Hmong Linguistics Resources

This page collects useful resources for anyone interested in Hmong linguistics. Most of these works are specific to a particular variety, but since the grammars of White Hmong/Green Mong/Mong Leng are so similar, they will still be relevant for other varieties. If you have trouble finding these through your library, please feel free to reach out.

For anyone interested, the University of Minnesota’s Hmong Lingusitics Reading Group is held online and open to the community. Contact me for details.

Grammars

• Eléments de grammaire hmong blanc by Jean Mottin: A detailed sketch of White Hmong, developed with native speakers in Laos. It’s only available in French, but so much of the text is given to Hmong examples that it’s useful regardless of your French-language skill.
• Chapter 1 of Serial verbs in White Hmong by Nerida Jarkey gives a brief but excellent overview of White Hmong.
• A sketch of Green Mong is provided by David Mortensen in the collection The Mainland Southeast Asia Linguistic Area.
• A grammar of Hmong: White Hmong and Green Mong as spoken in North Queensland by Nathan White: A recent book-length grammar of White Hmong. Contains much useful information, but not as accessible as the other works mentioned here.

Dictionaries

• Hmong Dictionary Online a White Hmong/Green Mong–English dictionary compiled by James B. Xiong. Definitions given in Hmong only. Requires a (free) account.
• The White Hmong–English Dictionary compiled by Ernest E. Heimbach is still excellent despite its age.
• The English–Mong–English dictionary (Phoo txhais lug Aakiv–Moob–Aakiv) compiled by Lang Xiong, Joua Xiong, and Nao Leng Xiong may also be a good print resource (though I have not used this myself).

Linguistic research

• A broad collection of linguistic research (including sources on syntax, semantics, phonetics, phonology, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics) can be found at the Oxford Bibliographies page on Hmong-Mien languages, written and maintained by David Mortensen. [(pdf)]
• I host a (badly out of date) annotated bibliography of papers on Hmong syntax and semantics.

Archives

• The Hmong Studies Journal hosts an extensive bibliography of scholarly works on the Hmong language, compiled by Mark E. Pfeifer.
• The Hmong Language Resource Hub has an extensive collection of resources on Hmong language and culture, including many linguistics articles.
• Many difficult-to-find, older papers are hosted at the Southeast Asian Linguistics Archives.
• The Refugee Educators’ Network maintains a substantial collection of books on Hmong, Lao, and other languages and cultures of Southeast Asia.