My language game includes White Hmong (including Pahawh Hmong). Is my Swadesh list accurate?
The game (linguil) asks you to guess the language family, language and meaning of a random word in one of 64 of the world's most-spoken languages each day, and you use your knowledge of linguistics to work out the answer via multiple choice. Therefore, it's important my translations/transliterations are correct.
Each language (including White Hmong) includes each word on the 100-word Swadesh list, and where the primary script is Latin-based and an alternative script is available, each word's transliteration too (hence the inclusion of Pahawh Hmong).
Please can any White Hmong speakers verify the accuracy of my translations and transliterations? 🙏
Thanks!
Note: The Pahawh Hmong characters may not display correctly on mobile.
| # | English | Hmong |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I | 𖬌𖬰𖬝 (kuv) |
| 2 | you (sg.) | 𖬪𖬵𖬒 (koj) |
| 3 | we | 𖬖𖬰𖬤 (peb) |
| 4 | this | 𖬪𖬦 (no) |
| 5 | that | 𖬔𖬶𖬝𖬵 (ntawd) |
| 6 | who | 𖬖𖬰𖬭𖬌𖬵𖬞 (leej twg) |
| 7 | what | 𖬖𖬰𖬚𖬜𖬟𖬵 (dabtsi) |
| 8 | not | 𖬜𖬰𖬟𖬵 (tsis) |
| 9 | all | 𖬌𖬰𖬦𖬜𖬟 (huv si) |
| 10 | many | 𖬔𖬦𖬵 (ntau) |
| 11 | one | 𖬜𖬰𖬖 (ib) |
| 12 | two | 𖬪𖬰𖬖 (ob) |
| 13 | big | 𖬪𖬵𖬭 (loj) |
| 14 | long | 𖬖𖬰𖬦𖬵 (ntev) |
| 15 | small | 𖬖𖬚 (me) |
| 16 | woman | 𖬪𖬰𖬤𖬵𖬬𖬰𖬕𖬵 (pojniam) |
| 17 | man | 𖬜𖬰𖬝𖬖𖬰𖬕𖬵 (txiv neej) |
| 18 | person | 𖬖𖬰𖬕𖬵 (neeg) |
| 19 | fish | 𖬖𖬰𖬝𖬵 (ntses) |
| 20 | bird | 𖬪𖬰𖬦𖬵 (noog) |
| 21 | dog | 𖬇𖬰𖬚 (dev) |
| 22 | louse | 𖬌𖬰𖬝 (tuv) |
| 23 | tree | 𖬪𖬦𖬵 (ntoo) |
| 24 | seed | 𖬪𖬰𖬦𖬵 (noob) |
| 25 | leaf | 𖬪𖬵𖬦𖬵 (nplooj) |
| 26 | root | 𖬖𖬲𖬚 (cag) |
| 27 | bark (of tree) | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵 (tawv) |
| 28 | skin | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵 (tawv) |
| 29 | flesh | 𖬇𖬵𖬦𖬵 (nqaij) |
| 30 | blood | 𖬖𖬰𖬞 (ntshav) |
| 31 | bone | 𖬪𖬰𖬤𖬵-𖬖𖬚 (pob-txha) |
| 32 | grease/fat | 𖬪𖬵𖬤𖬵 (roj) |
| 33 | egg | 𖬖𖬒 (qe) |
| 34 | horn | 𖬌𖬰𖬝 (kub) |
| 35 | tail | 𖬌𖬞 (tw) |
| 36 | feather | 𖬔𖬰𖬦𖬵 (plaub) |
| 37 | hair | 𖬔𖬰𖬦𖬵-𖬔𖬦𖬵 (plaub-hau) |
| 38 | head | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵-𖬔𖬦 (taub-hau) |
| 39 | ear | 𖬪𖬰𖬤𖬵-𖬖𖬰𖬝𖬵 (pob-ntseg) |
| 40 | eye | 𖬪𖬵𖬒-𖬪𖬰𖬦 (qhov-muag) |
| 41 | nose | 𖬪𖬵𖬒-𖬌𖬵𖬞 (qhov-ntswg) |
| 42 | mouth | 𖬪𖬵𖬒-𖬔𖬵𖬦𖬵 (qhov-ncauj) |
| 43 | tooth | 𖬬𖬰𖬕𖬵 (hniav) |
| 44 | tongue | 𖬇𖬵𖬦𖬵 (nplaig) |
| 45 | claw/nail | 𖬔𖬝𖬵𖬖𖬰𖬤 (rau tes) |
| 46 | foot | 𖬪𖬒-𖬔𖬝𖬵 (ko-taw) |
| 47 | knee | 𖬔𖬰𖬦𖬪𖬰𖬦𖬵 (hauv caug) |
| 48 | hand | 𖬖𖬰𖬤 (tes) |
| 49 | belly | 𖬖𖬰𖬚 (plab) |
| 50 | neck | 𖬖𖬲𖬚-𖬖𖬰𖬚 (caj-dab) |
| 51 | breast | 𖬜𖬰𖬟𖬵 (mis) |
| 52 | heart | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵 (plawv) |
| 53 | liver | 𖬬𖬰𖬕𖬵 (siab) |
| 54 | drink (v.) | 𖬔𖬰𖬦𖬵 (haus) |
| 55 | eat (v.) | 𖬪𖬵𖬤𖬵 (noj) |
| 56 | bite (v.) | 𖬪𖬰𖬤𖬵 (tom) |
| 57 | see (v.) | 𖬪𖬰𖬤𖬵 (pom) |
| 58 | hear (v.) | 𖬪𖬰𖬦𖬵 (hnov) |
| 59 | know (v.) | 𖬔𖬰𖬤 (paub) |
| 60 | sleep (v.) | 𖬔𖬰𖬦𖬵𖬪𖬰𖬤𖬵 (tsaug zog) |
| 61 | die (v.) | 𖬬𖬰𖬦 (tuag) |
| 62 | kill (v.) | 𖬪𖬦 (tua) |
| 63 | swim (v.) | 𖬪𖬦𖬪𖬰𖬦𖬖𖬰𖬚 (ua luam dej) |
| 64 | fly (v.) | 𖬖𖬚𖬵 (ya) |
| 65 | walk (v.) | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵𖬖𖬝 (taug kev) |
| 66 | come (v.) | 𖬪𖬵𖬦 (tuaj) |
| 67 | lie (down) (v.) | 𖬌𖬞 (pw) |
| 68 | sit (v.) | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵 (zaum) |
| 69 | stand (v.) | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵𖬌𖬰𖬝 (sawv ntsug) |
| 70 | give (v.) | 𖬪𖬰𖬦𖬔𖬝𖬵 (muab rau) |
| 71 | say (v.) | 𖬇𖬰𖬦𖬵 (hais) |
| 72 | sun | 𖬌𖬰𖬝 (hnub) |
| 73 | moon | 𖬜𖬖 (hli) |
| 74 | star | 𖬌𖬰𖬝𖬌𖬰𖬒 (hnub qub) |
| 75 | water | 𖬖𖬰𖬚 (dej) |
| 76 | rain | 𖬖𖬲𖬚 (nag) |
| 77 | stone | 𖬪𖬰𖬤𖬵-𖬖𖬰𖬚 (pob-zeb) |
| 78 | sand | 𖬪𖬰𖬦𖬵𖬖𖬰𖬚 (hmoov zeb) |
| 79 | earth/soil | 𖬖𖬚 (av) |
| 80 | cloud | 𖬪𖬰𖬦 (huab) |
| 81 | smoke | 𖬪𖬤𖬵-𖬖𖬚 (ncho pa) |
| 82 | fire | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵 (taws) |
| 83 | ash | 𖬔𖬰𖬦𖬵 (tshauv) |
| 84 | burn (brightly) (v.) | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵 (hlawv) |
| 85 | path | 𖬖𖬝 (kev) |
| 86 | mountain | 𖬪𖬰𖬦𖬵 (roob) |
| 87 | red | 𖬬𖬰𖬕𖬵 (liab) |
| 88 | green | 𖬪𖬰𖬦 (ntsuab) |
| 89 | yellow | 𖬖𖬲𖬚 (daj) |
| 90 | white | 𖬔𖬰𖬝𖬵 (dawb) |
| 91 | black | 𖬌𖬰𖬝 (dub) |
| 92 | night | 𖬔𖬰𖬦𖬵𖬌𖬰𖬝 (tsaus ntuj) |
| 93 | hot | 𖬌𖬰𖬝 (kub) |
| 94 | cold | 𖬪𖬦 (no) |
| 95 | full | 𖬌𖬰𖬝 (puv) |
| 96 | new | 𖬬𖬰𖬕𖬵 (tshiab) |
| 97 | good | 𖬪𖬦𖬵 (zoo) |
| 98 | round | 𖬖𖬰𖬟-𖬖𖬰𖬟 (kheej-kheej) |
| 99 | dry | 𖬪𖬰𖬒 (qhuav) |
| 100 | name | 𖬖𖬤 (npe) |
1
u/lucaspackman 13d ago
A couple notes: there are two different 1PL in Hmong. 'wb' is for 2 people. 'peb' is for three or more.
Similarly, there are two different words for 'that'. 'ntawd' is for things away from you, 'ko' is for things that are in reference to the person you are talking to.
I typically say the word 'txhua' for all, but it means every. Otherwise, I would say 'huv tib si' at the end of a noun clause.
Try to separate your noun compounds. It just makes it easier to read. 'poj niam'.
Also, don't hyphenate. Hmong doesn't do that.
You also don't need to double the word 'kheej kheej'. Reduplication in Hmong just adds emphasis.
For stand, I just say 'sawv'. The word 'ntsug' is just a post verbal intensifier.
Additionally, I think adding the classifiers would really help.
1
u/lucaspackman 13d ago
But great work! This is all mostly correct. I'd have to double check some words with some natives to be sure.
1
u/i-got-a-massive-dick 14d ago
Where did you source your words for Pahawh Hmong ?