How the Hmong people of Nghe An preserve their ethnic script.

(Baonghean.vn) - While some other ethnic minorities do not have their own writing systems or have lost them, the Hmong people of Nghe An have successfully preserved and promoted their language and writing system.

Nowadays, in the Hmong villages of Nghe An province, almost all children from grade 5 upwards know their ethnic script. This is proof that the Hmong script will never disappear from the life of this community.

Going back to history, according to village elder Lầu Xái Phia in Nậm Khiên village (Nậm Càn commune - Kỳ Sơn district): During their migration to the high mountains of Nghệ An, the Hmong people also lost their written language for a period due to difficult conditions and the lack of schools. Children were born and had to follow their parents to the fields to cultivate opium poppies, so they did not receive a full education like they do now.

During their free time, Hmong students often practice writing their ethnic script. Photo: Dao Tho

Mr. Xái Phia recalled: Around 1960-1961, a teacher from the North came to teach the Hmong language in Na Ngoi commune and passed on the Hmong writing system to the villagers. Perhaps because of their awareness of preserving their mother tongue, after only a short time, most of the Hmong people who participated in the lessons became proficient in this script. This script uses Latin letters to represent spoken language, and the tones are also represented by letters.

From then on, without being told, everyone learned from each other and they frequently wrote letters and exchanged work-related information using this script. “It wasn’t until recent years that the Education sector adopted a policy of introducing the Hmong language into the curriculum for primary school students and officials on a large scale. However, even before that, the Hmong script was already widely used by the Hmong people,” said village elder Lầu Xái Phia.

The children carefully wrote the Hmong script on the paper. Photo: Dao Tho

At Nậm Càn Ethnic Boarding Junior High School (Kỳ Sơn), we found many Hmong songs in the students' notebooks, meticulously written down in the Hmong script.

"We find it more beautiful when we write down the Hmong songs in the Hmong script, because translating them into Vietnamese is both difficult and doesn't sound as good," a 7th-grade student confided. Upon further inquiry, it was revealed that some students learned this script in elementary school, while others learned it on their own from friends.

A song in the Hmong language in a student's notebook. Photo: Dao Tho

Moreover, on social media platforms like Facebook, young Hmong people also use their ethnic language to post articles, photos, videos, and comments.

Anh Và Bá Lầu from Liên Sơn village (Nậm Càn commune) said that he didn't understand much about social media, but after his son created a nickname for him using the Hmong language, he found it "quite interesting." Every time he chats with people in his ethnic language, he feels much more confident.

On social media, Hmong people also use their own written language to communicate with each other. (Screenshot from a mobile phone.)

This shows that, despite the many hardships in their lives, the Hmong people always have a strong sense of preserving and protecting the culture inherited from their ancestors.

Dao Tho