Hmong-Mien · ISO 639-3 mww
Hmong Daw Language us Hmoob
Hmong Daw is a Hmong-Mien language spoken by about 3.4 million people in 6 countries. It is written in the Latin, Lao and Pahawh Hmong scripts.
Where Hmong Daw is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Hmong Daw
Language family
- Hmong-Mien
- Hmongic
- Nuclear Hmongic-Ho Ne
- Nuclear Hmongic
- West Hmongic
- Greater Chuanqiandian
- Chuanqiandian
- First Vernacular Hmong
- Far Western Miao
- Hmong Daw
Writing system
Latin, Lao and Pahawh Hmong scripts
Related languages
About the Hmong Daw language
Hmong Daw (us Hmoob) is spoken by about 3.4 million people, which makes it the 230th most spoken language in the world — just behind Peripheral Mongolian (3.4 million) and ahead of Tiv (3.4 million). It belongs to the Hmong-Mien language family and, more precisely, to the Far Western Miao group within the Nuclear Hmongic-Ho Ne branch.
Where is Hmong Daw spoken?
Hmong Daw is used in 6 countries. The largest communities live in Vietnam (1.5 million), China (240,726), United States (232,534), Laos (182,931) and Thailand (32,862).
Share of the population that speaks Hmong Daw: Vietnam 1.4% (1.5 million), China <0.1% (240,726), United States <0.1% (232,534), Laos 2.3% (182,931), Thailand <0.1% (32,862) and France <0.1% (10,256).
Hmong Daw is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Hmong Daw is written in the Latin, Lao and Pahawh Hmong scripts. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Chuanqiandian Cluster Miao, Northern Qiandong Miao and Hmong.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 mww.
Frequently asked questions about Hmong Daw
How many people speak Hmong Daw?
Where is Hmong Daw spoken?
What language family does Hmong Daw belong to?
What is Hmong Daw called in Hmong Daw?
Is Hmong Daw an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.