MOMENTAN AUSVERKAUFT
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Product Identifiers
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
ISBN-100226762866
ISBN-139780226762869
eBay Product ID (ePID)98800
Product Key Features
Number of Pages229 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication NameMother of Writing : the Origin and Development of a Hmong Messianic Script
SubjectSoutheast Asian Languages (See Also Vietnamese), Linguistics / General
Publication Year1990
TypeLanguage Course
AuthorWilliam A. Smalley, Chia Koua Vang, Gnia Yee Yang
Subject AreaForeign Language Study, Language Arts & Disciplines
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height0.1 in
Item Weight17.7 Oz
Item Length0.9 in
Item Width0.6 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional
LCCN89-039956
Dewey Edition20
IllustratedYes
Dewey Decimal495
Table Of ContentTables Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Background for the Alphabet 1. How the Alphabet Began: A Believer's Perspective 2. Spread of the Alphabet 3. The Sounds of Hmong 4. The Writing System 5. Evolution of the Writing System 6. Punctuation, Numerals and Other Symbols 7. How Did Shong Lue Yang Do It? 8. From Handwriting to Wordprocessing 9. Contemporary Use of the Alphabet 10. The Alphabet in History 11. Other Hmong Writing Systems 12. Other Views on "Mother of Writing" Chronology Appendix. Hmong Individuals Mentioned in This Book Notes References Index
SynopsisIn February of 1971, in the Laotian village of Nam Chia, a forty-one year old farmer named Shong Lue Yang was assassinated by government soldiers. Shong Lue claimed to have been descended of God and given the mission of delivering the first true Hmong alphabet. Many believed him to be the Hmong people's long-awaited messiah, and his thousands of followers knew him as "Mother (Source) of Writing." An anthropological linguist who has worked among the Hmong, William A. Smalley joins Shong Lue's chief disciple, Chia Koua Vang, and one of his associates, to tell the fascinating story of how the previously unschooled farmer developed his remarkable writing system through four stages of increasing sophistication. The uniqueness of Shong Lue's achievement is highlighted by a comparison of Shong Lue's writing system to other known Hmong systems and to the history of writing as a whole. In addition to a nontechnical linguistic analysis of the script and a survey of its current use, Mother of Writing provides an intriguing cultural account of Shong Lue's life. The book traces the twenty-year-long struggle to disseminate the script after Shong Lue's death, first by handwriting, then by primitive moveable type, an abortive attempt to design a wooden typewriter, and finally by modern wordprocessing. In a moving concluding chapter, Smalley discusses his own complex feelings about his coauthors' story.
LC Classification NumberPL4072.S6 1990
