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Lost Written Language
History tells that a kingdom of Hmong existed in China and they had a king. The kingdom was rich with culture, traditions, and had a written language. However, not much is known about it. There have been many different versions of how the Hmong lost their written language. There was a book that was filled with the Hmong alphabet and knowledge about the Hmong written language (Duffy, 2007). When the Hmong rebelled against the Chinese oppression and lost their king, they had to flee and migrate. In the process of fleeing they had to choose between taking everything with them or their protection. They chose their protection; the outcome of that was losing their written language. When they were fleeing they had to burn their books that were filled with the Hmong alphabet and knowledge. This is just one of the versions of how the Hmong lost their written language. There is a version where the books were lost in the Yellow River when they had to cross during migration. Another version is that the books were eaten by their horses (Bliatout, Downing, Lewis, & Yang, 1998; Duffy, 2007; Her & Buley-Meissner, 2012). Although we don’t know which is the true story, at one point the Hmong did have a written language but it was lost due to political conflicts.
This is a picture of Sai Vang in a formal school setting learning English in Phanat Nikhom, Thailand preparing to come to the United States. Image is provided by PaNhia Vang's family
Ever since the Hmong lost their books about their written language, they never used a writing system again. Hmong who were born years after fleeing from China have heard about what writing is, but they have never seen it in action before. Many Hmong did not start writing again until they got to Laos and went to school there. There were only a few Hmong children who were able to attend school. The reason for this was that they lived in mountainous rural areas of Laos. It also was not a requirement for Hmong children to attend school. They did not have to go if they did not want to (Bliatout, Downing, Lewis & Yang, 1988). Those who attended school had to travel long distances to get to the schools in Laotian villages. The students who were able to attend school only learned how to speak, read, and write in Lao. However, most of the time they did not understand the language (Mahowald & Loughnane, 2016). It wasn’t until after families sought refuge in Thailand that more Hmong children started to attend formal schooling.
Regaining a Written Language
Currently, the Hmong has various writing systems but only one has become the main writing system which is the Hmong Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA) (Bliatout, Downing, Lewis, & Yang, 1988; Jaisser, 1995; Michaud, 2020). The RPA writing system was developed in the 1950s by American Protestant missionary linguists J. Linwood Barney and William Smalley when they traveled to Laos (Bliatout, Downing, Lewis, & Yang, 1988; Michaud, 2020). This writing system was created based on the two dialects of Hmong. These two dialects are Hmoob Dawb (Hmong white) and Hmoob Ntsuab/Hmoob Leng (Hmong green) (Bliatout, Downing, Lewis, & Yang, 1988).
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