Proper noun

Hmong

1. A people in China living predominantly in the southern provinces today. Believed to be the first ethnic group in China, and even older than ethnic Han.
2. The language of these people.

Usage notes

In Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, there are two major dialects spoken by the Hmong people. These dialects are known to the west as Leng and Der, and written in RPA as lees and dawb. Hmong people who speak the Der dialect when writing about the people itself use Hmong, however, due to recent political problems concerning translation services and academic representation, Hmong people who speak the Leng dialect when writing about the people itself use Mong. The reason is primarily political, but also has a linguistic basis, as Hmong people who speak the Leng dialect do not enunciate Hmong with a nasal sound.

Westerners typically call Hmong people Miao when speaking of their existence and history in China (3000 BC–1800 AD). Westerners typically call Hmong people Meo when speaking of their existence and history in Indochina (1800–1950). After the Hmong people participated in a US-backed and covert CIA operation to protect Laos against communist North Vietnamese invasion, westerners have come to know Hmong people by their own enunciation.

Unfortunately, due to the political problem mentioned above, many other forms of transliterations of Hmong have crystallized. A few of the known names by which the Hmong people themselves use when referring to themselves include: Hmong, Mong, HMong, MHmong, Mhoob, and HMoob. Generally, Hmong who speak the Leng dialect propagate and use these other variations as they feel disenfranchised, while Hmong who speak the Der dialect use the traditional Hmong in English and Hmoob in RPA.