Pollard script

The Pollard script is a syllabary invented by Methodist missionary Sam Pollard. Pollard invented the script for use with one of several Hmong languages. The script underwent a series of revisions until 1936, when a translation of the New Testament was published using it.

Changing politics in China led to the use of several competing scripts, most of which were romanizations. The script remains popular among Hmong 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. The Pollard script was proposed, in 1997, for inclusion in Unicode [1] by John Jenkins at Apple Computer.

Linguistically, Pollard is not strictly a syllabary, because the consonants do not have an inherent vowel. Rather, vowels are added as separate diacritics, similarly to Arabic or Hebrew.