| Xong | |
| Also Known As: | Xiangxi Miao |
| Nativename: | Xonb |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /[ɕõ˧˥]/ |
| Script: | Latin |
| States: | China |
| Region: | Hunan, Guizhou, Hubei, Guangxi and Chongqing |
| Ethnicity: | Qo Xiong |
| Speakers: | ~900,000 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Hmong-Mien |
| Fam2: | Hmongic |
| Fam3: | Core Hmongic |
| Dia1: | Western (Xong proper) |
| Dia2: | Eastern (Suang) |
| Lc1: | mmr |
| Ld1: | Western Xiangxi Miao |
| Lc2: | muq |
| Ld2: | Eastern Xiangxi Miao |
| Glotto: | nort2748 |
| Glottorefname: | North Hmongic |
The Xong language (Dut Xonb pronounced as /[tu53 ɕõ35]/)[1] is the northernmost Hmongic language, spoken in south-central China by around 0.9 million people. It is called ("Western Hunan Miao") in Chinese, as well as Eastern Miao . In Western sources, it has been called Meo, Red Miao, and North Hmongic.[2] An official alphabet was adopted in 1956.
Xong is spoken mainly in Hunan province, but also in a few areas of Guizhou and Hubei provinces, Guangxi, and Chongqing municipality in China. Xong-speaking communities, by county, are:
Xong was classified in its own branch of the Hmongic family in Strecker (1987). Xiang (1999)[4] divided Xong into western and eastern dialects. Matisoff (2001) considered these to be two distinct languages, but Matisoff (2006) consolidated them into one. Yang (2004)[5] divides each of these dialects into three subdialects, as listed below. Speaker populations and locations are from Li and Li (2012).[6]
He Fuling (2009) describes a western Qo Xiong dialect of Gouliang Ethnic Miao Village, Ala Township, Fenghuang County (凤凰县阿拉镇勾良苗寨).
Chen (2009)[7] describes a western Qo Xiong dialect of Daxing Town 大兴镇, Songtao County, Guizhou.
A written standard based on the Western dialect in Làyǐpíng (腊乙坪) village and Jíwèi (吉卫) town, Huāyuán county, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture was established in 1956.
| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | (Alveolo-) palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | pal. | app. | plain | pal. | aff. | plain | aff. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | |||
| Nasal | voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| aspirated | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||||||||
| Stop/ Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| aspirated | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| prenasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||
| prenasal asp. | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||||||||
| Approximant | voiced | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||||||
| aspirated | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||||||||
| Close | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| Open-mid | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Open | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||||||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| pronounced as /iu/ | ||||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /iɑ/ | pronounced as /uɑ/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /io/ | |||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ie/ | pronounced as /ue/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ei/ | pronounced as /uei/ | |||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ia/ | pronounced as /ua/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /iɔ/ | |||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /iɤ/ | pronounced as /uɤ/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /iɯ/ | pronounced as /uɯ/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ink/ | iɛ | pronounced as /uɛ/ | ||||
| pronounced as /en/ | pronounced as /ien/ | pronounced as /uen/ | ||||
| pronounced as /ɑŋ/ | pronounced as /iɑŋ/ | pronounced as /uɑŋ/ | ||||
| pronounced as /oŋ/ | pronounced as /ioŋ/ |
| high rising, 45 | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| low falling, 21 | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| high, 4 | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| low, 2 | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| high falling, 53 | pronounced as /ink/ | ||
| falling, 42 | pronounced as /ink/ |