Xong language

For the Western Pearic language of Cambodia and Thailand, see Chong language. For the Limbu of Nepal, who are also called Xong, see Limbu people.

The Xong language (Dut Xonb [tu53 ɕõ35])^[2] is the northernmost Hmongic language, spoken in south-central China by around 0.9 million people. It is called Xiangxi Miaoyu (湘西苗语, "Western Hunan Miao") in Chinese, as well as Eastern Miao (东部苗语). In Western sources, it has been called Meo, Red Miao, and North Hmongic.^[3] An official alphabet was adopted in 1956.

Xong
Xiangxi Miao
Xonb
Pronunciation	[ɕõ˧˥]
Native to	China
Region	Hunan, Guizhou, Hubei, Guangxi and Chongqing
Ethnicity	Qo Xiong
Native speakers	~900,000 (2005)[1]
Language family	Hmong–Mien Hmongic Core Hmongic Xong
Dialects	Western (Xong proper) Eastern (Suang)
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: mmr – Western Xiangxi Miao muq – Eastern Xiangxi Miao
Glottolog	nort2748

Distribution

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:^[4]

• Western (Xong): 800,000 speakers (autonym qɔ35 ɕoŋ35)
  • Hunan
    • Huayuan County, Xiangxi
    • Jishou, Xiangxi
    • Fenghuang County, Xiangxi
    • Baojing County, Xiangxi
    • Longshan County, Xiangxi
    • Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County, Huaihua
    • Mayang Miao Autonomous County, Huaihua
  • Guizhou
    • Songtao Miao Autonomous County
    • Tongren County
  • Hubei
    • Xuan'en County
  • Chongqing
    • Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, Qianjiang
    • Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, Qianjiang
  • Guangxi
    • Hechi (including Beiya 坝牙村 of Xia'ao 下坳乡, Yong'an 永安乡, and Banling 板岭乡 of Du'an County^[5])
    • Nandan County
• Eastern (Suang): 80,000 speakers
  • Hunan
    • Jishou, Xiangxi (e.g., in Xiaozhangzhai 小章寨, with autonym qɯ22 suɑŋ53)
    • Longshan County, Xiangxi (e.g., in Wujiazhai 吴家寨)
    • Guzhang County, Xiangxi
    • Luxi County, Xiangxi (e.g., in Dongtouzhai 洞头寨, with autonym tei53 sou53)

Classification

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)^[6] divides each of these dialects into three subdialects, as listed below. Speaker populations and locations are from Li and Li (2012).^[7]

• Western (includes standardized Xong)
  • Lect 1 (autonym: qo35 ɕoŋ35): Jiwei 吉卫, Huayuan County; 769,000 speakers in the counties of Fenghuang (except Baren 叭仁乡), most of Huayuan, southern Jishou, Xinhuang, Mayang, Songtao, parts of Rongjiang, parts of Ziyun, Xiushan, parts of Nandan, parts of Hechi, and parts of Du'an.
  • Lect 2 (autonym: qo54 ɕoŋ54): Yangmeng 阳孟, Jishou; 120,000 speakers in the counties of eastern Huayuan, western and northern Jishou, eastern Baojing, southwestern Guzhang, Fenghuang (in Baren 叭仁乡), and Xuan'en.
  • Lect 3 (autonym: o55 ɕaŋ55): Zhongxin 中心, Baojing County; 30,000 speakers in southeastern Baojing County.
• Eastern
  • Lect 4 (autonym: te53 suɑŋ53): Xiaozhang 小章, Luxi County; 6,000 speakers in and around Xiaozhang, Luxi County
  • Lect 5 (autonym: ɡɔ35 sɤ53): Danqing 丹青, Jishou; 48,000 speakers in the counties of northwestern Luxi, eastern Jishou, and southeastern Guzhang.
  • Lect 6 (autonym: bja22 sã44 nɤ44): Dengshang 蹬上, Longshan County; 300 speakers in southern Longshan County and Yongshun County (in Shouche 首车乡).

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)^[8] describes a western Qo Xiong dialect of Daxing Town 大兴镇, Songtao County, Guizhou.

Phonology and script

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.

Xong Consonant Phonemes

		Labial			Alveolar			Retroflex	(Alveolo-) palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
		plain	pal.	app.	plain	pal.	aff.		plain	aff.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.
Nasal	voiced	m	mʲ	mʴ	n			ɳ	ɲ		ŋ	ŋʷ
	aspirated	m̥ʰ			n̥ʰ
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	p	pʲ	pʴ	t		ts	ʈ	c	tɕ	k	kʷ	q	qʷ
	aspirated	pʰ	pʲʰ	pʴʰ	tʰ		tsʰ	ʈʰ	cʰ	tɕʰ	kʰ	kʷʰ	qʰ	qʷʰ
	prenasal	ᵐp			ⁿt		ⁿts	ᶯʈ	ᶮc	ᶮtɕ	ᵑk	ᵑkʷ	ᶰq	ᶰqʷ
	prenasal asp.	ᵐpʰ		ᵐpʴʰ	ⁿtʰ		ⁿtsʰ	ᶯʈʰ	ᶮcʰ	ᶮtɕʰ	ᵑkʰ	ᵑkʷʰ	ᶰqʰ	ᶰqʷʰ
Fricative	voiceless	f			s			ʂ	ɕ						h	hʷ
	voiced							ʐ	ʑ
Approximant	voiced	w			l	lʲ
	aspirated				l̥ʰ	l̥ʲʰ

Xong Vowel Phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		ɯ	u
Mid	e		ɤ	o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a	ɑ

Xong Consonant Orthography

p

⟨b⟩

pʰ

⟨p⟩

ᵐp

⟨nb⟩

mpʰ

⟨np⟩

m

⟨m⟩

m̥ʰ

⟨hm⟩

pʴ

⟨bl⟩

pɹʰ

⟨pl⟩

mpɹʰ

⟨npl⟩

mʴ

⟨ml⟩

t

⟨d⟩

tʰ

⟨t⟩

ⁿt

⟨nd⟩

ntʰ

⟨nt⟩

l̥ʰ

⟨hl⟩

n

⟨n⟩

n̥ʰ

⟨hn⟩

ts

⟨z⟩

tsʰ

⟨c⟩

ⁿts

⟨nz⟩

ntsʰ

⟨nc⟩

s

⟨s⟩

f

⟨f⟩

tɕ

⟨j⟩

tɕʰ

⟨q⟩

ᶮtɕ

⟨nj⟩

ntɕʰ

⟨nq⟩

ɕ

⟨x⟩

ʑ

⟨y⟩

ʈ

⟨zh⟩

ʈʰ

⟨ch⟩

ᶯʈ

⟨nzh⟩

ɳʈʰ

⟨nch⟩

ʂ

⟨sh⟩

ʐ

⟨r⟩

ɳ

⟨nh⟩

k

⟨g⟩

kʰ

⟨k⟩

ᵑk

⟨ngg⟩

ŋkʰ

⟨nk⟩

q

⟨gh⟩

qʰ

⟨kh⟩

ᶰq

⟨ngh⟩

ɴqʰ

⟨nkh⟩

w

⟨w⟩

h

⟨h⟩

^{[dubious – discuss]}

Xong Vowel Orthography

		i	⟨i⟩	u	⟨u⟩
		iu	⟨iu⟩
ɑ	⟨a⟩	iɑ	⟨ia⟩	uɑ	⟨ua⟩
o	⟨o⟩	io	⟨io⟩
e	⟨e⟩	ie	⟨ie⟩	ue	⟨ue⟩
ei	⟨ei⟩			uei	⟨ui⟩
a	⟨ea⟩	ia	⟨iea⟩	ua	⟨uea⟩
ɔ	⟨ao⟩	iɔ	⟨iao⟩
ɤ	⟨eu⟩	iɤ	⟨ieu⟩	uɤ	⟨ueu⟩
ɯ	⟨ou⟩	iɯ	⟨iou⟩	uɯ	⟨uou⟩
ɛ	⟨an⟩	iɛ	⟨ian⟩	uɛ	⟨uan⟩
en	⟨en⟩	ien	⟨in⟩	uen	⟨un⟩
ɑŋ	⟨ang⟩	iɑŋ	⟨iang⟩	uɑŋ	⟨uang⟩
oŋ	⟨ong⟩	ioŋ	⟨iong⟩

Tones

Tone	IPA	Letter
high rising, 45	˦˥	⟨b⟩
low falling, 21	˨˩	⟨x⟩
high, 4	˦	⟨d⟩
low, 2	˨	⟨l⟩
high falling, 53	˥˧	⟨t⟩
falling, 42	˦˨	⟨s⟩

References

1. Western Xiangxi Miao at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
   Eastern Xiangxi Miao at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Sposato, Adam (2015). A Grammar of Xong (PDF) (PhD thesis). University at Buffalo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-08-10.
3. Ratliff, Martha (2010). Hmong–Mien language history. Canberra, Australia: Pacific Linguistics. hdl:1885/146760. ISBN 978-0-85883-615-0.
4. Xiang, Rizheng 向日征 (1999). Jíwèi Miáoyǔ yánjiū 吉卫苗语硏究 [A Study of Jiwei Miao] (in Chinese). Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe.
5. Guangxi Zhuangzu zizhiqu shaoshu minzu yuyan wenzi gongzuo weiyuanhui [Guangxi Minority Languages Orthography Committee] (2008). Guǎngxī mínzú yǔyán fāngyīn cíhuì 广西民族语言方音词汇 [Vocabularies of Guangxi Ethnic Languages] (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
6. Yang, Zaibiao 杨再彪 (2004). Miáoyǔ dōngbù fāngyán tǔyǔ bǐjiào 苗语东部方言土语比较 (in Chinese). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.
7. Li, Jinping 李锦平; Li, Tianyi 李天翼 (2012). Miáoyǔ fāngyán bǐjiào yánjiū 苗语方言比较研究 [A Comparative Study of Miao Dialects] (in Chinese). Chengdu: Xinan jiaotong daxue chubanshe.
8. Chen, Hong 陈宏 (2009). Guìzhōu Sōngtáo Dàxīngzhèn Miáoyǔ yánjiū 贵州松桃大兴镇苗语研究 (Ph.D. thesis) (in Chinese). Nankai daxue.

Further reading

• Sposato, Adam (2015). A Grammar of Xong (PDF) (PhD thesis). University at Buffalo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-08-10.
• Sposato, Adam (2021). A Grammar of Xong. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-076493-2.
• Yang, Zaibiao 杨再彪. 2017. Xiangxi Miaoyu, Tujiayu yu Hanyu jiechu yanjiu 湘西苗语、土家语与汉语接触研究. Changchun: Jilin University Press 吉林大学出版社. ISBN 978-7-5692-1507-6.

External links

• Xong comparative vocabulary list on Wiktionary (6 dialects compared)
• Xong basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database