niam

Atong (India)

Etymology

Ultimately from Sanskrit नियम (niyama).

Noun

niam

custom, law, tradition

References

van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

White Hmong

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong *minᴰ (“female”).^[1] Despite phonetic similarity of the descendant forms of both Proto-Hmongic and Proto-Sinitic, likely not related to Chinese 女 (nǚ, “woman”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /niə̯˩̰/

Noun

niam

mother, woman
an older female relative
(Christianity) nun
(Religion) a female member of religious community

Derived terms

poj niam

References

Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[1], SEAP Publications, →ISBN.

^ Ratliff, Martha (2010) Hmong-Mien language history (Studies in Language Change; 8), Camberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics, →ISBN, page 41; 277.

[1] Ratliff, Martha (2010) Hmong-Mien language history (Studies in Language Change; 8), Camberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics, →ISBN, page 41; 277.

[1]