The Xiangxiang dialect () is a dialect of

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 neighborin ...

, spoken in

Xiangxiang Xiangxiang () is a county-level city under the administration of Xiangtan, Hunan province, China. Located on Central Hunan and the west of Xiangtan, Xiangxiang is bordered by Ningxiang County and Shaoshan City to the north, Xiangtan County to the ...

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 to ...

province,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is part of a group of dialects called the Central Xiang dialects.

Geographic distribution

The linguistic maps below are derived from the Digital Language Atlas of China, which is derived from 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 ...

, the first atlas to comprehensively catalog and chart the distribution of Chinese dialects. This atlas refers to the two main dialects in Xiangxiang City and its surroundings as Changyi () and Loushao (). The division of Xiang into

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 los ...

and

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 Mandarin ...

was introduced by Yuan Jiahua, but has been superseded by the Language Atlas of China classifications. The Language Atlas of China serves as the starting point for many efforts to further detail, map and classify Xiang dialects, including the many studies of Bao Houxing and Chen Hui.

History and strategic value

The Xiang dialect group forms a transitional zone between northern and southern Chinese dialects. Prehistorically, the main inhabitants were Ba,

Nanman The Man, commonly known as the Nanman or Southern Man (, ''lit. Southern Barbarians''), were ancient indigenous peoples who lived in inland South and Southwest China, mainly around the Yangtze River valley. In ancient Chinese sources, the term ...

Baiyue The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, ...

and other tribes whose languages cannot be studied. During the Warring States Period, large numbers of Chu migrated into Hunan. Their language blended with that of the original natives to produce a new dialect Nanchu (Southern Chu). The culture of Xiangxiang at the center of Hunan is considered to be mainly Chu. The language of Shaoshan, Loudi, Shuangfeng and Xiangxiang (Old Xiang) is considered as originating from a synthesis of Chu and the languages of original natives. Migrations into Hunan can be divided into three periods . Before the

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

, migrants came mainly from the North. Between the

and the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, migrants came mainly from

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

. In the early

, large numbers of migrants came from

and settled in present day

Yueyang Yueyang, formerly known as Yuezhou or Yochow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake and Yangtze in the northeastern corner of Hunan Province in the People's Republic of China. Yueyang has an administrative area of a ...

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

Zhuzhou Zhuzhou (, ), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is part of the " Greater Chan ...

Xiangtan Xiangtan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hunan province, south-central China. The hometowns of several founding leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Chairman Mao Zedong, President Liu Shaoqi, and Marshal Peng Dehuai, ...

, and

Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 ...

districts. Migrants from

concentrated mainly in southeastern Hunan and present day

Shaoyang Shaoyang (), formerly named Baoqing (Paoking) (), is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Hunan province, China, bordering Guangxi to the south. It has a history of 2500 years and remains an important commercial and transportation city in Hunan ...

and Xinhua districts. They came for two reasons: the first is that

became too crowded and its people sought expansion. The second is that Hunan suffered greatly during the

Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty The Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty or the Mongol invasion of China beginning under Ögedei Khan (r. 1229 – 1241) and completed under Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294) was the final step for the Mongols to rule the whole of continental East A ...

, when there was mass slaughter, and needed to replenish its population. After the middle of the

, migration gradually became more diverse and economically and commercially motivated. Migrants who came from the North settled mainly in northern Hunan followed by western Hunan. For this reason northern and western Hunan are Mandarin districts.

Phonology

Comparison with Standard Chinese

General

These phonetic charts use IPA phonetic symbols with the addition of curly-tail alveolo-palatal symbols and follow the format set forth by Chao.

Geographic distribution

History and strategic value

Phonology

Comparison with Standard Chinese

General

Consonants

Tones

Jinsou Town

Consonants

Yueshan Town

Tones

See also

References

Bibliography

Categories