| Waxiang | |
| Also Known As: | Waxianghua, Xianghua, Wogang |
| States: | China |
| Region: | western Hunan |
| Ethnicity: | Waxiang people |
| Speakers: | 300,000 |
| Date: | 1995 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Sino-Tibetan |
| Fam2: | Sinitic |
| Fam3: | Chinese |
| Fam4: | (unclassified) |
| Ancestor: | Proto-Sino-Tibetan |
| Ancestor2: | Old Chinese[1] |
| Ancestor3: | Middle Chinese? |
| Iso3: | wxa |
| Glotto: | waxi1236 |
| Glottorefname: | Waxianghua |
| Glottofoot: | no |
| Map: | Xiang.jpg |
| Mapcaption: | Dialect map of Hunan. Waxiang is dark blue on the map. |
Waxiang (;) is a divergent variety of Chinese,[2] [3] spoken by the Waxiang people, an unrecognized ethnic minority group in the northwestern part of Hunan province, China. Waxiang is a distinct language, and is very different from the surrounding Southwestern Mandarin, Xiang Chinese, and the Eastern Miao (Xong) languages.
See also: Macro-Bai languages. As noted by Laurent Sagart (2011)[4] and others,[5] [6] [7] Waxiang appears to share some words with the Caijia language of western Guizhou. Sagart (2011) considers Caijia to be a sister of Waxiang. Currently, Waxiang is classified as a divergent Chinese variety rather than a non-Sinitic language.[2] [3] Similarities among Old Chinese, Waxiang, Caijia, and Bai have also been pointed out by Wu & Shen (2010).[8]
Qu & Tang (2017) show that Waxiang and Miao (Qo Xiong) have had little mutual influence on each other.[9]
Waxianghua is found in Luxi, Guzhang and Yongshun counties in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Zhangjiajie prefecture-level city (in Dayong), and Chenxi, Xupu and Yuanling counties in Huaihua prefecture-level city. Neighboring languages include Southwestern Mandarin, Xiang Chinese, Tujia, Qo Xiong, and Hm Nai.
The word is only a phonetic transcription.
Wu & Shen (2010) report Waxianghua to be spoken in the following villages.
Qingshuiping, Maxipu, Taichang, Wusu, Liangshuijing
Basheping, Shangbao, Liangjiatan, Baisha
Linchang of Gaowangjie, Gaofeng (in Taojin, Beishuiping, etc.), Yantouzhai, Shanzao, Yezhu, Hepeng, Caotan
Tianwan, Banqiao, Chuanxiyi, Tanjiafang
Rangjiaxi, Daweixi, Muxi
Limin, Zhenxi, Xiaoxi of Wangcun Township
Liubaohua, a dialect closely related to Waxianghua, is spoken in several villages in southeastern Guzhang County (including in Shaojitian Village, Shanzao Township) and parts of Luxi County.[10] Liubaohua is spoken in the following locations (Zou 2013).
Basheping Township
Maxipu Town and Shaojiwan Town
The Nanshan dialect of Waxianghua is spoken in parts of Chengbu County, Hunan and Longsheng County, Guangxi by about 1,100 Waxiang people who had originally migrated from Yuanling County. Their villages include:[11]
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ 尾 | pronounced as /ink/ 大 | pronounced as /ink/ 银 | pronounced as /ink/ 硬 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | voiced | pronounced as /ink/ 婆 | pronounced as /ink/ 代 | pronounced as /ink/ 融 | pronounced as /ink/ 墙 | pronounced as /ink/ 渠 | |
| voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ 布 | pronounced as /ink/ 台 | pronounced as /ink/ 纸 | pronounced as /ink/ 精 | pronounced as /ink/ 姑 | ||
| aspirated | pronounced as /ink/ 破 | pronounced as /ink/ 兔 | pronounced as /ink/ 初 | pronounced as /ink/ 轿 | pronounced as /ink/ 口 | ||
| Fricatives | voiced | pronounced as /ink/ 油 | pronounced as /ink/ 食 | pronounced as /ink/ 红 | |||
| voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ 生 | pronounced as /ink/ 四 | pronounced as /ink/ 灰 | ||||
| Approximants | pronounced as /ink/ 有 | pronounced as /ink/ 李 | pronounced as /Ø/ 矮 | ||||
Waxiang preserves a number of features of Old Chinese not found in most modern varieties of Chinese, such as the initial *l- (which became a voiced dental stop in Middle Chinese):[13]
Waxiang also has some cases of pronounced as //z// for Old Chinese *r- (which became l- in Middle Chinese):[14]
In a number of words, Waxiang and Proto-Min have affricate initials where Middle Chinese has sy-:[15]
In some words, Waxiang and Proto-Min have voiced affricates where Middle Chinese has y-:[16]
Sagart (2011) argues that Waxiang and Caijia together constitute the earliest branching of Chinese. However, Sagart later retracted this proposal, saying that he is no longer sure whether Waxiang and Caijia actually form a subgroup together.[4]
Like Waxiang, Caijia preserves Old Chinese *l-, has a voiced fricative reflex of *r-, and retains the Old Chinese word 'love', which has been replaced by in all other Chinese varieties. Waxiang and Caijia also share two words not found in other Chinese varieties:[4]