Huishui Miao language explained

Huishui Miao
Nativename:Mhong
States:China
Region:Guizhou
Speakers:180,000
Date:1995
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Hmong-Mien
Fam2:Hmongic
Fam3:West Hmongic
Lc1:hmc
Ld1:Central
Lc2:hme
Ld2:Eastern
Lc3:hmi
Ld3:Northern
Lc4:hmh
Ld4:Southwestern
Glotto:huis1239
Glottorefname:Huishui

Huishui Miao, a.k.a. Huishui Hmong, is a Miao language of China. It is named after Huishui County, Guizhou, though not all varieties are spoken there. The endonym is Mhong, though it shares this with Gejia and it is simply a variant spelling of Hmong.

Huishui was given as a subgroup of Western Hmongic in Strecker (1987). Matisoff (2001) split it into four separate languages, and, conservatively, did not retain it as a group.

Demographics

Below is a list of Miao dialects and their respective speaker populations and distributions from Li (2018),[1] along with representative datapoints from Wang (1985).[2]

Dialect Speakers Counties Representative datapoint (Wang 1985)
North 60,000 Guiyang (including in Huaxi Gaopo 花溪区高坡乡), Longli, Guiding, HuishuiJiading 甲定寨, Gaopo Township 高坡苗族乡, Guiyang City
Central 40,000+ Huishui, ChangshunBaijin Township 摆金乡, Huishui County
East 10,000+ Huishui, PingtangXiguan Township 西关乡, Pingtang County
West 50,000 Huishui, ChangshunYarong Township 鸭绒乡, Huishui County

According to Sun (2017), the northern dialect of Huishui Miao is spoken in the following townships by a total of approximately 50,000 speakers.[3]

Yangchang 羊场

Tangbao 塘堡, Pingfa 平伐, etc.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Li, Yunbing 李云兵 . 2018 . Miao Yao yu bijiao yanjiu 苗瑶语比较研究 (A comparative study of Hmong-Mien languages) . Beijing . . 1112270585 . 9787100165068.
  2. Wang Fushi 王辅世. 1985. Miaoyu jianzhi 苗语简志. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社.
  3. Book: 9787105142385 . Sun. Hongkai 孙宏开. Ting. Pang-hsin 丁邦新. Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社. 2017. Hanzangyu yuyin he cihui 汉藏语语音和词汇. Beijing. 40.