Waxiang (; ) is a divergent variety of Chinese, spoken by the Waxiang people, an unrecognized ethnic minority group in the northwestern part of

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

province, China. Waxiang is a distinct language, very different from its surrounding

Southwestern Mandarin Southwestern Mandarin (), also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin (), is a Mandarin Chinese language spoken in much of Southwest China, including in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most parts of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the north ...

Xiang Chinese Xiang or Hsiang (; ); Changsha Xiang: ''sian1 y3'', also known as Hunanese (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages, spoken mainly in Hunan province but also in northern Guangxi and parts of neighbori ...

and the Hmongic Qo Xiong languages.

Classification

As noted by

Laurent Sagart Laurent Sagart (; born 1951) is a senior researcher at the Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l'Asie orientale (CRLAO – UMR 8563) unit of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Biography Born in Paris in 1951, he earned hi ...

(2011)Sagart, Laurent. 2011. Classifying Chinese dialects/Sinitic languages on shared innovations. Talk given at Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l’Asie orientale, Norgent sur Marne. and others,de Sousa, Hilário. 2015
The Far Southern Sinitic Languages as part of Mainland Southeast Asia
In Enfield, N.J. & Comrie, Bernard (eds.), Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: The state of the art (Pacific Linguistics 649), 356–439. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. . Waxiang appears to share some words with the Caijia language of western

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

. Sagart (2011) considers Caijia to be a sister of Waxiang. Currently, Waxiang is classified as a divergent Chinese variety rather than a non-Sinitic language. Similarities among

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 12 ...

, Waxiang, Caijia, and Bai have also been pointed out by Wu & Shen (2010). Qu & Tang (2017) show that Waxiang and Miao ( Qo Xiong) have had little mutual influence on each other.

Distribution

Waxianghua is found in Luxi,

Guzhang Guzhang County () is a county of Hunan Province, China. The county is the 2nd least populous administrative unit of the counties or county-level cities (after Shaoshan City) in the province, it is under the administration of Xiangxi Autonomous ...

and Yongshun counties in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture,

Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie (), also known in Tujia language as ''Zhangx jif avlar'' /dzaŋ˩ ji˥ a˩.la˥/, is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, China. It comprises the district of Yongding, Wulingyuan and counties of Cili ...

prefecture-level city (in Dayong ), and

Chenxi Chenxi County () is a county in Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Huaihua prefecture-level City. Located on the north of the province, it is adjacent to the north of the city proper of Huaihua. The county is bordered to th ...

, Xupu and Yuanling counties in

Huaihua Huaihua () is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Hunan province, China. It covers and is bordered by Xiangxi to the northwest, Zhangjiajie and Changde to the north, Yiyang, Loudi and Shaoyang to the east, Guilin and Liuzhou of ...

prefecture-level city. Neighboring languages include

Tujia Tujia may refer to: *the Tujia people *the Tujia language The Tujia language (Northern Tujia: Bifzivsar, ; Southern Tujia: Mongrzzirhof, ; ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken natively by the Tujia people in Hunan Province, China. It is unclassif ...

, Qo Xiong, and Hm Nai. * means 'speech' in Mandarin Chinese, * means 'rural' in Mandarin Chinese * means 'speech' in Southern Chinese dialects. The word is only a phonetic transcription. Wu & Shen (2010) report Waxianghua to be spoken in the following villages. * Yuanling County: Qingshuiping , Maxipu , Taichang , Wusu , Liangshuijing * Luxi County: Basheping , Shangbao , Liangjiatan , Baisha *

Guzhang County Guzhang County () is a county of Hunan Province, China. The county is the 2nd least populous administrative unit of the counties or county-level cities (after Shaoshan City) in the province, it is under the administration of Xiangxi Autonomous ...

: Linchang of Gaowangjie , Gaofeng (in Taojin , Beishuiping , etc.), Yantouzhai , Shanzao , Yezhu , Hepeng , Caotan * Chenxi County: Tianwan , Banqiao , Chuanxiyi , Tanjiafang * Xupu County: Rangjiaxi , Daweixi , Muxi *

Yongshun County Yongshun County () is a county of Hunan Province, China. It is under the administration of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. Located on the western part of Hunan and the northeastern Xiangxi, the county is bordered to the northeast by Sangzhi Cou ...

: Limin , Zhenxi , Xiaoxi of Wangcun Township Liubaohua , a dialect closely related to Waxianghua, is spoken in several villages in southeastern Guazhang County (including in Shaojitian Village , Shanzao Township ) and parts of Luxi County. Liubaohua is spoken in the following locations (Zou 2013). *

**Shanzao Township : Huoma , Gaozhai , Shaojitian , Modao **Yantouzhai Township : Yinping , Zimuping , Wangouxi , etc. * Luxi County: Basheping Township * Yuanling County: Maxipu Town and Shaojiwan Town

Conservative features

Waxiang preserves a number of features of

not found in most modern

varieties of Chinese Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of ...

, such as the initial *l- (which became a voiced dental stop in

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

): * Guzhang li⁶, OC ( Baxter–Sagart) > MC >

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

'earth, ground' * Guzhang lu⁶, OC > MC > Mandarin 'big' * Guzhang li², OC > MC > Mandarin 'slow' * Guzhang luʔ⁸, OC > MC > Mandarin 'read' Waxiang also has some cases of for Old Chinese *r- (which became ''l-'' in Middle Chinese): * Guzhang za², OC > MC > Mandarin 'pear tree, pear' * Guzhang zɛ², OC > > MC > Mandarin 'come' In a number of words, Waxiang and Proto-Min have affricate initials where Middle Chinese has ''sy-'': * Guzhang tsu³, pMin ^B, OC > MC > Mandarin 'water' * Guzhang tɕiəu¹, pMin ^A, OC > MC > Mandarin 'writing' In some words, Waxiang and Proto-Min have voiced affricates where Middle Chinese has ''y-'':Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 189. * Guzhang dzoŋ³, pMin ^B, OC > MC > Mandarin 'itch'

Waxiang and Caijia

Sagart argues that Waxiang and Caijia together constitute the earliest branching of Chinese. Like Waxiang, Caijia preserves Old Chinese *l-, has a voiced fricative reflex of *r-, and retains the Old Chinese word 'love', which has been replaced by in all other Chinese varieties. Waxiang and Caijia also share two words not found in other Chinese varieties: *'two': Caijia , Waxiang , from Old Chinese 'twice' *'milk': Caijia , Waxiang , which Sagart suggests is a non-Sinitic word

Classification

Distribution

Conservative features

Waxiang and Caijia

See also

References

Further reading