tav

Neeg muaj 12 tug tav.


mij

From Vietnamese mì, Thai หมี่ (mìi), or Lao ໝີ່ (mī), ultimately from Teochew 麵／面 (min⁷, “noodles”) or Hokkien 麵／面 (mī, “noodles”).


vaj

From Proto-Hmong *waŋᴬ (“garden”), borrowed from Old Chinese 園 (OC *ɢʷan, “garden”). Cognate with Proto-Mien *hwunᴬ (“id”).

a garden, an enclosure for planting vegetables, fruit, etc.


paj

A calque of clipping Thai ดอกเบี้ย (dɔ̀ɔk-bîia) ("interest"), from ดอก (dɔ̀ɔk, “flower”) + เบี้ย (bîia, “money”).

bor

Thai ดอกเบี้ย (dɔ̀ɔk-bîia)


taw

From Proto-Hmong *towᶜ (“foot”). Note similarities to Thai เท้า (táao, “id”).


pim

(anatomy, sometimes offensive or explicit) the (external) female genitals, the female sex member, the vulva


rawg

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *drouH (“chopsticks”), borrowed from Middle Chinese 箸 (MC trjoH|drjoH, “chopsticks”).

kais rawg

to push food into the mouth using chopsticks


hnub

From Proto-Hmong *hnɛŋᴬ (“sun, day”), borrowed from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *s-nəj (“id”). Cognate with Proto-Mien *hnu̯ɔiᴬ (“id”), Tibetan ཉི་མ (nyi ma), Old Chinese 日 (OC *njiɡ).

Ib hnub muas 24 teev.

Lub hnub loj dua ntiaj teb.

Lub hnub ci nsta iab.


ceg

From Proto-Hmong *ɟæwᴮ (“leg branch”); cognate with Proto-Hmong *cæwᴮ (“body, trunk”), whence cev (“body”).


dawb

From Proto-Hmong *qlowᴬ (“white”). The "free" sense is perhaps a semantic loan from Thai ขาว (kǎao, “white”) or Lao ຂາວ (khāo, “white”), both which have a colloquial usage meaning "free of charge".


fawm

From Vietnamese phở ("Vietnamese-style noodle").

pho; beef broth soup with rice noodles and usually beef, meatballs, or other meat.


diav

rau diav tshuaj


ntshav

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *ntshjamX (“blood”). Cognate with Iu Mien nziaamv; outside of Hmong-Mien, compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *jhaam (“id”), whence Khmer ឈាម (chiəm, “id”).


rab rawg tais

/ʈa˥.ʈaɨ̯˧˩̤.tai̯˩/


nplaig

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *mblet (“tongue”), likely borrowed from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s/g-ljak (“to lick”). Cognate with Iu Mien mbietc. Compare Old Chinese 舌 (OC *ɦbljed, “tongue”).


sij hawm

/ʂi˥˧.haɨ̯˩̰/

Borrowed from Mandarin 時候／时候 (shíhou, “time”).


xeev

From Mandarin 醒 (xǐng, “to wake up”) or Middle Chinese or Old Chinese.


Ntxwg-nyoog

/ⁿd͡zɨ˧˩̤.ɲɒ̃˧˩̤/


khau

From Proto-Hmong *khjɔᶜ (“shoes”), possibly borrowed from Middle Chinese 屨 (MC kjuH, “straw sandals”), though the Sinitic form is not aspirated.

rau khau


tsheb

Borrowed from Chinese 車／车 (“car, vehicle, chariot”).


qeej

Cognate with Lao ແຄນ (khǣn), Thai แคน (kɛɛn), Khmer គែន (kɛɛn), Vietnamese khèn; all are bamboo mouth organs in Southeast Asia.

(music) Hmong reed mouth organ, also known as a lusheng


siab

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *-hri̯ən (“liver”); possibly related to Middle Chinese 肝 (MC kan, “liver”). Note the difference in coda consonant between this and Etymology 1.


ntuj raug txim

/ⁿdu˥˧.ʈau̯˧˩̤.t͡ɕi˩̰/

ntuj (“sky”) + raug txim (“punishment, penalty”).

(Christianity) hell; Hades; netherworld (place of damnation)


Vaj Tswv

/va˥˧.t͡ʂɨ˧˦/

A calque of Thai พระเจ้า (prá-jâao) or Lao Lao ພະເຈົ້າ (pha chao); vaj ("king", "royal") from Mandarin 王 + tswv from ("Mandarin 主 master, owner, chief"), together literally means "King Lord".


Vaj Tswv

/va˥˧.t͡ʂɨ˧˦/


tswv rooj

/t͡ʂɨ˧˦.ʈɒ̃˥˧/

From Middle Chinese 主 (t͡ɕɨo^X) ("chief", "lord", "master", "owner) + Middle Chinese 凳 (təŋᴴ) ("stool", "bench", "chair"), literally means "Lord of the Chair".

president, of a socialist republic or state


thawj saib

/tʰaɨ̯˥˧.ʂai̯˥/

From Middle Chinese 頭 (dəu) ("head", "top", "chief") + a corrupted pronunciation of Mandarin 視／视 (shì) ("to look", to "watch", "to inspect"), literally means "presiding chief".

president, of capitalist republic or state


txha

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *tshuŋX (“bone”). Peiros suggests a relation with Proto-Mon-Khmer *cʔaaŋ ~ *cʔaiŋ (“bone”), whence Vietnamese xương (“bone, skeleton”); however, there are phonetic issues due to the presence of labial initials in Mienic forms.


xiav

From Vietnamese xanh ("grue", "blue", or "green"), with loss of nasal final, from Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Middle Chinese 青 (t͡sʰeŋ) ("grue", "blue", or "green").


pob txha

pob (“set”) + txha (“bone”). Possibly cognate with Vietnamese bộ xương (“skeleton, bone”).


Hmoob Leeg

/m̥ɒ̃˥.lẽ˧˩̤/

(slang, colloquial) Green Hmong, to distinguish from other Hmong people or language


Hmoob Leeg

/m̥ɒ̃˥.lẽ˧˩̤/


ntsuab

From Proto-Hmong *mpruᴬ (“green, blue”); possibly related to Proto-Mien *ʔmeŋᴬ (“id”) and *ʔbɔuᴮ (“gray”).


cawv

From Proto-Hmong *cowᴮ (“liquor”), borrowed from Middle Chinese 酒 (MC tsjuwX, “liquor”).

alcoholic beverage, liquor, whiskey, beer, wine


hlwb

From Proto-Hmong *hlʉᴬ (“marrow, brains”); cognate with Old Chinese 髓 (OC *slolʔ, “marrow”).


hniav

From Proto-Hmong-Mien *hmjinX (“tooth”).


hauv siab

/hau̯˧˦.ʂiə̯˥/

hauv (“root, origin”) + siab (“liver”), denoting the area in and around the liver.


tsev me nyuam

/t͡ʂe˧˦.me˧.ɲuə̯˩̰/


nqa

Koj nqa ib lub hnab nyiaj.

to lift with the hand, to carry in the hand or hands, to hold in the hand, take in the hand


diav rawg

/diə̯˧˦.ʈaɨ̯˧˩̤/

diav (“spoon”) + rawg (“chopsticks”), literally “choptick-spoon”, as a fork resembles a spoon, but with chopstick-like prongs at its end.


paj lug

From paj (“flower”) + lus (“speech, words”), with tone change.