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{{Short description|Primary branch of Chinese spoken in southern China}}{{more citations needed|date=August 2013}}{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}

factoids

| states = China| region = Central and southwestern Hunan, northern Guangxi, parts of Guizhou, Guangdong, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Hubei provinces| ethnicity = Hunanese people38.1|2}} million| date = 2021| ref = e26| familycolor = Sino-TibetanSinitic languages>SiniticChinese language>Chinese| dia1 = Old Xiang| dia2 = New Xiang| dia3 = Chen-Xu Xiang| dia4 = Hengzhou Xiang| dia5 = Yong-Quan Xiang| mapcaption = | iso3 = hsn| glotto = xian1251| glottorefname = Xiang Chinese| lingua = 79-AAA-echild=yes



factoids



}}Xiang or Hsiang (Chinese: 湘; Changsha Xiang: {{IPA|hsn|sian˧ y˦˩|}}, Mandarin: {{IPA|cmn|ɕi̯aŋ˥ y˨˩˦|}}), 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 neighboring Guizhou, Guangdong, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Hubei provinces. Scholars divided Xiang into five subgroups, Chang-Yi, Lou-Shao, Hengzhou, Chen-Xu and Yong-Quan.JOURNAL, 鲍, 鲍, 陈晖, zh:湘语的分区（稿）, 方言, 24 August 2005, 2005年第3期, 261, Among those, Lou-shao, also known as Old Xiang, still exhibits the three-way distinction of Middle Chinese obstruents, preserving the voiced stops, fricatives, and affricates. Xiang has also been heavily influenced by Mandarin, which adjoins three of the four sides of the Xiang-speaking territory, and Gan in Jiangxi Province, from where a large population immigrated to Hunan during the Ming dynasty.WEB, 徐, 明, zh:60%湖南人是从江西迁去的 专家：自古江西填湖广,weblink 人民网, 17 February 2014, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140221184756weblink">weblink 21 February 2014, Xiang-speaking Hunanese people have played an important role in Modern Chinese history, especially in those reformatory and revolutionary movements such as the Self-Strengthening Movement, Hundred Days' Reform, Xinhai RevolutionJOURNAL, Qi, Feng, zh:辛亥革命，多亏了不怕死的湖南人, 文史博览, October 2010, 2011年第10期,weblink 17 February 2014, 22 February 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140222140909weblink">weblink dead, and Chinese Communist Revolution.WEB, Ma, Na, zh:揭秘：建党时为啥湖南人特别多 都有哪些人？,weblink 中国共产党新闻网, 17 February 2014, 22 January 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120122124303weblink">weblink dead, Some examples of Xiang speakers are Mao Zedong, Zuo Zongtang, Huang Xing and Ma Ying-jeou.NEWS, Liu, Shuangshuang, zh:湖南表兄称马英九祖籍湖南湘潭 祖坟保存完好,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050722001817weblink">weblink dead, 22 July 2005, 17 February 2014, Xinhua Net, 20 July 2005, Historical linguists such as W. South Coblin have been in doubt of a taxonomic grouping of Xiang.BOOK, Coblin, W.S., Comparative Phonology of the Central Xiāng Dialects, Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Language and linguistics monograph series, 2011, 978-986-02-9803-1,weblink 16 August 2023, However, counterargument suggests that shared innovations can be identified for Xiang.WEB, A Diachronic Comparative Analysis for the Phonology of Xiāng Dialects, ProQuest,weblink 16 August 2023, {{ProQuest, 2847587876, }}THESIS, A Diachronic Comparative Analysis for the Phonology of Xiāng Dialects, 2022, 10.13140/RG.2.2.36667.18720,weblink 16 August 2023, Hongjiang Huang,

History

Prehistory

Prehistorically, the main inhabitants were the ancient country of Ba, Nanman, Baiyue 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).{{sfn|Jiang|2006|p=8}} During Qin and Han dynasty, most part of today's Eastern Hunan belonged to Changsha Kingdom. According to Yang Xiong's Fangyan, people in this region spoke Southern Chu, which is considered{{by whom|date=September 2019}} the ancestor of Xiang Chinese today.BOOK, zh:汉语方言槪要, 袁家骅, 1983, 333, 语文出版社, 9787801264749, {{Verification needed|date=September 2019}}

Middle ages and recent history

During the Tang dynasty, a large-scale emigration took place with people emigrating from the north to the south, bringing Middle Chinese into Hunan.BOOK, zh:旧唐书, 地理志, Today's Xiang still keeps some Middle Chinese words, such as }} (to have fun), }} (to weed), }} (to walk). Entering tone vowels started weakening in Hunan at this time. Migrants who came from the North mainly settled in northern Hunan, followed by western Hunan. For this reason, northern and western Hunan are Mandarin districts.{{sfn|Jiang|2006|p=8}}Migrants from Jiangxi concentrated mainly in southeastern Hunan and present day Shaoyang and Xinhua districts. They came for two reasons:{{sfn|Jiang|2006|p=8}} The first is that Jiangxi became too crowded, and its people sought expansion. The second is that Hunan suffered greatly during the Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty, when there was mass slaughter.BOOK, Coblin, W. South, Comparative Phonology of the Central Xiāng Dialects, 2011, Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, 978-986-02-9803-1, The late Yuan dynasty peasant uprising caused a great many casualties in Hunan.During the Ming dynasty, a large-scale emigration from Jiangxi to Hunan took place. In the early Ming dynasty, large numbers of migrants came from Jiangxi and settled in present day Yueyang, Changsha, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, and Hengyang districts. After the middle of the Ming dynasty, migrants came more diverse, and came more for economic reasons and commerce.{{sfn|Jiang|2006|p=8}} Gan, which was brought by settlers from Jiangxi, influenced Xiang. The speech in east Hunan differentiated into New Xiang during that period.Quanzhou County became part of Guangxi province after the adjustment of administrative divisions in the Ming dynasty. Some features of Xiang at that time were kept in this region.

Languages and dialects

File:Xiang in hunan.png|thumb|right|Dialect map of Hunan Province. New Xiang orange, Old Xiang yellow, Chen-Xu Xiang light red. Xiangnan Tuhua dark green and medium green. Note other dialects are shown in larger areas than in the next map. Hakka pink, Southwestern Mandarin light blue, medium blue, light green, and Waxiang dark blue]]Since the classification of Yuan Jiahua (1960), Xiang has been considered one of seven major groups of varieties of Chinese.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=181}} Jerry Norman classified Xiang, Gan and Wu as central groups, intermediate between the Mandarin group to the north and the southern groups, Min, Hakka and Yue.{{sfn|Norman|1988|pp=181–183}}In Xiang languages, the voiced initials of Middle Chinese yield unaspirated initials in all tone categories. A few varieties have retained voicing in all tones, but most have voiceless initials in some or all tone categories.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=207}}{| class="wikitable"Norman|1988|p=207}}! gloss! Middle Chinese! Chengbu! Shuangfeng! Shaoyang! Changsha| peachdaw}}dao}}2də}}2daɤ}}2 {{IPA|taɤ}}2| sitdzwaX}}dzo}}6dzu}}6 {{IPA|tso}}6 {{IPA|tso}}6| togethergjowngH}}goŋ}}6gaŋ}}6 {{IPA|koŋ}}6 {{IPA|koŋ}}5| whitebaek}}ba}}7 {{IPA|piɛ}}6 {{IPA|pe}}6 {{IPA|pɤ}}7YiyangYueyangChangshaYongzhouQuanzhouJishouChenxiHengyangShaoyangShuangfengZixing(File:Xiang Waxiang and Xiangnan Tuhua Cities Labeled.png|upright=1.25|Dialects of Xiang Chinese){{legend-table2|lang=en|title=Xiang and other subgroups identified by Bao & ChenNew Xiang (Chang–Yi)WaxiangHengzhouXiangnan TuhuaChen–Xu (Ji–Xu)Old Xiang (Lou–Shao)Yong-Quan}}Pervasive influence from Mandarin dialects has made Xiang dialects difficult to classify.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=207}}Yuan Jiahua divided Xiang into New Xiang, in which voicing has been lost completely, and Old Xiang varieties, which retain voiced initials in at least some tones.{{sfn|Wu|2005|p=2}} The Changsha dialect is usually taken as representative of New Xiang, while Shuangfeng dialect represents Old Xiang.{{sfn|Yan|2006|p=107}} Norman describes the boundary between New Xiang and Southwestern Mandarin as one of the weakest in China, with considerable similarities between dialects near either side of the boundary, though more distant dialects are mutually unintelligible.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=190}}Indeed, Zhou Zhenhe and You Rujie (unlike most authors) classified New Xiang as part of Southwestern Mandarin.{{sfn|Zhou|You|1986}}{{sfn|Kurpaska|2010|p=55}}The Language Atlas of China relabelled the New and Old Xiang groups as Chang-Yi and Lou-Shao respectively, and identified a third subgroup, Ji-Xu, in some parts of Western Hunan.{{sfn|Yan|2006|pp=105, 107}} Bao & Chen (2005) split out part of Atlas's Chang-Yi subgroup as a new Hengzhou subgroup, and part of Lou-Shao as a Yong-Quan subgroup. They also reclassified parts of the Ji–Xu subgroup as Southwestern Mandarin, renaming the remainder of the subgroup as Chen-Xu Xiang. Their five subgroups are:

Chang-Yi

(17.8 million speakers) voiced initials in Middle Chinese become unaspirated voiceless consonant. Most of the dialects retain the entering tone as a separate category.

Lou-Shao

(11.5 million speakers) Voiced initials still exist. The entering tone does not exist in most of the dialects.

Chen-Xu Xiang

(3.4 million speakers) Some of the voiced consonants are retained.

Hengzhou Xiang

(4.3 million speakers)

Yong-Quan Xiang

(6.5 million speakers) Voiced consonants still exist.

Geographic distribution

Xiang is spoken by over 36 million people in China, primarily in the most part of the Hunan province, and in the five counties of Quanzhou, Guanyang, Ziyuan, Xing'an and Longsheng in northeastern Guangxi province, and in several places of Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. It is abutted by Southwestern Mandarin-speaking areas to the north and west, as well as by Gan in the eastern parts of Hunan and Jiangxi. Xiang is also in contact with the Qo-Xiong Miao and Tujia languages in West Hunan.{| class="wikitable" align="center"|+ Distribution of Xiang subgroups according to Bao & Chen (2005) style="background:maroon; color:black"! Subgroup! Division! Main cities and counties New Xiang| Chang-TanChangsha>Urban Changsha, Changsha County, Wangcheng District, Ningxiang, Liuyang*, Zhuzhou, Zhuzhou County, Xiangtan>Urban Xiangtan, Xiangyin, Miluo, Nanxian, Anxiang*| Yi-YuanYiyang>Urban Yiyang, Yuanjiang, Taojiang, Anhua, Nanxian*| YueyangYueyang County, Yueyang>Urban Yueyang Old Xiang| Xiang-ShuangXiangtan County, Shuangfeng County>Shuangfeng, Shaoshan, Loudi, Hengshan County>Hengshan*| Lian-Mei| Lianyuan, Lengshuijiang*, Anhua*, Ningxiang*| XinhuaXinhua_County>Xinhua, Lengshuijiang| Shao-WuShaoyang>Urban Shaoyang, Wugang, Hunan, Shaodong, Shaoyang County, Xinshao, Longhui, Xinning County, Hunan>Xinning, Chengbu, Dongkou*| Sui-Hui| Suining, Huitong Hengzhou| HengyangHengyang>Urban Hengyang, Hengyang County, Hengnan | HengshanHengshan County, Hunan>Hengshan, Hengdong, Nanyue Chen-Xu | –Chenxi, Xupu, Luxi County, Hunan>Luxi, Jishou, Baojing, Huayuan, Guzhang, Yuanling* Yong-Quan| Dong-QiYongzhou>Urban Yongzhou, Dong'an County, Qiyang, Qidong County>Qidong| Dao-JiangJiangyong, Daoxian, Jianghua*, Xintian County>Xintian*| Quan-ZiQuanzhou County, Xing'an County>Xing'an, Guanyang, Ziyuan County, Longsheng, Guangxi>Longsheng *Small part of this territory belongs to this Xiang subgroup. **Included in Xiang only in Language Atlas of China.

References

{{reflist|25em}}

Bibliography

• JOURNAL, Bào, HòuxÄ«ng 鮑厚星, Chén, HuÄ« 陳暉, 2005, XiāngyÇ” de fÄ“nqÅ«, zh:湘語的分區, The divisions of Xiang languages, Fāngyán, 261–270,
• THESIS, PhD thesis, Jiang, Junfeng, June 2006, zh:湘乡方言语音研究, Xiāngxiāng fāngyán yÇ”yÄ«n yánjiÅ«, A Phonological Study of Xiangxiang Dialect, Hunan Normal University,weblink 6 December 2018,
• BOOK, Kurpaska, Maria, Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of "The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects", Walter de Gruyter, 2010, 978-3-11-021914-2,
• BOOK, Norman, Jerry, Jerry Norman (sinologist), 1988, Chinese, Cambridge, England, Cambridge University Press, 0-521-29653-6,
• BOOK, A synchronic and diachronic study of the grammar of the Chinese Xiang dialects, Trends in linguistics, 162, Wu, Yunji, Berlin, New York, Walter de Gruyter, 2005, 3-11-018366-8,
• BOOK, Margaret Mian, Yan, Introduction to Chinese Dialectology, LINCOM Europa, 2006, 978-3-89586-629-6,
• BOOK, Yang, Shifeng (楊時逢), 1974, zh:湖南方言調查報告 (1-2), zh:中央研究院歷史語言研究所專刊[第66卷], Taipei, 中央研究院歷史語言研究所, 978-0009121760, .
• BOOK, Yuan, Jiahua, Yuan Jiahua, 1960, 1989, HànyÇ” fāngyán gàiyào, zh:漢語方言概要, An introduction to Chinese dialects, Beijing, Wénzì gÇŽigé chÅ«bÇŽnshè 文字改革出版社,
• BOOK, Zhou, Zhenhe, You, Zhou Zhenhe, Rujie, Fāngyán yÇ” zhōngguó wénhuà, zh:方言与中国文化, Dialects and Chinese culture, Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1986,

Further reading

• JIPA, Zeng, Ting, The Xiangxiang dialect of Chinese, 50, 2, 258–281, 10.1017/S002510031800035X, 2020-08, yes,

• JIPA, Wu, Nankai, Changsha Xiang Chinese, 1–15, 10.1017/S0025100323000075, 2023-07-11, yes,

External links

{{Incubator|code= hsn}}

• Xiang at Omniglot
• Hunan Provincial Gazetteer: dialects 湖南省志: 方言志{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

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