Basic Conversation: Hello! - White Hmong: Grammar, History

Chapter
2
White Hmong
Language & Grammar
Basic Conversation: Hello! How are you?
Basic Conversation: Hello! How are you?
Page
62
64
65
67
70
73
76
78
Section
2.1Vocabulary List
2.2Basic Sentence Structure
2.3Verb Tense & Conversational Context
2.4yog, the “To Be” Verb (Copula Verb)
2.5Making Simple Questions Using lov
2.6Yes & No: yog…tsis yog.
2.7 Serial Verb Construction: (Present Infinitives)
2.8Positive, Negative & Polite Response
Particles: mav, los mav, as, es, os
72
83
2.9Hmong as a Subject-Weak Language
2.10Conversation Builder #1: Greetings at the
Door.
84
60
2.11Practice Exercises & Review
61
White Hmong
Basic Sentence Structure: Subject-Verb-Object
2.2
Rule: Hmong sentence structure is the same as English.
Hmong Sentence Structure
Noun Phrase
+
Verb Phrase
(subject + compliments)
+
(verb + object)
As you begin speaking Hmong you may be intimidated by
the drastic differences you perceive between Hmong and your native language, English. Although it may first seem very difficult
to master the unusual sounds and tones of Hmong, Hmong and
English have many similarities. For instance, the basic sentence
structure of Hmong is subject-verb-object, just as in English. Consider the following examples:
2.2
Basic Conversation: Hello! How are you?
Basic Sentence Structure:
Subject-Verb-Object
All example sentences
contain three parts:
the first line is the
sentence in Hmong,
the line directly below
it is a literal translation
of each word into English, and the third line
is the sentence in
colloquial English.
subject-verb-object
Kuv mus tablaj.
I
go
store
Language & Grammar
2.3
Verb Tense &
Conversational Context
Rule: There is no verb conjugation in Hmong, ever!
Despite the basic sentence structure shared by English and
Hmong, English sentence structure has much greater flexibility due
to the numerous word affixes (word endings) that can indicate
a word’s grammatical function such as tense, case, gender and
number. Because Hmong lacks all affixes, the Hmong listener relies much more on the exact sentence structure and the context
of the phrase to derive these meanings. Specifically, word order
and conversational context in Hmong are critical in determining the
grammatical function of a word.
For example, consider the following example of how the
time element (aspect) of the verb is inferred by the situational
context even though there is no verb conjugation to indicate tense
in Hmong. Assume you are leaving your house and a friend asks,
“Where are you going?” In Hmong you could respond:
Kuv
I
mus
go
tablaj.
store
“I am going to the store.”
“I am going to the store.”
subject-verb-object
Nws
He/she/it
los
tsev.
come home
“He/she/it came home.”
By looking at the context of this conversation, we can see
that your friend asked you this question because he saw you preparing to leave the house. Because you are in the process of “going”, you understand the verb to be the present continuous “going”
rather than the past tenses of “gone” or “went”.
Now consider another example where you just arrived home
and your friend asks, “So, where have you been?” You may respond by answering:
Kuv mus tablaj.
I
go
store
“I went to the store.”
64
65
White Hmong
Your friend sees that you are carrying in bags of groceries
making it obvious to him that you “went” to the store already. Remember, the context of a conversation “fills in the blanks” of any
ambiguity in the spoken language for a Hmong person despite a
statement’s apparent vagueness on its face.
yog, the “To Be” Verb (Copula Verb)
You may also have noticed from the examples above that
there are other simplifications to Hmong sentence structure such
as the absence of “to the” in the first sentence. While prepositions
describing location exist in Hmong, they are only necessary when
the context is vague or it is necessary to be very specific in order
to convey the entire meaning you want.
2.4
yog, the “To Be” Verb
(Copula Verb)
Rule: The word yog means “to be” when an object renames the subject (i.e., yog links the subject to the predicate).
Under this definition it can mean: “is, am, are, was, were,
be, being, been.” It does not mean “is” in terms of one’s location
or a state of being (e.g. “He is home.” or “He is sick.”). yog is never
used as an auxiliary (helping) verb, unlike one of the main roles
for English verb “is”. Hmong verbs are never conjugated, i.e., they
have only one simple infinitive form.
In the sentence, “I am Hmong,” the word “am” acts as a
linking verb. In its linking role, it renames or identifies the subject
with the object; that is, the subject is equal in identity with the
predicate nominative that renames the subject. Thus, in Hmong,
the word yog links subjects with
predicates.
2.4
Basic Conversation: Hello! How are you?
Language & Grammar
Remember that the English verb “to be”, (is, am, are, was,
were, be, being, been, etc.) has multiple and varied definitions including:
1) to exist,
2) to be located,
3) to take place or occur,
4) to go or come,
5) used as a copula in many senses and,
6) to belong, befall.
Hmong has separate words for each of these definitions,
and yog shares meaning with only two senses of the fifth definition
above: the copula, i.e., to be equal in identity and to belong to a
group or class. yog’s other meanings include:
3) if,
4) for the purpose of,
5) true or correct and
6) “It is...”
66
67