Hmong for beginners / Annie Jaisser ; Collaborated by Martha Ratliff et al. ; Ill. by Tria Xiong et al. ; University of California at Berkeley ; Centers for South and Southeast Asia Studies ; International and area studies.

Hmong belongs to the Hmong-Mien Language family. This language family is quite large and diverse, the Hmongic branch of it being as complex as the Germanic branch of Indo-European and the Mienic branch being somewhat less complex. There is controversy among linguists as to the wider genetic affiliation of the Hmong-Mien family: some include it in the Sino-Tibetan language family while others place it within the Austro-Tai family. The 2 major dialects of Hmong spoken in Thailand and Laos.