Historical reconstruction of verbal modification in the Hmong-Mien family remains largely untouched in the literature. The current work explores, in light of comparative data and fieldwork, the history of four verbal markers in Laotian Hmong: 1) ʃi⁵⁵–/ʃi²²– ‘associative-reciprocal’, 2) ti⁵⁵–/tɵɐ̯⁵⁵– ‘single, only’, 3) ʈ^ʂɑ̤͡ɵ̤⁴²/t͡ʃɑ̤͡ɵ̤⁴² ‘pseudo-passive’, and 4) tɑ͡ɵ²²/tɑ̤͡ɵ̤⁴² ‘be physically able’. The verbal marker ʃi⁵⁵–/ʃi²²– likely appeared in Proto-Hmongic with a reciprocal meaning, while ti⁵⁵–/tɵɐ̯⁵⁵– is reconstructible to Proto-Far Western Hmongic as an adverbial marker. The form ʈ^ʂɑ̤͡ɵ̤⁴²/t͡ʃɑ̤͡ɵ̤⁴² originates in a primary verb in Proto-Hmongic, and later developed into a pseudo-passive marker and copula. Finally, tɑ͡ɵ²²/tɑ̤͡ɵ̤⁴² is reconstructible to Proto-Far Western Hmongic as a verb meaning ‘(be) strong, physically able’ that also marked ability to perform an action. This chapter should be of interest not only to Hmong-Mienists and those working in Southeast Asia, but also to those developing working methodologies for language families lacking a long written history.

中文翻译：

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苗族语言标记的史前史：我们能说些什么？*

对苗族家族语言修改的历史重建在文献中基本上没有受到影响。目前的工作根据比较数据和田野调查，探讨了老挝苗族四种语言标记的历史：1) ʃi ⁵⁵ – / ʃi ²² – '联想-互惠', 2) ti ⁵⁵ – / tɵɐ̯ ⁵⁵ – 'single, only', 3) ʈ ^ʂ ɑ̤͡ɵ̤ ⁴² / t͡ʃɑ̤͡ɵ̤ ⁴² '伪被动', 和 4) tɑ͡ɵ ²² / tɑ̤͡ɵ̤ ⁴²'身体上有能力'。口头标记ʃi ⁵⁵ – / ʃi ²² –可能出现在原始苗语中，具有相互的意义，而ti ⁵⁵ – / tɵɐ̯ ⁵⁵ –可以重构为原始-远西方苗语作为副词标记。形式ʈ ^ʂ ɑ̤͡ɵ̤ ⁴² / t͡ʃɑ̤͡ɵ̤ ⁴²起源于在原癌Hmongic伯动词，后来发展成一个伪无源标记物和连接函数。最后，tɑ͡ɵ ²² / tɑ̤͡ɵ̤ ⁴²可以重构为原始远西方苗语作为动词，意思是“（是）强壮，身体上有能力”，这也标志着执行动作的能力。本章应该不仅对苗族和在东南亚工作的人感兴趣，而且对那些为缺乏长期书面历史的语系开发工作方法的人应该感兴趣。