Prehistory of Verbal Markers in Hmong: What Can We Say? *

Historical reconstruction of verbal modification in the Hmong‐Mien family remains largely untouched in the literature. The current work explores, in light of comparative data and fieldwork, the history of four verbal markers in Laotian Hmong: 1) ʃi 55 – / ʃi 22 – ‘ associative‐reciprocal ’, 2) ti 55 – / tɵɐ̯ 55 – ‘single, only’, 3) ʈ ʂ ɑ̤͡ɵ̤ 42 / t͡ʃɑ̤͡ɵ̤ 42 ‘ pseudo‐passive ’, and 4) tɑ͡ɵ 22 / tɑ̤͡ɵ̤ 42 ‘be physically able’. The verbal marker ʃi 55 – / ʃi 22 – likely appeared in Proto‐Hmongic with a reciprocal meaning, while ti 55 – / tɵɐ̯ 55 – is reconstructible to Proto‐Far Western Hmongic as an adverbial marker. The form ʈ ʂ ɑ̤͡ɵ̤ 42 / t͡ʃɑ̤͡ɵ̤ 42 originates in a primary verb in Proto‐Hmongic, and later developed into a pseudo‐passive marker and copula. Finally, tɑ͡ɵ 22 / tɑ̤͡ɵ̤ 42 is reconstructible to Proto‐Far Western Hmongic as a verb meaning ‘(be) strong, physically able’ that also marked ability to perform an action. This chapter should be of interest not only to Hmong‐Mienists and those working in Southeast Asia, but also to those developing working methodologies for language families lacking a long written history.