Hmong 18 clans

[saki saki]

I try to name all 18 hmong last names. To see if it was truly hmong18 clans. But I came out short of last names.
Can someone help me get the rest of them..
1. Yang
2. Vang
3. Vue
4. Thao
5. Lee
6. Chang
7. Lor
8. Xoing
9. Khang
10. Hang
11.  ?
That's what I came up..

[JustMe2]

pha
moua
her
fang
kue
kong
chu/chue?
cheng/Tsheej

[saki saki]

Some of those last name I've never heard of or meet one in person... What state are they mostly  in? Unlike the Yang and Vang. They are all over the dam places. LOL
They all sound from the same last name. I'm wondering if when the OG's all came over to the US. And some how mess up their real last name. Cause I got a friend that is Hmong but his last name is Som...I think they are hmong Khang, but when they got here his dad spelled wrong.. LOL

[JustMe2]

i have some Som relatives too....i believe they branched off from the Kong clan?

[Reporter]

Heard of Hmoog Hwj? And Hmong Tsom?

Hmoob Sib, too?

Lots of them in southern China. Or at least I've heard.

[saki saki]

kinda makes me think twice if there are really Hmong 18 clans cause it looks like the OG's miss spell it.

[TusHluasSiabZoo]

According to hmong history there are only 18 original last name, others just mispelling

[saki saki]

According to hmong history there are only 18 original last name, others just mispelling

Would you happen to know the original last name of the true Hmong clan? Like you said " misspelled"
I've always wanted to know that. Back to my buddy's last name (Som). The first time I met him and found out his last name. I thought he was a Lao.. But he was a Hmong LOL..

[saki saki]

I didn't want to make another thread about Hmong. So my next question is..

Example Hmong White and Leng.. How many more languages are there in the Hmong community? Or are these the only two lingo(s) out there? 

[hmongperson]

I'm not sure there was 18. I heard there was just originally 12, or atleast 12 that migrated from China to Laos.

[Reporter]

I didn't want to make another thread about Hmong. So my next question is..

Example Hmong White and Leng.. How many more languages are there in the Hmong community? Or are these the only two lingo(s) out there?  

There is a difference between language and dialect. There is only one Hmong language but different Hmong dialects. The major two we know of from the Hmong in Southeast Asia are White Hmong and Green Hmong dialects. Southern China's population has three major Hmong dialects with inhabitants in one dialect unable to understand the other two at all. But within each of those three, there are also minor dialects varying from region to region.  

Another question is: will the Hmong agree on using just one dialect for the entire Hmong community? Answer: No. Back in the 1990s, the Chinese Hmong--fully conscious of the differences and conflicts amongs us and the need to unify as one--attempted to lobby for one of the major ones in China to control. However, their end result among the Hmong legislators there was: let's use Chinese as a langua franca (a go-between language for various groups who cannot understand one another's dialects or languages).  That's what it is today. And the Hmong in Southeast Asia--the other major Hmong population in the world--have never come to unifying the two existing dialects between us. Greens what to speak Greens, while Whites just would not learn Green.  

Then another question is: is there a need for one unified Hmong dialect or language for the Hmong community? Answer: Yes.

So, then the other question is: how do we achieve that? Answer: by agreement.

Finally, will there be total agreement on that? Answer: No.

Thus, what do we do? Answer: (If I had the answer, I would be Hmong President or perhaps King already.)

[Reporter]

I'm not sure there was 18. I heard there was just originally 12, or atleast 12 that migrated from China to Laos.

There were only 12 based on the rebirth of the Hmong culture by Nkauj Iab and Nraug Oo--the siblings who survived the flood in a wooden drum. As late as 1986, there were still only 12. But over the years, a few more were discovered. Hence, now 18 exist.

[Reporter]

Would you happen to know the original last name of the true Hmong clan? Like you said " misspelled"
I've always wanted to know that. Back to my buddy's last name (Som). The first time I met him and found out his last name. I thought he was a Lao.. But he was a Hmong LOL..

There is a Hmong history book sold at Hmong ABC's. You can buy it and see if it has anything on that. That book was written by the Hmong of French Guiana and claims that the Chinese inherited Hmong last names such as Lo, Lee, Chang, Yang, Vang (Wang), Vue (Wu), etc. However, many have spoken that the Hmong inherited these last names from the Chinese after losing the originals completey due to captivation.  If you look at history thoroughly, this latter claim is probably more true. Why? The Chinese like to whitewash and integrate minorities into its culture. The Hmong have either been directly or indirectly forced to inherit them. Forced when they were captivated and ordered to be labeled with certain name tags. Indirectly when they felt they had to disguise in order to avoid persecution.  Look at some Hmong graves that have turned Chinese--just to make sure the Chinese did not dig up Hmong bones.

[Reporter]

kinda makes me think twice if there are really Hmong 18 clans cause it looks like the OG's miss spell it.

Nowadays, if you go around the world, you'll see that there are more than 18. I have personally met a Hmong girl from China who was of the last name Shi. That would make us 19, right? And those I haven't yet discovered? More than 19, right? She said there were more than Shi out there in southern China.

[Reporter]

According to hmong history there are only 18 original last name, others just mispelling

Som could not have been a misspelling of Kong. Som was intentionally created so. Nor was Kue ever a mistaken spelling of Thao. Nor was Pha accidentally spelled Lo. Wouldn't you agree?

How words are spelled is a different thing. But how sounds are sounded is another thing, no?  For example, Lo may be spelled L-O or L-O-R or L-A-O or even L-A-U. But they all sound somewhat the same, right? And Som and Kong sound totally different if spelled differently that way, right?