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Date compiled: 8/10/2025
Author: ZooTsiTxaus
Credit to ChatGPT-5
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<Link:LinkFile\Nsound.link>
 <Voice:Zira>
English:

Classification of Nasal Consonants in Hmong RPA Based on Waveform Analysis Plotted On Audacity

Waveform analyses of Hmong Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA) recordings reveal three distinct categories of nasal consonants, differentiated by their initial temporal segments and acoustic profiles:

1. Short nasal consonants: Picture-1
This category comprises the singleton consonant 'd' and all consonant clusters with initial 'd'.

There are four of these: D, dh, dl, and dlh (dl and dlh are for Blue Hmong dialect)

The onset portion is acoustically brief, averaging approximately 2,500 samples at a standard recording rate (tempo-dependent).

Removal of this initial segment does not produce perceptible degradation of the consonant’s identity.

2. Regular nasal consonants: Picture-2
This category includes all consonant clusters with initial 'n', excluding the singleton 'n' and the cluster  'ɲ' (orthographic ny), both of which exhibit distinct onset characteristics.

There are 20 such clusters, and to save time for this video clip, they are listed here for reference, but skipped reading: (Nc, nch, ndl, ndlh, nk, nkh, np, nph, npl, nplh, nq, nqh, nr, nrh, nt, nth, nts, ntsh, ntx, ntxh)

Their onset segments typically range from 2,500 to 6,000 samples.
Any of these samples from the N root samples indicated in the picture can be copied and pasted to the beginning of any of the above consonants clusters to give them nasal onset characteristics.

Segment deletion often results in the perceptual transformation of the nasal into its oral counterpart, e.g., 'nt' sounds as 't', 'nc' as 'c', 'nk' as 'k', and so for the rest of them.

3. Mixed-type nasal consonants (Blue Hmong dialect): Picture-3 
The clusters 'ndl' and 'ndlh' in the Blue Hmong dialect exhibit hybrid onset properties, combining features of both regular and short nasals.

What is a nasal consonant?
If we say “mmm” while keeping our mouth closed, that is nasal because air comes through our nose.

Quick tip for learners
When you see an n (ntuj) at the start of a Hmong consonant cluster, it almost always means there is a nasal sound before the main consonant. Try humming a little before saying the rest, then you will hear it!

The computer will read Hmong words below, and watch how the signal of each word looks like on the top of the screen.
After plotting the signal, each monosyllabic word shows its name, duration and the frequency.

Moob:
PivTxwv: Ncaas, nkoj, npauj, ntsaum, ntshai, ntxhw

English:
Please feel free to make these better for all of us and others to learn.
Thank you.
