History of Hmong Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA)
The Hmong RPA was created by Dr. William Smalley with the help of father Yves Bertrais (Txiv plig Nyiajpov) and Dr. Linwood Barney in 1951 – 53 in Laos. After the Hmong RPA was successfully created, father Yves Bertrais began to teach it to a group of the Hmong people. The purpose of using the Hmong RPA was to teach God’s word to the Hmong.
After the fall of Laos in 1975, numerous Hmong RPA Bible were distributed to the Hmong people in the refugee camps in Thailand. From then on, the Hmong RPA continue to grow. The reasons of the widespread use of the Hmong RPA are:
- More and more Hmong Christians use it in the world.
- There are many Hmong RPA publications in the Hmong communities and in public schools in the United States.
- Both Hmong dialects can be written using the Hmong RPA.
- The blooming of new technology (Ipod, Iphone, social media, etc).
The Hmong people wished to simplify the Hmong RPA script as early as the 1980’s, but they never got a result. They wanted the creator, Dr. William Smalley, to simplify certain consonants, but he refused to do so because doing that it would break his system (which was not uniform). What he left to the Hmong is, “Hmong will ultimately decide the usefulness of the system. Will work if you find it useful. You will change it if not” (a Hmong Council Meeting in Minneapolis in August, 1982). He also stated in (Hmong Magazine/Premiere Issue Spring 1997) that, “They (the Hmong) think that I own the RPA. They have a feeling that it’s copyright and they have to get permission if they do anything different. But I keep telling them: It doesn’t belong to me, I wasn’t the only one, I did it for you, it’s your language, it’s up to you. I’m willing to give you technical advice, but it’s none of my business what you do to it”. From these two quotations, it clearly points out that it is our duty to modified it to fit our needs. Many written systems do not always follow the rule and they have certain exceptions.
In 2001, Mr. Lee Thao proposed the simplification of the Hmong RPA to the Hmong District of Christian & Missionary Alliance annual conference committee. The answer was that Hmong District only did God’s work, not Hmong writing. At that conference, he shared his idea with Dr. Porze Thao who was a linguist. His reply was that the system was good: no action should be needed.
Did the Hmong make any modifications lately? Yes, blue Mong added the dl, dlh, ndl, and aa. If this can be done, anything can be done if we have the need for them. We have many needs; that is the reason this site was created. The site is not to force anyone to accept its work, but it will maintain a standard in itself. The dream of the site is to have a simplified version of the Hmong RPA, to follow the same spelling, and to write grammatical papers.
Livxwm Tus Ntawv Hmoob RPA (Romanized Popular Alphabet)
Tus ntawv Hmoob RPA raug tsim los ntawm Dr. William Smallley nrog rau kev pab los ntawm txiv plig Nyiajpov (father Yves Bertrais) thiab Dr. Lindwood Barney xyoo 1951-53. Tomqab tsim tus ntawv lawm, txiv plig Nyiajpov pib qhia rau ib pab Hmoob. Lub homphiaj tsim tus ntawv no yog coj los qhia Vajstswv txoj lus rau Hmoob.
Tomqab lub teb chaws Blog poob xyoo 1975, ntau phau Vajlug kub Hmoob RAP tau raug muab faib rau cov Hmoob thojnam hauv Thaibteb. Txij li ntawd los, tus ntawv Hmoob RPA no tau huamvam. Txoj kev huamvam no yog los ntawm:
- Hmoob qab ntuj tau los ntseeg tus Tswv Yexus coob zujzus.
- Kev luam ntawv (phau ntawv) thiab kev qhia ntawv Hmoob RPA muaj ntau zujzus hauv Hmoob tej koomtxoos thiab hauv cheevtxuj dawb (public schools), tebchaws Mekas.
- Hmoob dawb thiab Moob leeg puav leej siv tau tus ntawv Hmoob RAP no.
- Kev huamvam ntawm cov tevnolojis tshiab (new technology): Ipod, Iphone, social media etc.
Hmoob yeej tau xav kho tus ntawv no los lawm wov txij li xyoo 1980, tiamsis lawv ua tsis tau ib yam tiav. Lawv tau xav kom tus tsim, Dr. William Smalley, muab ib cov las txo kom tsawg, tiamsis nws tsis ua li ntawd vim ua li ntawd yov rhuav nws tus qauv (tsis ua ib puab). Nws cov lus tseemceeb tso rau Hmoob hais li no, “Hmoob yog tus muaj kev txiam xim loj txog qhov kev zoo siv ntawm tus ntawv no. Nws yuav zoo siv yog nej pom tias zoo siv. Nej yuav hloov yog nws tsis zoo siv” (Rooj sablaj ntawm pawg Hmoob uas txhim kho ntawv Hmoob nyob nroog Minniapoplis, lub 8 hli tim 12 xyoo 1982). Nws hais wiv nyob hauv tsab ntawv (Hmong Megazine/Premiere Issue Spring 1997) tias, “Lawv (Hmoob) xav tias kuv ua tswv rau tus ntawv RPA. Lawv xav tias lawv yuav tsum tau kev tso cai uantej lawv ua ib yam dabtsi txawv. Tiamsis kuv twb yeej tau hais rau lawv li no: tus ntawv no tsis yog kuv li, nws tsis yog kuv ib leeg ua, kuv ua rau nej, nws yog nej li lus, nyob ntawm nej yuav li cas. Kuv yuav pab ntawm tswyim, tiamsis nws tsis yog kuv lub luag num uas yuav qhia kom nej ua li cas rau tus ntawv no”. Raws li ob nqe lus saum no, nws yog peb li dejnum los kho kom ncav cuag peb kev cheemtsum. Ntau tus ntawv yeej tsis mus raws tus cai, lawv muab cais ua cov tshwjxeeb.
Xyoo 2001, yawm Lis Thoj tau muab kev kho tus ntawv Hmoob RPA mus rau lub rooj sablaj xwm xyoo ntawm hauv paus Koom Haum Hmoob qhia txoj hmoo zoo. Lolus teb tsuas tias Koom Haum Hmoob ua Vajtswv dejnum xwb, tsis yog kho tus ntawv. Nws ho mus piav nws zaj rau Dr. Pobzeb Thoj uas yog ib tug kws tso suab lus (linguist). Nws lus teb ces tsuas tias tus ntawv zoo lawm, tsis tas ua dabsi.
Hmoob puas tau kho tus ntawv no dua li? Kho, cov Moob leeg twb wiv tus dl, dlh, ndl, thiab aa. Yog peb twb kho tau li no, peb yeej muaj peevxwm kho tau txhua yam uas peb pom tias muaj kev cheemtsum. Peb muaj kev cheemtsum ntau, yogli lub vassab no thiaj raug tsim. Lub vassab no yeej tsis yuam leej twg kom ua raws li nws teg dejnum, tiamsis nws yuav ceev nws tus caglajtxheej (standard) hauv lub vassab. Txoj kev bausuav ntawm lub vasssab yog kom muaj cov las tsawg, txislus ib yam, thiab sau ntau raws tus cwjkai kabntaw.
