Hidden Melodies of the Hmong Language: The Rhythmers

Abstract

Rhythmers are used in the Hmong language. However, there is no literature on them. The word rhythmer itself is not in the English dictionary; it was first observed and termed by Dr. Cho Ly in his Ph.D. dissertation (Ly, 2004). The objective of this study is to further understand the meaning of rhythmers by analyzing approximately 100 sentences with rhythmers. The rhythmers studied consisted of those taken from Dr. Ly’s Ph.D. data and everyday dialogue. After observation, it was discovered that rhythmers add meaning to sentences and/or change the meaning of the sentences. In some cases, they only add rhythm to sentences and help the sentences flow better. They are not necessarily meaningless words. They are usually placed at the end or beginning of sentences or at the end of a clause. Nonetheless, they cannot be used randomly. Therefore, the rhythmers are a new part of speech.

Keywords

• hmong language
• hmong words
• speech