A Myth Become Reality. History and Development of the Miao Written Language. Volume 1

This dissertation, volume one of the study "A Myth Become Reality - History and Development of the Miao Written Language", contains historical descriptions and graphonomic analyses of the Miao writing systems devised in China before 1949. The first volume contains an introduction and parts I and II out of four parts. In the introduction the author discusses the notion ‘Miao’, the Miao dialects and presents their phonological systems. Part I deals with the Miao myth about a prehistoric writing system which has subsequently been lost and with undeciphered writing systems, usually referred to as examples of Miao writing. Part II is concerned with the efforts of various missionaries, mainly British and American, to devise writing systems for Miao in order to translate Christian literature. As the Pollard script for the A-Hmao dialect is still widely employed and the writing system devised for Hmu has left few traces, the author has analysed both writing systems in detail, especially their allegedly deficient tone marking systems in order to find a reason for this difference in success. No substantial differences in the exactness of representation have, however, been found, so the causes have to be sought elsewhere, both in the reinterpretation of the writing systems in accordance with the myth about the loss of writing, and in the differences in bilingual competence, economic development etc., factors which will be discussed in more detail, especially in view of the developments after 1949, in the general conclusions to volume 2 of this study. In the analysis of the Pollard script, the author shows that the Pollard script is more widely used than earlier believed, and that this is due to its simplicity, especially its ingenious tone marking system, and the dissimilarity from other scripts, a trait which made the A-Hmao feel that this was their own national writing, and not a writing system adapted from another language.