Pollard script
Abugida used in China
title: "Pollard script" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["writing-systems-introduced-in-the-1930s", "1936-introductions", "abugida-writing-systems", "west-hmongic-languages"] description: "Abugida used in China" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollard_script" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Abugida used in China ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Writing system"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Pollard |
| Pollard Miao, (A-Hmao, Miao) | |
| type | Abugida |
| time | ca. 1936 to the present |
| creator | Sam Pollard |
| languages | A-Hmao, Lipo, Sichuan Miao, Nasu |
| fam1 | Canadian Aboriginal syllabics |
| unicode | U+16F00–U+16F9F |
| iso15924 | Plrd |
| sample | Manuscripts in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum - DSC03941.JPG |
| caption | Miao book in Pollard script, in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Kunming, Yunnan, China. |
| :: |
| name = Pollard Pollard Miao, (A-Hmao, Miao) | type = Abugida | typedesc = | time = ca. 1936 to the present | creator = Sam Pollard | languages = A-Hmao, Lipo, Sichuan Miao, Nasu | fam1 = Canadian Aboriginal syllabics | unicode = U+16F00–U+16F9F | iso15924 = Plrd | sample = Manuscripts in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum - DSC03941.JPG | caption = Miao book in Pollard script, in the Yunnan Nationalities Museum, Kunming, Yunnan, China. | special = uncommon Unicode characters | fix = Help:Multilingual support | error = question marks, boxes, or other symbols | characters = the intended characters | image = Replacement character.svg | link = Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character | alt = | compact = The Pollard script, also known as Pollard Miao () or Miao, is an abugida loosely based on the Latin alphabet and invented by Methodist missionary Sam Pollard. Pollard invented the script for use with A-Hmao, one of several Miao languages spoken in China. The script underwent a series of revisions until 1936, when a translation of the New Testament was published using it.
Pollard credited the basic idea of the script to the Cree syllabics designed by James Evans in 1838–1841: "While working out the problem, we remembered the case of the syllabics used by a Methodist missionary among the Indians of North America, and resolved to do as he had done." He also gave credit to a Chinese pastor: "Stephen Lee assisted me very ably in this matter, and at last we arrived at a system."
The introduction of Christian materials in the script that Pollard invented had a great impact among the Miao people. Part of the reason was that they had a legend about how their ancestors had possessed a script but lost it. According to the legend, the script would be brought back some day. When the script was introduced, many Miao came from far away to see and learn it. Changing politics in China led to the use of several competing scripts, most of which were romanizations. The Pollard script remains popular among Hmong people in China, although Hmong outside China tend to use one of the alternative scripts. A revision of the script was completed in 1988, which remains in use.
As with most other abugidas, the Pollard letters represent consonants, whereas vowels are indicated by diacritics. Uniquely, however, the position of this diacritic is varied to represent tone. For example, in Western Hmong, placing the vowel diacritic above the consonant letter indicates that the syllable has a high tone, whereas placing it at the bottom right indicates a low tone.
Characters
The script was originally developed for A-Hmao, and adopted early for Lipo. {{cite book | author=Duffy, John M. | year=2007 | title=Writing from these roots: literacy in a Hmong-American community | publisher=University of Hawaii Press | isbn=978-0-8248-3095-3 There is also a Nasu alphabet using Pollard script.
Consonants
::data[format=table] | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | || || || || | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | PA | BA | YI PA | PLA | MA | | | | | | | | | | | | MHA | ARCHAIC MA | FA | VA | VFA | | | | | | | | | | | | TA | DA | YI TTA | YI TA | TTA | | | | | | | | | | | | DDA | NA | NHA | YI NNA | ARCHAIC NA | | | | | | | | | | | | NNA | NNHA | LA | LYA | LHA | | | | | | | | | | | | LHYA | TLHA | DLHA | TLHYA | DLHYA | | | | | | | | | | | | KA | GA | YI KA | QA | QGA | | | | | | | | | | | | NGA | NGHA | ARCHAIC NGA | HA | XA | | | | | | | | | | | | GHA | GHHA | TSSA | DZZA | NYA | | | | | | | | | | | | NYHA | TSHA | DZHA | YI TSHA | YI DZHA | | | | | | | | | | | | REFORMED TSHA | SHA | SSA | ZHA | ZSHA | | | | | | | | | | | | TSA | DZA | YI TSA | SA | ZA | | | | | | | | | | | | ZSA | ZZA | ZZSA | ZZA | ZZYA | | | | | | | | | | | | ZZSYA | WA | AH | HHA | BRI | | | | | | | | | | | | SYI | DZYI | TE | TSE | RTE | | | | | | | | | | | ::
Vowels and finals
::data[format=table] | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | || || || | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | A | AA | AHH | AN | | | | | | | | | | | ANG | O | OO | WO | | | | | | | | | | | W | E | EN | ENG | | | | | | | | | | | OEY | I | IA | IAN | | | | | | | | | | | IANG | IO | IE | II | | | | | | | | | | | IU | ING | U | UA | | | | | | | | | | | UAN | UANG | UU | UEI | | | | | | | | | | | UNG | Y | YI | AE | | | | | | | | | | | AEE | ERR | ROUNDED ERR | ER | | | | | | | | | | | ROUNDED ER | AI | EI | AU | | | | | | | | | | | OU | N | NG | UOG | | | | | | | | | | | YUI | OG | OER | VW | | | | | | | | | | | IG | EA | IONG | UI | | | | | | | | | | ::
Positioning tone marks
::data[format=table] | || || || | |---| | RIGHT | ::
Baseline tone marks
::data[format=table] | || || || || || || | |---| | TONE-2 | ::
Archaic baseline tone marks
::data[format=table] | || || || || || | |---| | REFORMED TONE-1 | ::
Unicode
Main article: Miao (Unicode block)
The Pollard script was first proposed for inclusion in Unicode by John Jenkins in 1997. It took many years to reach a final proposal in 2010.
It was added to the Unicode Standard in January, 2012 with the release of version 6.1.
The Unicode block for Pollard script, called Miao, is U+16F00–U+16F9F:
Published sources
- {{cite book | last=Enwall | first=Joakim | year=1994 | title=A Myth Become Reality: History and Development of the Miao Written Language, two volumes | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iI0pAQAAIAAJ | series=Stockholm East Asian Monographs, 5 & 6 | location=Stockholm | publisher=Institute of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University | isbn=9789171534231
- {{cite journal | last=Pollard | first=Samuel | date=December 1909 | title=Gathering up the Fragments | journal=The United Methodist Magazine | pages=531–35 | volume=2
- {{cite journal | author=Wen You | year=1938 | title=Lun Pollard Script | script-title=zh:論 Pollard Script | trans-title=Essay on the Pollard Script | journal=Xinan Bianjiang | script-journal=zh:西南邊疆 | trans-journal=Southwest frontier region | volume=1 | pages=43–53
- {{cite journal | author=Wen You | year=1951 | title=Guizhou Leishan xin chu Miaowen canshi chukao | script-title=zh:貴州雷山新出苗文殘石初考 | trans-title=Preliminary investigation of the Miao writing fragments recently discovered in Leishan, Guizhou | journal=Huaxi Wenwu | script-journal=zh:華西文物 | trans-journal=Huaxi University cultural relics | author=Wen You | year=1985 | title=Wen You lunji | script-title=zh:聞宥論集 | trans-title=Collection of articles by Wen You | pages=62–70 | location=Beijing | publisher=Zhongyang minzu xueyuan keyanchu 中央民族學院科研處 [Scientific research office of the Central Institute for Nationalities]
References
References
- Pollard, Samuel. (1919). "Story of the Miao". Henry Hooks.
- Enwall 1994
- (2006). "Religions and Missionaries around the Pacific, 1500–1900". Ashgate Publishing.
- Jenkins, John H.. (21 May 1997). "L2/97-104: Proposal to add Pollard to Unicode/ISO-IEC 10646".
- (26 March 2010). "N3789: Final proposal for encoding the Miao script in the SMP of the UCS".
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