Our honored name, Kmhmú
How many ways have you seen our name spelled?
Kmhmú
Khamou
Kamu
Khmmu
Khmu
Kammu
There are many more spellings. Some use the Roman alphabet for writing out our name, as in the list of names above. It is often written by using either the Roman or the Lao alphabet.
Readers who love Kmhmú could shy away from an explanation of writing out Kmhmú. It might take a little effort. But you’ll be rewarded by discovering what a variety of spellings the community faces as it settles into the U.S. scene.
Our page PRAY tackles the problem by offering both Roman and Lao script versions of our more frequently used prayers.
But the Roman script prayers don’t present the whole issue. You see, many people prefer to adapt words in the Kmhmú language by adopting the common American usage of Roman script.
What’s Roman script?
It’s the alphabet most languages of Western Europe take from the Latin language of the Romans. However, many European people freely adapt the writing to suit their own needs. The French and Polish, for instance, have felt very free with marks on their spelt words that English speakers find puzzling. Usually these marks are called diacritical marks. The well known Spanish word, señor, critically distinguishes the way that this ñ is to be pronounced from a word written with the simple n.
K’eey root semeh Cav Yôq pô’ Cav
Koon pô Cav Hnmaal. Amèèn.
A sample of Kmhmú writing. The words of the Sign of the Cross.
In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When the French missionaries came, they found that they could use the Lao script, which was totally new for them and/or adapt their Western European alphabet for Kmhmú. They actually did both, which is one of the reasons for so much difficulty in written Kmhmú.
Their system for use of the Roman alphabet is probably still the preferred method. But, once Kmhmú came to America and realized that the diacritical marks are unfamiliar for English readers, they decided to drop them. What follows are a few examples to show the differences in the two styles of using Roman script. First the preferred spelling is given with the diacritical marks and then the more Americanized version without them.
S’ooq – saong the word means tree. But the first or preferred spelling includes a ’ to indicate taking a bit of a bread between the two syllables and a q which is pronounced as if it were ng.
Ra ‘maap – Ra bap the word for Baptism. The apostrophe before ‘m changes an ordinary m into a b. The word ‘maap by itself means sins which are washed away by the Sacrament of Baptism.
Yôq – young the word for dad, father, pop is one of the most often used words in any language. In the Lord’s Prayer the word Cav, pronounced "chow" is set in front of the word for father as a mark of respect which also alters the meaning a bit. Instead of simply “Our Father” Cav Yôq I’ becomes Our holy, revered Father. I’ which means “our” also carries an apostrophe ’ which again indicates a breath mark.
Kmhmú – Khmu the word means person or the people and it is also the name of the language. The accent mark on the ú in the preferred spelling tells an important point. When Lao ethnics invaded the country that now bears their name, they began to call the native, original people just “kha”, meaning ‘slave’ or ‘kill.’ But Kmhmú means a person or the people. So it is essential to emphasize the last syllable to restore dignity and respect.
This set of examples just begins to give a little flavor of reading the language. Thank you for your effort. Try to find a Kmhmú speaker – even better a Kmhmú reader. This person will be quite happy to tell you more.
Proudly displaying our name in procession.
| ||||||
| ||||||
