The Hmu language (hveb Hmub), also known as Qiandong Miao (黔东, Eastern Guizhou Miao), Central Miao (中部苗语), East Hmongic (Ratliff 2010[2]), or (somewhat ambiguously) Black Miao, is a dialect clusterofHmongic languages of China. The best studied dialect is that of Yǎnghāo (养蒿) village, Taijiang County, Guizhou Province.[2]
Qanu (咯努), a Hmu variety, had 11,450 speakers as of 2000, and is spoken just south of Kaili City, Guizhou.[3] The Qanu are ethnoculturally distinct from the other Hmu.
Wu Zhengbiao (2009)[8] divides Hmu into seven different dialects. Past classifications usually included only three or four dialects. For example, Li Jinping & Li Tianyi (2012),[9] based on past classifications, divide Hmu into the three dialects of Northern,[10] Southern,[11] and Eastern.[12] Datapoint locations of representative dialects are from Li Yunbing (2000).[13]
Eastern (Representative dialect: Sanjiang township 三江乡, Jinping County, Guizhou)
Andrew Hsiu (2018) proposes the following classification of the Qiandong Miao languages based on his 2015 computational analysis, classifying Ná-Meo as a Southern Qiandong Miao dialect:[7][17]
Hmu has been recognized as a branch of Hmongic since the 1950s. Wang (1985) recognized three varieties. Matisoff (2001) treated these as distinct languages, which is reflected in Ethnologue. Lee (2000) added a fourth variety, Western Hmu (10,000 speakers), among the Yao,[13] and Matisoff (2006) lists seven (Daigong, Kaili [N], Lushan, Taijiang [N], Zhenfeng [N], Phö, Rongjiang [S]).
Northern Qiandong Miao, also known as Central Miao and as Eastern Guizhou Hmu (黔东方言 Qián-Dōng fāngyán), was chosen as the standard for Hmu-language textbooks in China, based on the pronunciation of Yǎnghāo (养蒿) village.[18][19]
[ʔ] is not distinct from a zero initial (that is, if we accept /ʔ/ as a consonant, there are no vowel-initial words in Hmu), and only occurs with tones 1, 3, 5, 7.
The aspirated nasals and fricatives do not exist in Southern or Eastern Hmu; cognates words use their unaspirated homologues. Further, in Eastern Hmu, di, ti merge into j, q; c merges into x; r (Northern /z/) merges into ni; and v is pronounced [w]. In Southern Hmu, words cognate with hni (and some with ni) are pronounced [nʲʑ]; those with r are [nz]; and some words exchange s and x.
Ai/ɛ/ does not occur after palatalized consonants. /en/ after palatalized consonants is spelled in.
Diphthongs
Closing
Close component is front
ej⟨ei⟩
Close component is back
əw⟨eu⟩
Additional diphthongs occur in Chinese loans.
All dialects have eight tones. There is no sandhi. In the chart below, Northern Hmu is represented by Yanghao village (Kaili City), Eastern Hmu by 偶里 village (Jinping County), and Southern Hmu by 振民 (Rongshui County).
Hmu tone
Tone
Letter
Northern
Eastern
Southern
1
b
˧3
˧3
˧3
3
d
˧˥35
˨̤2
˧˥35
5
t
˦4
˦˥45
˦4
7
k
˥˧53
˨˦24
˨˦24
2
x
˥ 5 ~ ˦˥45
˦˨42
˥˧53
4
l
˩̤1
˨˩21
˧˩31
6
s
˩˧̤13
˥5
˨̤2
8
f
˧˩31
˩˨̤12
˨˩˧ 213
The lowest tones—Northern tones 4 and 6, Eastern tones 3 and 8, and Southern tone 6—are said to make the preceding consonant murmured (breathy voiced), presumably meaning that these are murmured tones as in other Hmongic languages. They are marked with ⟨◌̤⟩ in the chart.
^Wu, Zhengbiao 吴正彪 (2009).『Qiándōng fāngyán Miáoyǔ tǔyǔ huàfēn wèntí de zài tàntǎo』黔东方言苗语土语划分问题的再探讨 [A Further Exploration into the Division of Miao Patois in Qiandong Dialect]. Jíshǒu dàxué xuébào (shèhuì kēxué bǎn) 吉首大学学报（社会科学版） [Journal of Jishou University (Social Science Edition)] (in Chinese). 30: 117–121. doi:10.13438/j.cnki.jdxb.2009.06.018.
^Li, Jinping 李锦平; Li, Tianyi 李天翼 (2012). Miáoyǔ fāngyán bǐjiào yánjiū 苗语方言比较研究 [A Comparative Study of Miao Dialects] (in Chinese). Chengdu: Xinan jiaotong daxue chubanshe.
^Representative dialect: Yanghao, Sankeshu, Kaili City 贵州凯里三棵树养蒿
^Representative dialect: Gaolian, Xiajiang, Congjiang County 贵州从江下江高联
^Representative dialect: Meihua, Zhulin, Tianzhu County 贵州天柱竹林梅花
Ma, Xueliang 馬學良; Tai, Changhou 邰昌厚 (1956).『Guìzhōu shěng dōng nánbù Miáoyǔ yǔyīn de chūbù bǐjiào』貴州省東南部苗語語音的初步比較 [A Preliminary Survey of the Phonology of the Miao Dialects in the Southeast of Kweichou]. Yŭyán yánjiū 语言研究 (in Chinese). 1: 265–282.
Ji, Anlong 姬安龙 (2012). Miáoyǔ Táijiānghuà cānkǎo yǔfǎ 苗语台江话参考语法 [A Reference Grammar of Taijiang Miao] (in Chinese). Kunming: Yunnan minzu chubanshe.
Liu, Wen 刘文 (2021). Yuyinxue tianye diaocha fangfa yu shijian: Qiandong Miaoyu (Xinzhai) ge an yanjiu 语音学田野调查方法与实践: 黔东苗语(新寨)个案研究. Jinan: Shandong University Press 山东大学出版社. OCLC1294545225.
