|
Pahawh Hmong (RPA: ''Phajhauj Hmoob'' , known also as ''Ntawv Pahawh, Ntawv Keeb, Ntawv Caub Fab, Ntawv Soob Lwj)'' is an indigenous semi-syllabic script, invented in 1959 by Shong Lue Yang, to write two Hmong languages, Hmong Daw ''(Hmoob Dawb'' White Miao) and Hmong Njua AKA Hmong Leng ''(Moob Leeg'' Green Miao). ==Form== Pahawh is written left to right. Each syllable is written with two letters, an onset ''(la,'' an initial consonant or consonant cluster) and a rime ''(yu,'' a vowel, diphthong, or vowel plus final consonant).〔The only final consonant is . However, this is sometimes analyzed as vowel nasalization: ''oo, ee, aa'' or . Thus Pahawh can be considered an alphabet where both consonants and vowels may be complex, much like ''x'' and ''i'' in English.〕 However, the order of these elements is rime-initial, the opposite of their spoken order. (That is, each syllable would seem to be written right to left, if it were transcribed literally into the Roman alphabet.) This is an indication that Shong conceived of the rimes as primary; Pahawh Hmong might therefore be thought of as a vowel-centered abugida. Tones and many onsets are distinguished by diacritics. The onset ''k'' is not written, so that a rime letter (V) written by itself is read as ''kV.'' Nor is the rime ''au'' (on mid tone) written, so that an onset letter (C) written by itself is read ''Cau,'' except following a bare rime, as otherwise these could be read as a single syllable. The ''absence'' of an onset, however, is indicated with a null-onset letter. Again, this is similar to an abugida, but with the roles of consonant and vowel reversed.〔Coincidentally, RPA also has an inherent consonant which is not written, glottal stop, along with a null-consonant diacritic, the apostrophe: ''ai'' , ''’ai'' . Few Hmong words are vowel initial, so writing the absence of a consonant with an apostrophe is more economical than writing glottal stop with an apostrophe.〕 For an example of the positional variation, consider the phrase (in RPA orthography) ''kuv rau tshais rau koj noj'' "I serve you breakfast". Since the first word, ''kuv,'' starts with a ''k,'' it is written as the bare rime ''uv'' in Pahawh. The word ''rau,'' with mid-tone ''au'' as the rime, is normally written as a bare onset ''r,'' and indeed this is the case for the second instance in this sentence. However, since the first ''rau'' follows a bare rime, it cannot be written as a bare onset ''r,'' or the combination might be read as ''ruv'' rather than ''kuv rau.'' Therefore, the combination ''kuv rau'' is written ''uv rau'' rather than ''uv r,'' with the rime ''au'' made explicit (Smalley ''et al.'' 1990:58). Pahawh has twenty onset letters to transcribe sixty phonemic onsets. This is accomplished with two diacritics, a dot and a tack, written above the onset. However, although there is some scattered similarity between the sounds of the resulting forms, there is no overall pattern to the system. For example, the letter for ''h'' with a dot is pronounced ''th,'' and with a tack is pronounced ''pl.'' The null consonant does not take diacritics in Hmong Daw, but does in Hmong Njua, for two onsets, ''ndl'' and ''ndlh,'' which only occur in Hmong Njua. (Similarly, Daw ''d'' and ''dh,'' which do not occur in Njua, are used for Njua ''dl'' and ''dlh,'' which do not occur in Daw.) The rimes, in contrast, are over-specified. There are thirteen rime sounds, but twenty-six letters to represent them. One of each pair takes four of the eight tones, while the other takes the other four tones. Diacritics (none, dot, macron, and trema) distinguish the tones that each rime letter may carry. One of the tones, written ''-d'' in RPA, is not phonemic but is a prosodic unit-final allophone of the creaky register ''-m.'' It may be written in Pahawh by changing the dot diacritic to a short stroke, but it is not used by many people. Shong used the rimes with the values ''kiab'' and ''kab'' in Hmong Daw for ''kab'' and ''kaab'' () in Hmong Njua. However, Cwjmem retains the Daw values for Njua and adds a pipe (|) to the left of ''kab'' etc. to write ''kaab'' etc. In addition to phonetic elements, Pahawh Hmong has a minor logographic component, with characters for *the numerals 0–10, (hundreds), (myriads), (millions), , , and (billions), though the higher numerals have been dropped leaving a positional decimal system *arithmetical signs *periods of time: year, season, month, day, date *the most common grammatical classifier, ''lub,'' which when written out phonetically consists of two very similar letters, and *eighteen clan signs. These were never disseminated, but were intended to clarify personal relationships in Hmong refugee camps, where people regularly met strangers of unknown clan. Strict taboos govern the behavior of Hmong men and women from the same clan. Punctuation is derived from the Roman alphabet, presumably through French or Lao,〔Punctuation was introduced in 1969 when Chia Koua Vang, who was literate in RPA, wrote to Shong in prison asking him what to put at the ends of sentences. Neither Shong nor any of his other disciples were literate in any other script at this point, so presumably someone taught him punctuation there. (Smalley ''et al.'' 1990:76–77)〕 except for a sign introduced by one of Shong's disciples that replaced Shong's , but also includes a native sign for reduplication and a native cantillation mark. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pahawh Hmong」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|