Phonological innovation among Hmong dialects of Wenshan

CASTRO, Andy & GU Chaowen. 2010. Phonological innovation among Hmong dialects of Wenshan. [J/OL] Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, Volume 3.1:1-39. URL: http://pacling.anu.edu.au/series/SEALS-PDFs/JSEALS-3-1.pdf

Andy Castro
SIL, East Asia Group
<andy_castro@sil.org>
Gu Chaowen
Wenshan Zhuang Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Ethnic Minority Affairs Commission

Abstract
Wenshan prefecture in Yunnan, China, is home to at least nine different branches of the
Hmong people, each with its own speech variety exhibiting its own particular linguistic
features. While the phonological differences between the White Hmong and the
Blue/Green Hmong of South East Asia are well documented, the linguistic features of the
additional five or so different Hmong speech varieties found in Wenshan have not been
systematically described or compared. This paper describes and compares the phonologies
and diachronic developments of seven branches of Hmong who live in Wenshan, viz.
Hmongb Shib, Hmongb Bes, Hmongb Buak, Hmongb Soud, Hmongb Shuat, Hmongb
Dleub and Hmongb Nzhuab, working primarily from Wang Fushi’s (1994) reconstruction
of Proto-Miao. The authors tentatively suggest that these seven speech varieties can be
grouped into four distinct dialect clusters based on common diachronic phonological
innovations. This paper is an initial presentation of recent fieldwork data collected as part
of an ongoing, Yunnan-wide investigation into Core Farwestern Hmongic, with the goal of
elucidating the relationships between these under-researched Hmong varieties.