daus
The Hmong word for snow is daus.
daus is a noun used to describe the crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes, the act of these flakes falling or the accumulation of snow on the ground as a white layer.
Meaning: partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes, falling of such flakes, accumulation of them as a white layer (noun)
Did you know?
- The final letter 's' in daus is a silent tone marker and should never be pronounced like the 's' in 'snow'.
- Because Hmong was traditionally an oral language without a standardized script, the way daus is written can vary wildly depending on whether the writer uses the RPA or other Romanization systems.
- In some Hmong dialects, the word daus is closely linked to concepts of coldness and frost, as the distinction between 'snow' and 'frost' is less rigid than in English.
Example conversation
Yia and Xiong are looking out the window at the weather.
- YiaYia, saib daus poob maj!Yia, look, it's snowing fast!
- XiongXiong, koj puas nyiam daus?Xiong, do you like snow?
- YiaKuv nyiam heev, tab sis nws txias.I like it very much, but it is cold.
- XiongPeb mus ua daus pab.Let's go make a snowball.
