Hmong Language

Abstract: The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25; Mattsson, Williams, Rickels, Lipman, & Uhlenhuth, 1969) was translated into the Hmong language and administered to 159 Hmong adults, 73 nonclinical and 86 mental health clients. The instrument demonstrated internal consistency of .97 and had a split-half coefficient of .92 and test-retest reliability of .90. Mental health clients produced scores that were significantly higher than those of nonclinical participants on the Anxiety, Depression, and Total scores. Consistent with expectations, Hmong more intensely affected by the casualties of war, those currently unemployed, those older, and those with less education tended to report more symptoms of anxiety and depression. The Hmong version of the HSCL-25 provided a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 78%, and overall accuracy of 89%, demonstrating that it is a useful screening tool for assessing general distress and anxiety problems in Hmong people.

Abstract: This pioneering and innovative morpho-phonological study focuses on the White Hmong language to infer similarities among other Southeast Asian languages. Following U.S. military involvement in Indo-China in 1975, many of the Hmong - an ethnic group originating in Southwestern China and Southeast Asia who were persecuted by the communist organization Pathet Lao - became refugees. A large portion of them originally resettled in the Upper-Midwestern United States, but the largest population of Hmong is now in Minnesota and California. Today, there are diasporic communities in countries around the world, with over 200,000 in the United States alone. The commitment of these communities to their language and culture, their accessibility, and outside interest has combined to create an explosion of scholarship and Hmong language literature. The interest in and utility of the Hmong language are perpetually renewed by growing Hmong enrollment in schools and the number and strength of Hmong community groups. The migration and growth of Hmong and other Southeast Asian groups worldwide make this landmark language study crucial for ongoing research. In this pioneering and innovative morpho-phonological study, Ratliff, building on the 1965 and 1967 works of E. J. A. Henderson, describes the morphological functions of tone in Southeast Asian languages. While focusing specifically on the White Hmong language, one of the languages of the larger Hmong-Mien language family, the book investigates underlying ideas about the function of tone as an organizational tool in what Ratliff calls 'small word' languages. She focuses on tone and its role in compounds, form classes, and expressives.

Abstract: SINCE 1975, AFTER THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE UNITED STATES from intervention in the Vietnam War, Hmong highlanders from Laos have been arriving in the West. Those Hmong who became refugees had assisted the CIA in a covert anticommunist effort within Laos; the failure of this effort necessitated political exile, especially for those who had served as guerrillas. Minorities in their homelands, they had dwelled on the high mountain slopes, practicing swidden agriculture, speaking Hmong language, and retaining distinctive styles of dress and a highly elaborated religiocultural system.' Through their alliance with the United States, they had hoped in vain to gain a greater measure of political self-determination within Laos.2 Instead, perhaps two hundred thousand Hmong now reside in various localities across the United States. Smaller communities are found in France, Australia, Canada, and French Guyana. It was with haste and regret that they left their homes, and, even after more than two decades have passed, for many of the middle and elder generations, their longing for the Asian agrarian lifestyles that they have lost has remained alive. For some Hmong, whose residence in the United States has eventuated in citizenship and/or a degree of economic security, this longing has taken the form of nostalgia touring-to Laos, Thailand, China, even Vietnam-in search of a sense of connectedness to the lives from which they were so abruptly severed.3 Hmong still live agrarian lives in villages in all of these countries. A huge settlement was also formed in Thailand, comprising over twenty thousand Hmong refugees from Laosclosely tied as family and friends to Hmong Americans-who had been displaced with the closing of the last officially sponsored refugee camp and who found alternate

Abstract: Southeast Asian immigrants and refugees, in particular the Hmong people of Laos, have settled in large numbers in metropolitan areas of Minnesota. These communities, accustomed to hunting and fishing for food in Laos, now fish in some of the most contaminated waters of Minnesota. Fishing and fish-preparation customs of their homeland emphasize using all fish caught and discarding very little waste. These practices result in a potentially high exposure to PCBs and mercury. Educational outreach efforts to inform this population of the potential health hazards from consuming the fish are hindered by language and cultural barriers. While most Hmong anglers welcome information about contaminants and fishing, the typical press releases and mailings that convey fish advisory information to the public do not reach this community. The Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources collaborated to determine the health messages and communication methods that would best meet the needs of these communities. Using the results of interviews and a behavioral survey, the Minnesota Department of Health has tailored fish consumption advisories to meet the unique needs of Southeast Asian anglers. Over the past four years, educational programs involving specialized advisories, translations, signs, a Hmong language video, and workshops have been used to inform Hmong anglers and other Southeast Asians about fish contaminants.