See also: Xiang (homonymy)

The Xiang (, other names: hunanais, hsiang) is a language Chinese sino-Tibetan spoken mainly in the provinces about Hunan and of Sichuan, entering more than 36 million speakers, that is to say 3,5% of the Chinese population.

The xiang is located linguistically between the Mandarin and the wu, partially understandable between them. There does not exist specific written form, the speakers being generally expressed in Baihua with the writing.

Geographical distribution

Xiang is spoken by more than 36 million people in Popular republic of China, primarily in the central and south-western areas of the province of the Hunan, more than 20 counties to the Sichuan, the 4 counties of Quánzhōu (全州), Guànyáng (灌陽), Zīyuán (資源) and Xīngān (興安) of the septentrional Guangxi and certain parts of the Guangdong. The linguistic zone is surrounded by that of the Mandarin in north, the west and the south, and by that of the Gan in the east in Hunan and the Jiangxi. Xiang is also in contact with the languages Tujia and Hmong in the North-West.

Xiang was the native tongue of Mao Zedong, which spoke it better than standard Mandarin (or Putonghua ). It had in addition promoted this last as a national language for the country.

Dialects

As mentioned above, the linguists distinguish two subfamilies within the Xiang language, named old new Xiang and Xiang . The dialects old Xiang , having kept the constrictive consonants medieval Chinese , are spoken in the south and the dialects new Xiang in north; they consequently are subjected to the influence of the Mandarin than the dialects old Xiang .

According to Bao & Chen (2005) on the other hand, three principal groups of dialects can be identified, among various not classified dialects:

• sub-group Chángyì (長益片), concerning 32 city and counties

• Chángshā-City (長沙市), Chángshā (長沙), Xiāngtán-City (湘潭市), Xiāngtán (湘潭), Zhūzhōu-City (株州市), Zhūzhōu (株州), Píngjiāng (平江), Liúyáng (瀏陽), Níngxiāng (寧鄉), Wàngchéng (望城), Xiāngyīn (湘陰), Yìyáng-City (益陽市), Yìyáng (益陽), Táojiāng (桃江), Yuánjiāng (沅江), Mìluó (汨羅), Yuèyáng-City (岳陽市), Yuèyáng (岳陽), Nánxiàn (南縣), Ānxiāng (安鄉), Ānhuà (安化), Héngyáng (衡陽市), Héngyángyáng (衡陽陽), Héngnán (衡南), Héngdōng (衡東), Héngshān (衡山), Shàodōng (邵東), Xīnshào (新邵), Qiányáng (黔陽), Hóngjiāng-City (洪江市), Huìtóng (會同), Suíníng (綏寧)

• sub-group Lóushào (婁邵片), concerning 21 cities and counties

• province of Hunan (湖南省): Lóudǐ-city (婁底市), Xiāngxiāng (湘鄉), Shuāngfēng (雙峰), Liányuán (漣源), Lěngshuǐjiāng-City (冷水江市), Xīnhuà (新化), Ānhuà (安化), Shàoyáng-City (邵陽市), Shàoyáng (邵陽), Dòngkǒu (洞口), Lōnghuí (隆回), Wǔgāng (武岡), Qídōng (祁東), Qíyáng (祁陽), Chéngbù (城步), Xīnníng (新寧) and Máyáng (麻陽).
• Guangxi province (廣西省): Quánzhōu (全州), Guànyáng (灌陽), Zīyuán (資源) and Xīngān (興安)

• sub-group Jíxù (吉漵片), concerning 8 cities and counties

• Jíshǒu (吉首), Bǎojìng (保靖), Huāyuán (花垣), Gǔzhàng (古丈), Lúqī (瀘溪), Chénqī (辰溪), Xùpǔ (漵浦), Yuánlíng (沅陵)

Sources

• Ethnologist: '' Xiang, has language off Clouded ''
• '' Top 100 Languages by Population ''