Mien, Guangdian [ium]
16. Xiangjiang 湘江; Iu Mien, Xiangnan [ium]
17. Luoxiang 罗香; Luoxiang Mien a.k.a. Ao Biao [ium]
18. Changping 长坪; Changping Mien a.k.a. 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 a.k.a. Chao Kong Meng [bmt]
23. Daping 大坪; Dzao Min [bpn]

Phonology

Ratliff (2010)

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

The full set of Proto-Hmong–Mien initial consonants is (Ratliff 2010: 31):

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plain stop	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tsʰ	cʰ	kʰ
	voiceless	p	t	ts	c	k	q/(qʷ)	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	dz	ɟ	ɡ	ɢ
Pre-nasalized stop	aspirated	mpʰ	ntʰ	ntsʰ	ɲcʰ	ŋkʰ
	voiceless	mp	nt	nts	ɲc	ŋk	ɴq
	voiced	mb	nd	ndz	ɲɟ	ŋɡ	ɴɢ
Nasal	voiced	m	n		ɲ/(ɲʷ)	(ŋ)/(ŋʷ)
	pre-glottalized	ʔm	ʔn		ʔɲ
	aspirated	ʰm	ʰn		ʰɲ
Glide	voiced	w			j
	pre-glottalized	ʔw			ʔj
	aspirated	(ʰw)			ʰj
Fricative	voiceless		s		ɕ			h
	voiced					(ɣ)		(ɦ)

The 3 medial consonants are *-j-, *-l-, and *-r-. The 6 final stop consonants are *-p, *-t, *-k, *-m, *-n, and *-ŋ.

The Proto-Hmong–Mien vowels are (11 total) (Ratliff 2010: 108):

	Front (unrounded)	Central (unrounded)	Central	Central (rounded)	Back (rounded)
High	i	ɨ		ʉ	u
Mid-high	e				o
Central			ə
Mid-low	ɛ				ɔ
Near-low	æ
Low	a

Proto-Hmong–Mien has 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 Yue Chinese and Zhuang.

Ostapirat (2016)

Ostapirat (2016)^[7] revises various reconstructed Proto-Hmong–Mien consonant initials proposed by Ratliff (2010). He suggests that many proto-initials are in fact sesquisyllables, in line with Baxter & Sagart's (2014) Old Chinese reconstruction and Pittayaporn's (2009) Proto-Tai reconstruction. Examples include reconstructing *m.l- and *m.r- where Ratliff (2010) reconstructs *mbl- and *mbr-, respectively. Hmong-Mien presyllables are further discussed in Strecker (2021).^[8]

Ostapirat (2016) also reconstructs velarized initial consonants (*Cˠ-) where Ratliff (2010) reconstructs -j- or -w-.

Additionally, Ostapirat revises Ratliff's uvulars (*q-, etc.) as velars (*k-, etc.), and her palatals as either alveolars or palatals.

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-Hmongic	Old Chinese	English
	*ntshu C1	lhaŋʔ (象)	elephant
	*ʔlen A1	w(h)an (猿)	monkey
	*ŋgeu B2	krun (麇)	river deer
	*tʂo B1	hlāʔ (虎)	tiger
	*Glɐn B2	shōŋ (蔥)	Chinese onion
*Nqaːn A1		mrū (茅)	cogon grass
*n̥Ak B1		nhāʔ (弩)	crossbow
*pwɒn B1 ~ *pənX		m-lak-s (射)	to shoot
*ɳõ C2		łhuk (逐)	to track, follow
*qəi A1		kē (雞)	chicken
*m-nɔk		ttiwʔ (鳥)	bird
*qlAu B1 ~ *qluwX	*hmaŋ C	kloʔ (狗)	dog
*ʔaːp B1		ʔrāp (鴨)	duck
*mpɒ C1		prā (豝)	pig
*ʑwɒəːŋ A2		g(h)ʷān (羊)	sheep/goat
*ŋɔːŋ A2		lhijʔ (兕)	water buffalo
*dəp D2		d(h)ōs　(豆)	bean
*peu B1		snikʷ (菽)	soybean
*vəu C2		was (芋)	taro
*mblau A2		lhūʔ (稻)	rice plant; growing/unhusked rice
*ntsəːi C1		mhījʔ (米)	husked rice
*ɲaːŋ C1		mhījʔ (米)	cooked rice

The ethnonym Hmong is reconstructed as *hmʉŋ^A in Proto-Hmongic by Ratliff (2010), while Mien is reconstructed as *mjæn^A in Proto-Mienic. In comparison, William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart (2014)^[9] 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).^[10] Proto-Austroasiatic (PAA) reconstructions are from Sidwell & Rau (2015).^[11]

Lexical resemblances with Austroasiatic

• PHM *ʔu̯əm 'water'
• PHM *ntshjamX 'blood'; PAA *saːm 'to bleed'
• PHM *ntju̯əŋH 'tree'
• PHM *ʔɲæmX 'to weep, cry'
• PHM *pənX 'to shoot'
• PHM *tu̯eiX 'tail'; PAA *sntaʔ
• PHM *mpeiH 'to dream'
• PHM *ʔpu̯ɛŋX 'full'; PAA *biːŋ; *beːɲ
• Proto-Hmongic *mbrɔ^D 'ant'
• Proto-Mienic *səp^D 'centipede'
• PHM *klup 'grasshopper'
• PHM *ntshjeiX 'head louse'; PAA *ciːʔ

Other Austroasiatic parallels listed by Kosaka (2002:94) are:^[12]

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

Ostapirat (2018:116-117)^[13] lists compares the following basic vocabulary items in Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic.

Gloss	Proto-Hmong–Mien (Ratliff 2010)	Proto-Vietic (Ferlus 1991)^[14]	Proto-Wa (Diffloth 1980)^[15]
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	*pu̯ɛŋX	pɔiŋ (Mon)	phoiɲ (Khasi)
nose	*mbruiH	*muːs	*mɨs
name	*mpɔuH	jhmoh (Middle Khmer)	*mɨs
horn	*klɛɔŋ	*kərəŋ	*ʔrɤŋ
water	*ʔu̯əm	ʔom (Palaung)	*rʔom
live, alive	*ʔjəm	ʔim (Palaung)	*ʔem
I	*ʔja (Proto-Mienic)	ʔoa (Mon)	*ʔɨʔ
thou	*mu̯ei	mày (Vietnamese)	me (Khasi)
one	*ʔɨ	-	ʔu (Palaung)
two	*ʔu̯i	-	ʔa (Palaung)
three	*pjɔu	paj (Kui)	-

Further lexical resemblances between Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic are listed in Hsiu (2017).^[16]

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).^[17] Many of the Proto-Tai forms also have close parallels with Proto-Austronesian.

Lexical resemblances with Kra-Dai

• Proto-Hmongic *kɛŋ^B 'I, 1.SG'; PT *kuː^A (strong form), *kaw^A (weak form)
• PHM *mu̯ei 'thou, 2.SG'; PT *mɯŋ^A (strong form), *maɰ^A (weak form)
• PHM *təjH 'to die', *dəjH 'to kill'; PT *p.taːj^A 'to die'
• PHM *ʔneinX 'this'; PT *naj^C
• PHM *m-nɔk 'bird'; PT *C̬.nok^D
• PHM *mbrəuX 'fish'; PT *plaː^A
• Proto-Hmongic *hmaŋ^C 'wild dog'; PT *ʰmaː^A 'dog'
• Proto-Hmongic *ʔlin^A 'monkey'; PT *liːŋ^A

Kosaka (2002)^[12] lists many lexical resemblances between Kra-Dai and Hmong-Mien languages, and proposes that they form part of a larger Miao-Dai language family.

Austronesian

Many lexical resemblances are found between the Hmong-Mien and Austronesian language families, some of which are also shared with Kra-Dai and Austroasiatic (Ratliff 2010). Proto-Austronesian (abbreviated here as PAN) and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (abbreviated here as PMP) reconstructions are from Blust (n.d.).^[18]

Lexical resemblances with Austronesian and Kra-Dai

• Proto-Hmongic *kɛŋ^B 'I, 1.SG'; PMP *-ku 'my'
• PHM *mu̯ei 'thou, 2.SG'; PAN *-mu '2nd person'
• PHM *mi̯əu 'you (plural), 2.PL'; PAN *-mu '2nd person'
• PHM *təjH 'to die'; PAN *ma-aCay
• PHM *dəjH 'to kill'; PAN *pa-aCay
• PHM *m-nɔk 'bird'; PMP *manuk

Lexical resemblances with Austronesian and Austroasiatic

• PHM *tu̯eiX 'tail'; PMP *buntut
• PHM *pu̯ɛŋX 'full'; PMP *penuq
• PHM *pənX 'to shoot'; PMP *panaq
• PHM *mpeiH 'to dream'; PAN *Sepi, PMP *hi(m)pi

Other lexical resemblances with Austronesian

• PHM *mlu̯ɛjH 'soft'; PMP *ma-lumu
• PHM *dəp 'bite'; PMP *ketep
• PHM *klæŋ 'insect, worm, maggot'; PAN *qulej 'maggot'
• PHM *tɛmX 'body louse'; PAN *CumeS, PMP *tumah 'clothes louse'

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).^[19]

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 *hnɛŋ^A and Proto-Mienic *hnu̯ɔi^A '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 *mjæn^B 'horse' < PTB *mraŋ (STEDT #1431)

Additionally, Paul K. Benedict (1987)^[20] notes that Proto-Hmong–Mien contains loanwords from an unknown Tibeto-Burman language or branch, which Benedict refers to as Donor Miao-Yao. Some numerals that Benedict (1987) reconstructed for Proto-Donor Miao-Yao are given below.

• *pli^A 'four'
• *pra^A 'five'
• *truk 'six'
• *znis 'seven'
• *hryat 'eight'
• *t-gu^A 'nine'
• *gup 'ten'

See also

• List of Proto-Hmong-Mien reconstructions (Wiktionary)
• List of Proto-Hmongic reconstructions (Wiktionary)
• List of Proto-Mienic reconstructions (Wiktionary)
• Hmong-Mien comparative vocabulary list (Wiktionary)

Notes

1. Baituo, Qingyan Township, Huaxi District, Guiyang 贵阳市花溪区青岩乡摆托寨
2. Yejipo, Ganba Township, Fuquan County 福泉县甘坝乡野鸡坡寨
3. Mangjiang, Yaoli Township, Nandan County 南丹县瑶里乡芒降村
4. Chenhu, Duozhu Township, Huidong County 惠东县多祝乡陈湖村

References

Citations

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