Iu Mien Measuring Words

Apc ndorm ie buatc DAUH doc...that's how i said it after coming home from squirrel hunting many years ago when i first came to live with Mien. Then my friend reminded me, measuring word for "doc" is NORM not DAUH. I argued, "any thing with legs is 'dauh' isn't it?? He explained, "there is no rules...word for chicken also 'norm' remember?"

O.K now let's look at some of the Iu-MIen adjective [Measuring Word & Counting Words]

1. "nyie" for bueix njormh...eg...bueix ietc nyie...my favorite phrase

2. "ciangv" for war...eg...borqv i ciangv jaax..."buv" is for gambling eg...ndouv buv zinh

3. "juonh" for measuring how big a big is...buo juonh dungz-dorn

4. "ndoqv, buoz-zaangv" for measuring a fish...eg...ie duqv dauh faix gauh lomh i ndoqv hnangv, ninh nyei lomh buoz-zaangv.

5. "zamh, ndorqc, naamx, naamx-zatv, naamx...gueic, feix cunx, hlamx buoz-ndoqv" for measuring lenght of an object...eg...maaiz duqv i zamh ndie...naaiv baengx congx maaih buo ndorqc hnangv...naaiv buonv sou jangv maaih ietc naamx caux ietc gueic...

6. words for height...we used our body parts to it...eg...uom ndo baengc "cingh mborqc, muotv mienh, mbaengc i daux biauv, ie nyei youz mbaengc ie nyei mborqc dauh.

7. for vulume we use our hands or any containers as the measuring words...eg...ietc "ienv" hnaangx, ietc "caeng" orv-wuonh, ietc "puangv" biouv-nganh, ietc "nyau" ga'naaiv-ndaang, i "cie" zaangh,

8. to count human being...dauh [not very polite], laanh[polite] wueic[very formal] hinx[in song or religious practice] dorv [in song especially for a girl] gorx[song] hmuangv [for number of members in a family] nyienh [song eg...ietv nyienh yaac gorngv lueih gong hiaangv]kuv or ding [in sipv mienv language...eg...ndortv ietc ding bun tim ziepc ding...nortv ietc kuv bun tipv jaa baeqv kuv...] the term kuv, kouv and nzuih have the same meaning...i heard Iu-Mien people in China using the term " mienh nzuih" that's "mienh kuv" in sipv meinv waac for population or numbers of people.

9. "donx" for meal, "ziux" bee's sting, "buix" amount carried one time on back, "quoqv" for song, "zaang" for writing, "pin" a page..."aax" for one bite..."ietc mueic mh zing" for as far as eyes can see...ietc joux for a word
10. someone please help me on this one...i'm not a sipv mienv person...."gorngx", "dorngh", something used to count or measure thing in "sipv mienv" ietc "zorc" mienv, sipv "norm" wuonh, ....i have no idea for jaev gaau, jaev setv, ceu-douc, fungx henz, heuc lungh, houv nyunc, ....and much more....

11. "dauh" for cow, horses, "norm' for doc, jai, aapv, deic-bung, baengc-nqeunc, "gorng" also used for sickness, rain or snow, "diuh" for snake....but "dauh" for fish and eel.

12. for time we use...hitv, zanc, hnoi, hlaax, aatitv[leiz-baaix], hnyangx, seix, doic, buic, cun, gueix, ...

13. bungx yiez/nqaiv is "nzauc", for shooting: one shot for gun is " congx" eg...buonv buo "congx"; sling shot is "lau", cross bow is "nzitv" buonv ietc "nzitv" duqv i norm norqc

14. for landscape, ietc "nzong" ndeic, ietc "diuh jauv" ietc "douc" jauv, ietc "njuotv" jauv

15. for cothing: ietc "paan" junh, ietc "deix" lui; ietc "yiemc" lui houx, ietc "laengc" heh, ietc "jieqv" heh

16. for utensil: ietc "sung" zouc, ietc "norm" paah gern,

17. NORM is used for jai, doc, ziangh hoc, langz, baengc, gern, zeih ?. hnoi, biouv, jieh, in-mbiaatc, mbeix mbeix,

18. DIUH is for gouv, nzung, jauv, hlaang, hlauv-gaan, biei, ndoqv...how about "Koiv" ?

19. BAENGX is for batv, congx, faanx, hnaav

20. ZUNG is for nzuqc, bouv, coux, doix, ngiu, porng

21. POUX is for cie, nqiuv, maaz-orn, maaz-jaax

22. NDONGH is for something in a container such as bamboo tube, can ...eg ietc ndongh lai-sui, buov i ndongh in[i have no idea exactly how much] nduoh dongh ziepc betv doic,

23. "sung, sorng, doix, laengc, zorngh" is for PAIR but they are used with different nouns.

24. another of my favorite word "i" it does not mean "two" it means some [or can mean good amount] eg...zorqv i norm biouv daaih bun nauz mbuo nyanc oc. it does not mean just bring "two" it can be a basketful of fruit...this is a beauty of Iu-Mien culture...mv ceng ganh nyei camv mv ki mienh nyei zoqc

pardon my unorganized writing!

will be continued...yunhlinh

--Camv-Norm Mh Zing Tengx Jienv Doic Mangc Buatc Duqv Gauh Jangv Gauh Cing--

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NOTE: This was originally posted by Wm Yienlin Jyi in the IUMIEN.COM forum. I copied it here for more visibility. Mr. Jyi, I hope you will blog more about our history, traditions and language. Thank you.

-IUMIEN.COM