7. Vocabulary

Here are some interesting and/or useful vocabularies.

7.1. Greeting

The following are ways to greet and part.

English	Hmong
hi	nyob zoo
bye	sib ntsib dua
safe travel	mus zoo koj

7.2. Calendar

7.2.1. Months

Calendar months

English	Hmong
January	Ib Hli
February	Ob Hli
March	Peb Hli
April	Plaub Hli
May	Tsib Hli
June	Rau Hli
July	Xya Hli
August	Yim Hli
September	Cuaj Hli
October	Kaum Hli
November	Kaum Ib Hli
December	Kaum Ob Hli

Note

The word hli means moon in English. Essentially, the month names are counting the moon cycles; moon one, moon two, etc.

Note

Sometimes, you may add ntuj to state the month as well. For example, ib hli ntuj, ob hli ntuj, etc.

7.2.2. Days of the week

Days of the week

English	Hmong
Monday	Hnub Ib
Tuesday	Hnub Ob
Wednesday	Hnub Peb
Thursday	Hnub Plaub
Friday	Hunb Tsib
Saturday	Vas Xaum
Sunday	Vas Thiv

Warning

Saturday and Sunday are borrowed from Lao and transliterations thereof. Vas Xaum is a transliteration of vansao or ວັນເສົາ and Vas Thiv of vnaothid or ວັນອາທິດ. There are no real way to say Monday through Friday in Hmong and the days of the week stated here have absolutely no support from the community or any known linguist. We are simply following convention with the months.

A week in Hmong is as thiv which is borrowed from Lao athid or ອາທິດ. Some speakers are also using lis paim for the word week, which is a transliteration of Mandarin word lǐ bài or 礼拜.

7.2.3. Day

To say the day (e.g. first, second, etc.), use hnub followed by the number. For example, the first is hnub ib, the second is hnub ob, and so on.

Note

Hnub means sun in English. Is it not interesting months correlate to the moon and days correspond to the sun?

7.2.4. Day passage

There are ways to say the day before yesterday or the day after tomorrow.

English	Hmong
the day before yesterday	hnub hmo
yesterday	nag hmo
today	hnub no
tomorrow	tag kis
the day after tomorrow	nag kis

7.2.5. Day cycle

The cycle of the day may be described as follows.

English	Hmong
morning	tag kis no
afternoon	tav su
night	hmo ntuj

7.2.6. Year

The Hmong word for year is xyoo. To say the year 2019, simply say the number after xyoo; for example, xyoo ob phav kaum cuaj. Note that is uncommon to say xyoo ob txhiab kaum cuaj (substituting txhiab for phav).

7.2.7. Calendar examples

Here are some calendar examples.

Date	Hmong
December 25, 2019	kaum ob hli ntuj, hnub nees nkaum tsib, xyoo ob phav kaum cuaj
Sunday, January 1, 2020	Vas Thiv, ib hli ntuj, hnub ib, xyoo ob phav nees nkaum

7.3. Time

Time is told the same way as in English. The table below shows the words for hour and minute.

English	Hmong
hour	teev
minute	nas this

Note

The word nas this is borrowed from Lao nathi or ນາທີ. Commonly, the word moos can be substituted for teev, and this word is borrowed from Lao souaomng or ຊົ່ວໂມງ. Note that teev is phonetically identical to the Mandarin word diǎn or 點.

7.3.1. Time examples

Here are some examples of saying the time.

Time	Hmong
12:00	kaum ob teev
12:15	kaum ob teev kaum tsib nas thiv
12:20	kaum ob moos nees nkaum nas thiv

7.4. Meals

Meals may also be described as follows.

English	Hmong
breakfast	tshais
lunch	sub
dinner	hmo

7.5. Family relationships

Here are some very important family relationships. The title that you will use to address a person depends on at least one of the following.

• your gender

• the side of the family that person falls on (father’s or mother’s side)

• age of that person with respect to your parents

For example, note that there are many ways to say sister. If you are a boy, you refer to your sister as muam. If you are a girl, you refer to your older sister as niam laus and younger sister as niam hluas and all of them as viv ncaus. These rules are very strict. The table below shows the titles of the family members closest to you.

Your Family

English	Hmong
grandmother (father’s side)	pog
grandfather (father’s side)	yawg
grandmother (mother’s side)	niam tais
grandfather (mother’s side)	yuam txiv
mom	niam
dad	txiv
wife	tab zag
husband	tub rooj
older brother	tij laug
older brother’s wife	niam tij
younger brother	kwv
younger brother’s wife	niam ncaus
brother (to a sister)	nus
brothers	kwv tij
sister (to a brother)	muam
older sister (to another sister)	niam laus
younger sister (to another sister)	niam hluas
sisters	viv ncaus

This table shows the titles of your aunts and uncles.

Aunts and Uncles

English	Relationship to You	Hmong
older uncle	father’s older brother	txiv hlob
younger uncle	father’s younger brother	txiv ntxawm
older uncle’s wife	father’s older brother’s wife	niam hlob
younger uncle’s wife	father’s younger brother’s wife	niam ntxawm
aunt	father’s sister	phauj
aunt’s husband	father’s sister’s husband	yawg laus
uncle	mother’s brother	dab laug
uncle’s wife	mother’s brother’s wife	niam dab laug
aunt	mother’s sister	niam tias hluas
uncle	mother’s sister’s husband	yuam txiv

This table shows the titles of your paternal grandfathers.

Paternal Grandfathers

English	Hmong
Grandfather	Yawg
Great-grandfather	Yawg Koob
Great-great-grandfather	Yawg Suab
Great-great-great-grandfather	Yawg Tsawb

These are just some of many titles which you should refer to people related to yourself.

Note

What’s the Hmong word for cousin? The phrase tij yug kwv yug may be used to indicate that two people are cousins. Tij yug means descended from the older brother, and kwv yug means descended from the younger brother; meaning, the two people in question do not share the same parents but are related still. Sometimes, to clarify that two people are descended from the same parents, it is common to say niam txiv ib plab yug which means literally, mother-father one stomach descended (descended from a single set of parents).

If you have children, it is customary to refer to people as what your children refer to them as. For example, if you are a male, you refer to your sister’s husband as yuam yij. When you have children, your children will call your brother-in-law (their uncle) as yawg laus, and you should do so as well.

7.6. More

Here are some advanced to intermediate words you should learn.

Phrases

Hmong	English Definition
com viab	blaming or finding faults in others
choj txhwj	a hoe to till the land
civ feeb civ tob	to be in a state of apathy without knowing oneself
duab tiv txwv	under the water where sand and water touches
keeb puam	story (not history, very recent history)
kob huam	a state of financial ruins
kob xwb	a person of wealth and high intelligence
koom tshaj	communism
kws lij choj	a lawyer
liam moj	being extremely naughty
luab sab	satire
ntxhi noog	to investigate
peem tsheej	how one comes to be or how one becomes (perseverance to become)
plhom moj	naughty
plhob les	apathy
qauj les	not old and not new
quaj muaj tsuag	resurrection plant
ras dheev	state of being awakened or enlightened
rhawv	to create
sam fwm	officially reporting something
sim xeeb	destiny
soj ntsuam	officially investigating
thiaj txiv yawg	a state of wisdom
thwj tim	a student of a master (apprentice)
tsis tsug	your turn (as in, your turn to speak or do something)
tuam txhob	hoe used to dig small hole
tub tshuaj xyuam	covert investigator
tub tshuaj xwm	investigator
txhoj pob	naughty
xau	event of tremendous excitement and attraction
tuam yim	optimistic but reckless
voom	wood dragged by ox to till the land
zwm	to report