Ji–Xu Xiang (吉漵片), also known as Chen–Xu (辰溆片), is a

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 ...

language spoken in western

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 ...

that does not fit into the traditional

New Xiang New Xiang, also known as Chang-Yi (长益片 / 長益片) is the dominant form of Xiang Chinese. It is spoken in northeastern areas of Hunan, China adjacent to areas where Southwestern Mandarin and Gan are spoken. Under their influence, it has lo ...

–

Old Xiang Old Xiang, also known as Lou-Shao (娄邵片 / 婁邵片), is a conservative Xiang Chinese language. It is spoken in the central areas of Hunan where it has been to some extent isolated from the neighboring Chinese languages, Southwestern Mandari ...

dichotomy. It is geographically separated from the

dialects that it was traditionally grouped with.

Dialects

In the ''

Language Atlas of China The ''Language Atlas of China'' (), published in two parts in 1987 and 1989, maps the distribution of both the varieties of Chinese and minority languages of China. It was a collaborative effort by the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the ...

'' (1987), Xiang was divided into three subgroups. Their Ji-Xu subgroup comprised varieties spoken in the counties of Chenxi,

Xupu Xupu County () is a county of Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Huaihua Prefecturel-level City. Located on the west central Hunan, the county is bordered to the north by Yuanling County, to the northeast by Anhua County, ...

, Luxi,

Jishou Jishou (; Tujia: Jiersouv) is a county-level city and the seat of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan province, China. Located on the west of the province, the city is bordered to the northwest by Huayuan and Baojing Counties, ...

, Baojing, Huayuan,

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

Yuanling Yuanling County () is a county of Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Huaihua Prefecturel-level City. Located in northwest of the province, Yuanling is in the border locations of Huaihua, Xiangxi, Zhangjiajie, Changde and Y ...

. Bao and Chen (2005) identified five subgroups of Xiang. Their Chen-Xu subgroup included varieties spoken in Chenxi,

, Luxi, with the rest of the ''Atlass Ji-Xu subgroup classified as

Southwest 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 northe ...

dialects.

References

Xiang Chinese {{St-lang-stub