What language is Mien ?

Question

when i asked this girl at my school what language does she speak, she said "Mien"... im like, "what is that?" i've never heard of that language before, so what is Mien?

Answer 1

Khmer

Answer 2

It's the language of a people who lived originally in Northern China. Many immigrated to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, where they came involved in the Vietnam War.

"Tai and Miao-Yao (Hmong-Mien) languages"

"All the languages of the Kam-Sui language group, which is related to the Tai family, are spoken in China (in Kweichow, Hunan, and Kwangsi provinces), with some dialects extending into Southeast Asia. Speakers of Miao-Yao languages are scattered over south-central China and extend into Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Dialects of the Miao language include Red Miao, White Miao, Green or Blue Miao, and the more divergent Black Miao. The Yao languages are Yao (also called Man or Mien), Laka, and Punu."

"languages, classification of : Tai and Miao-Yao (Hmong-Mien)", Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000

"Mien Americans are primarily Indochinese refugees that may have been born in or have become naturalized citizens of the United States of America."

"Many Mien American elders fought alongside the United States CIA during the "Secret War" of Laos"

"Most Mien Americans arrived in Laos from Northern China during the late 1800s."

"LANGUAGE: Mienh - - ETHNICITY: Iu Mien, Mien, Yao."

"This group is also under the "Yao" classification in China."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mien

"The Yao nationality (Traditional Chinese: 瑤族, Simplified Chinese: 瑶族, Pinyin: Yáo zú; Vietnamese: người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China."

"Origins of the Yao can be traced back 2000 years ago starting in Northern China."

"There are also many Yao living in the United States, mainly refugees from the highlands of Laos who speak the Iu Mien language."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yao_people

Answer 3

Mien or Mienh is the language spoken by the Mienh people. According to widely-accepted history, the Mienh's "country" of origination is China, but a majority of the mienh in the US immigrated from southeast asia in the late 1900s. Like most Mienh families, my family lost their homes in Laos due to the spread of the communist war from Vietnam. We are people without a country of our own. Our people number around 3 million worldwide (I saw that somewhere), so we're not a very big group. When I meet people for the first time and tell them my origin, they are confused, too. Online resources about the Mienh are limited, too, but there are sites out there made by Mienh organizations that might be worth checking out. Hope this helps!