- David R. Mortensen. 2003. Two Kinds of Variable Elements in Hmong Anaphora. Abstract: ∗This paper was made possible by Hmong consultants and teachers too numerous to name exhaustively. However, it would be ungracious not to mention a few individuals who provided data, judgments, and guidance without which this paper could not have come to be. A special debt is owed to Neeb Hawj (Leena Her), Nchais Laaj Hawj, Tshuv Ntxaij Yaaj (Shawn Yang), Xab Yaj (Sa Yang), Ntaub Muas (Dao Moua), and Iab Hawj (Ia Her). 1The Hmong data in this paper are from Mong Leng (also called Green Hmong, Blue Hmong, Blue Meo, Hmong Njua, etc.), a dialect of Hmong spoken by around 1,000,000 speakers in Southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and various western countries (due to the Hmong diaspora from Laos following the “Secret War” there). Hmong is a member of the Far Western Hmongic group of the Western Hmongic branch of the Hmongic subfamily, which is, in turn, a member of the Hmong-Mien family. The wider genetic affiliations of Hmong-Mien are undetermined. Like other members of the Hmong-Mien family, Mong Leng is tonal, having 7 contrastive tones. In the RPA orthography used in this paper (and by most Hmong in the West), tones are represented by letters at the end of syllables (-b, -j, -v, -∅, -g, -s, and -m). There are other aspects of this orthography that the naive linguist may not find completely transparent. For example, doubled vowels represent the presence of nasalization or a velar nasal coda. For a good introduction to the sounds and orthographic representation of the closely related Hmong Daw (White Hmong) dialect, see Ratliff (1992). Mong Leng has several sounds not present in Hmong Daw, and these are represented here in the conventional Mong Leng adaptation of the RPA orthography. The only important differences are as follows: [ti ∼ ki], [thi ∼ khi], [nti ∼ Nki], [nthi ∼ Nkhi], and [ aN ∼ a].
