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lang}}, {{
transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{
IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate
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Linguists in China consider the dialect spoken in Changdong,
Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County,
Guangxi to be the standard. This standard is also spoken by Iu Mien in the West, however, because most are
refugees from
Laos, their dialect incorporates influences from the Lao and Thai languages.[1]
The standard spelling system for Iu Mien does not represent the stop sounds in a way that corresponds to the IPA symbols, but instead uses e.g. ⟨t⟩, ⟨d⟩, and ⟨nd⟩ to represent /tʰ/,/t/,and/d/. This may stem from an attempt to model the Iu Mien spelling system on
Pinyin (used to represent
Mandarin Chinese), where ⟨t⟩ and ⟨d⟩ represent /tʰ/and/t/. The Pinyin influence is also seen in the use of ⟨c⟩, ⟨z⟩, and ⟨nz⟩ to represent the alveolar affricates /t͡sʰ/,/t͡s/,and/d͡z/ and ⟨q⟩, ⟨j⟩, and ⟨nj⟩ for the postalveolar affricates /t͡ɕʰ/,/t͡ɕ/,and/d͡ʑ/. The use of ⟨ng⟩ to represent the velar nasal /ŋ/ means that it cannot also be used to represent /ɡ/, as would be predicted; instead, ⟨nq⟩ is used.
According to Daniel Bruhn,[5] the voiceless nasals are actually sequences [h̃m],[h̃n],[h̃ŋ],and[h̃ɲ] (i.e. a short nasalized /h/ followed by a voiced nasal), while the voiceless lateral is actually a
voiceless lateral fricative[ɬ].
Bruhn also observed that younger-generation Iu Mien Americans were more likely to substitute the voiceless
nasals and voiceless
laterals with /h/ and the
alveolo-palatal affricates with their corresponding
palato-alveolar variants.[5]
Onset
It appears that all single consonant phonemes except /ʔ/ can occur as the
onset.[6][7]
Coda
Unlike
Hmong, which generally prohibits
coda consonants, Iu Mien has seven single consonant phonemes that can take the coda position. These consonants are /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, [p̚], [t̚], [k̚], and /ʔ/. Some of the stops can only occur as final consonants when accompanied by certain
tones; for example, /ʔ/ only occurs with the tone ⟨c⟩ or ⟨v⟩.
Iu Mien vowels are represented in the Iu Mien United Script using combinations of the six letters, ⟨a⟩, ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨u⟩, and ⟨r⟩.
According to Bruhn,[5] the
monophthongs are ⟨i⟩, ⟨u⟩, ⟨e⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨ai⟩, ⟨er⟩, ⟨ae⟩, ⟨a⟩, ⟨aa⟩, and ⟨or⟩. The
diphthongs are ⟨ai⟩, ⟨aai⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨aau⟩, ⟨ei⟩, ⟨oi⟩, ⟨ou⟩, ⟨eu⟩. Furthermore, additional diphthongs and
triphthongs can be formed from the aforementioned vowels through /i/- or /u/-on-gliding (having /i/ or /u/ before the vowel). Such vowels attested by Bruhn include ⟨ia⟩, ⟨iaa⟩, ⟨ie⟩, ⟨io⟩, ⟨iu⟩, ⟨ior⟩, ⟨iai⟩, ⟨iaai⟩, ⟨iau⟩, ⟨iaau⟩, ⟨iei⟩, ⟨iou⟩, ⟨ua⟩, ⟨uaa⟩, ⟨uae⟩, ⟨ue⟩, ⟨ui⟩, ⟨uo⟩, ⟨uai⟩, ⟨uaai⟩, and ⟨uei⟩.
The dialect studied by Bruhn, and described in the above table, has a phoneme /ɛ/ that does not have its own spelling, but is represented in various contexts either as ⟨e⟩ or ⟨ai⟩ (which are also used for /e/ and /aɪ/, respectively). In all cases where /ɛ/ is spelled ⟨e⟩, and nearly all cases where it is spelled ⟨ai⟩, it does not contrast with /e/ or /aɪ/, respectively, and can be viewed as an allophone of these sounds. The only potential exception appears to be when occurring as a syllable final by itself, where it has an extremely restricted distribution, occurring only
after the
(alveolo-)palatal consonants /tɕ/,/dʑ/,and/ɲ/. The sound /ɛ/ may be a secondary development from /aɪ/ in this context, although Bruhn does not discuss this issue.
In the Iu Mien United Script (the language's most common writing system), tones are not marked with diacritics; rather, a word's tone is indicated by a special marker letter at the end of the word. If a word lacks a marker, then it is to be pronounced with a middle tone.
Question words like those meaning 'where' generally come at the end of sentences.
The
negative wordmaiv (often shortened to mv) may occur before verbs to negate them.
A prevalence of
contractions. Some words consist of a contracted syllable followed by an uncontracted second syllable (in IMUS, these syllables are separated by
apostrophes). One such example is ga'nyorc ("spider"), a contraction of gaeng-nyorc ("insect-spider").
Writing system
In the past, the lack of an
alphabet caused low rates of
literacy amongst the Iu Mien speakers. It had been written with
Chinese characters in China; however, this is extremely difficult for Iu Mien speakers from other countries such as
Laos and from groups who now live in the West.
In an effort to address this, an Iu Mien Unified Script was created in 1984 using the Latin script, based on an earlier orthography developed in China.[8] Unlike the
Vietnamese language, this alphabet does not use any diacritics to distinguish tones or different vowel sounds, and only uses the 26 letters of the
ISO basic Latin alphabet. This orthography distinguishes 30 initials, 128 finals, and eight tones. Hyphens are used to link adjectives with the nouns they modify. The alphabet is similar to the
RPA used to write the
Hmong language and the
Hanyu Pinyin transcription scheme used for Chinese.
2003 – Death of a Shaman. Directed by Richard Hall; produced by Fahm Fong Saeyang.
2010 –
"Siang-Caaux Mienh"[permanent dead link]. A story of a very irresponsible family man, alcoholic, and drug addict. He likes his bad friends but he does not love his family. But as he starts paying his mistakes, has become a turning point in his life.
^Mao, Zongwu 毛宗武; Li, Yunbing 李云兵 (1997). Bāhēng yǔ yánjiū 巴哼语研究 [A Study of Baheng [Pa-Hng]] (in Chinese). Shanghai: Shanghai yuandong chubanshe.
^Phan Hữu Dật & Hoàng Hoa Toàn (1998). "Về vấn đề xác minh tên gọi và phân loại các ngành Dao Tuyên Quang." In Phan Hữu Dật (ed). Một số vấn đề về dân tộc học Việt Nam, p.483-567. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản Đại Học Quốc Gia Hà Nội. [Comparative word list of 9 Dao dialects in
Tuyen Quang Province from p. 524–545]
Lombard, Sylvia J. (1968). Yao–English Dictionary. Data Paper No. 69. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University.
hdl:1813/57537.
Smith, Panh (2002). Modern English–Mienh and Mienh–English Dictionary. Victoria, BC: Trafford.
ISBN1-55369-711-1.
Waters, Tony (1990). "Adaptation and Migration among the Mien People of Southeast Asia". Ethnic Groups. 8: 127–141.
Mao, Zongwu 毛宗武; Meng, Chaoji 蒙朝吉; Zheng, Zongze 郑宗泽, eds. (1982). Yáo yǔ jiǎnzhì 瑶语简志 [Overview of the Yao Language] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
Mao, Zongwu 毛宗武 (2004). Yáozú Miǎn yǔ fāngyán yánjiū 瑶族勉语方言研究 [Studies in Mien Dialects of the Yao Nationality] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
Zhou, Minglang (2003). Multilingualism in China: The Politics of Writing Reforms for Minority Languages, 1949–2002. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
ISBN3-11-017896-6.
Arisawa, Tatsuro Daniel (2016). An Iu Mien Grammar: A Tool for Language Documentation and Revitalisation (Ph.D. thesis). La Trobe University.
hdl:1959.9/561960.
Further reading
Kim, Katherine Cowy (1999). Quietly Torn: A Literary Journal by Young Iu Mien American Women Living in Richmond, California. San Francisco, CA: Pacific News Service.
Jue, Zongze 劂宗泽 (2011). Jiānghuá Miǎn yǔ yánjiū 江华勉语研究 [The Mien Language of Jianghua County] (in Chinese). Beijing shi: Minzu chubanshe.
ISBN978-7-105-11371-2.