Requests for new languages/Wikipedia Hmong
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Hmong Wikipedia
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| Proposal summary |
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| Language details: |
| Users interested in forming an editing community: Add N beside users that are native speakers, and P beside the original proposers' names. ????
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Hmong is spoken by over 4 million people worldwide. There are communities of speakers in Southeast Asia, China, the United States, France, French Guiana, and Australia, among other locations. Increasing numbers are acquiring internet access and literacy; there is a large internet presence of Hmong in the United States, especially young people. A Hmong language Wikipedia would experience great involvement and readership.
Arguments in favour
Although the Hmong have many different dialects, there is no difference in the spelling of our words. Our written language was developed by French missionaries in the 60's. We use the US alphabet and while I was taking a Hmong literacy class to read and write a language I fluently speak, there was no difference in spelling for any of the dialects. Our written language utilizes the Hmoob Dawb (White Hmong) dialect which is the most commonly spoken to my knowledge. Again, I reiterate the fact that although there are many different dialects, there are no differences in the spelling of our words. I would like to use an example: The Southerners in the US say words differently than that of the Yankees but it is still spelled the same and has the same meaning. Just because it is pronounced differently doesn't change the meaning of a word or the spelling of a word.
- Support We can have a try and see what kind of Hmong language should be in Wikipedia. (See who write it, in what dialect...) --虞海 (Yú Hǎi) 01:41, 6 March 2009 (UTC)
Arguments against
- Oppose Hmong is not one but multiple languages. Consequently one specific Hmong language has to be selected for this request. Thanks, GerardM 08:31, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
- I think it could be mww – Hmong Daw (White Hmong), it's one of Hmong languages represented in USA. A.M.D.F. 17:48, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
- SIL tends to split languages horribly. If the Hmong speakers can agree on a writing standard that is mutually comprehensible, as the speakers of Arabic and German and Italian and Irish and dozen other languages with divergent dialects have (and Arabic, German and Italian all have multiple codes), then I see no reason not to open up a Hmong (hmn) Wikipedia, even if SIL and ISO 639-3 considers it a metalanguage. The English Wikipedia article says that Green and White Hmong are mutually comprehensible, so I think that would be the better route to go if the Hmong speakers are interested in opening a Hmong Wikipedia.--Prosfilaes 20:32, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
- Oppose. Many Slavic languages are mutually comprehensible, but they don't share the same Wikipedia. Most importantly, there is no such thing as Standard Hmong (vs. Standard German, Standard Arabic, or Standard Chinese). In the past Yi Wikipedia was closed partly because there is no such thing as Standard Yi. I am happy to see a White Hmong Wikipedia, but not hmn Wikipedia. --✉Hello World! 04:19, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
- Oppose Per GerardM. Mikhailov Kusserow (talk) 09:30, 3 November 2008 (UTC)
Other discussion
There are some written systems of Hmong in China, one is 滇東北苗文 (Northeastern Yunnan Hmong), another is 川黔滇苗文 (Chuanqiandian or Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan Hmong). They are modified Latin writings. There is also a written system called 滇東北次方言規範苗文, which is modified from 滇東北老苗文 (aka Pollard script). The Pollard script was created by Samuel Pollard; some letters being similar to Cree syllabics.
The Hmong language is classified into 3 main branches in China, that is 川黔滇方言 (Chuanqiandian), 湘西方言 (Xiangxi or Western Wunan) and 黔東方言 (Qiandong or Eastern Guizhou), and Chuanqiandian is sub-divided into 7 sub-dialects. Both Green Hmong [ISO 639:hnj] and White Hmong [ISO 639:mww] are classified as the 川黔滇次方言 (Chuanqiandian sub-dialect) of the Chuanqiandian dialect of Hmong language. This may be the reason claimed by the proposer of this request, that Green Hmong and White Hmong are mutually comprehensible.
- Hmong
- Chuanqiandian Hmong dialect
- Chuanqiandian Hmong sub-dialect
- Chuanqiandian cluster Hmong [cqd]
- White Hmong [mww]
- Green Hmong [hnj]
- Northeastern Yunnan Hmong [hmd]
- Chuanqiandian Hmong sub-dialect
- Xiangxi Hmong dialect
- Qiandong Hmong dialect
- Chuanqiandian Hmong dialect
But since Northeastern Yunnan Hmong [ISO 639:hmd], another sub-dialect of the Chuanqiandian dialect, uses a different writing system in China, it may be that they are hardly mutually comprehensible; nor to say Xiangxi or Qiandong. --✉Hello World! 02:31, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
