Waxiang Chinese

Waxiang
Waxiang
Waxianghua, Xianghua, Wogang
瓦かわら鄉きょう話ばなし/瓦かわら乡话; Wǎxiānghuà
Native to	China
Region	western Hunan
Ethnicity	Waxiang people
Native speakers	(300,000 cited 1995)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese (unclassified) Waxiang; ; ; ;
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Middle Chinese? ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	wxa
Glottolog	waxi1236
	Dialect map of Hunan.; Waxiang is dark blue on the map.

Waxiang (simplified Chinese: 瓦かわら乡话; traditional Chinese: 瓦かわら鄉きょう話ばなし; pinyin: Wǎxiānghuà; ɕioŋ˥tsa˧) is a divergent variety of Chinese,^[3]^[4] 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.

Classification

As noted by Laurent Sagart (2011)^[5] and others,^[6]^[7]^[8] 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.^[3]^[4] Similarities among Old Chinese, Waxiang, Caijia, and Bai have also been pointed out by Wu & Shen (2010).^[9]

Qu & Tang (2017) show that Waxiang and Miao (Qo Xiong) have had little mutual influence on each other.^[10]

Distribution

Waxianghua is found in Luxi, Guzhang and Yongshun counties in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Zhangjiajie prefecture-level city (in Dayong 大だい庸いさお ), and Chenxi, Xupu and Yuanling counties in Huaihua prefecture-level city. Neighboring languages include Southwestern Mandarin, Xiang Chinese, Tujia, Qo Xiong, and Hm Nai.

hua means 'speech' in Mandarin Chinese,
xiang means 'rural' in Mandarin Chinese
wa means 'speech' in Southern Chinese dialects.

The word Wa 瓦かわら is only a phonetic transcription.

Wu & Shen (2010) report Waxianghua to be spoken in the following villages.

Yuanling County: Qingshuiping 清水しみず坪つぼ , Maxipu 麻あさ溪けい铺 , Taichang 太ふとし常つね , Wusu 乌宿 , Liangshuijing 凉水井い
Luxi County: Basheping 八はち什坪 , Shangbao 上うえ堡 , Liangjiatan 梁はり家か谭 , Baisha 白しろ沙すな镇
Guzhang County: Linchang 林はやし场 of Gaowangjie 高こう望もち界かい , Gaofeng 高峰こうほう (in Taojin 淘よなげ金村かなむら , Beishuiping 北きた水すい坪つぼ , etc.), Yantouzhai 岩いわ头寨 , Shanzao 山やま枣 , Yezhu 野竹のだけ , Hepeng 河かわ蓬よもぎ , Caotan 草くさ潭
Chenxi County: Tianwan 田た湾わん , Banqiao 板いた桥 , Chuanxiyi 船ふね溪けい驿 , Tanjiafang 谭家坊ぼう
Xupu County: Rangjiaxi 让家溪けい , Daweixi 大だい渭溪 , Muxi 木き溪けい
Yongshun County: Limin 里さと明あきら村むら , Zhenxi 镇溪 , Xiaoxi 小しょう溪けい of Wangcun Township 王おう村むら镇

Liubaohua 六ろく保ほ话 , a dialect closely related to Waxianghua, is spoken in several villages in southeastern Guzhang County (including in Shaojitian Village 筲箕田村たむら, Shanzao Township 山やま枣乡 ) and parts of Luxi County.^[11] Liubaohua is spoken in the following locations (Zou 2013).

Guzhang County
- Shanzao Township 山やま枣乡 : Huoma 火ひ麻お村むら , Gaozhai 高こう寨村 , Shaojitian 筲箕田村たむら, Modao 磨すり刀かたな村むら
- Yantouzhai Township 岩いわ头寨乡: Yinping 银坪村むら , Zimuping 梓あずさ木き坪つぼ村むら, Wangouxi 碗わん沟溪村むら, etc.
Luxi County: Basheping Township 八はち什坪乡
Yuanling County: Maxipu Town 麻あさ溪けい铺镇 and Shaojiwan Town 筲箕湾わん镇

The Nanshan dialect of Waxianghua (Chinese: 南山みなみやま乡话) 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:^[12]

Chengbu County, Hunan
- Xuntou Village 巡じゅん头村 and Mugua Village 木瓜ぼけ村むら, both of which are in Wutuan Town 五ご团镇
- Juezhiping Village 蕨わらび枝えだ坪つぼ村むら, Nanshan Town 南山なんざん镇^[13]
Longsheng County, Guangxi
- Ganjia Village 甘あま甲かぶと村むら, Weishan Township 伟江乡

Phonology

Initials of Guzhang county Waxiang^[14]
		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m 尾お	n 大だい	ɲ 银		ŋ 硬かた
Plosives	voiced	b 婆ばば	d 代だい	ʣ 融とおる	dʑ 墙	g 渠みぞ
	voiceless	p 布ぬの	t 台だい	ʦ 纸	tɕ 精せい	k 姑しゅうと
	aspirated	pʰ 破やぶ	tʰ 兔うさぎ	ʦʰ 初はつ	tɕʰ 轿	kʰ 口くち
Fricatives	voiced		z 油あぶら	ʑ 食しょく		ɣ 红
Fricatives	voiceless		s 生せい	ɕ 四よん		x 灰はい
Approximants		v 有ゆう	l 李り			Ø 矮

Conservative features

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):^[15]

Guzhang li⁶, 地ち OC (Baxter–Sagart) *lˤejs > MC dijH > Mandarin dì 'earth, ground'
Guzhang lu⁶, 大だい OC *lˤats > MC dajH > Mandarin dà 'big'
Guzhang li², 遲おそ OC *lrəj > MC drij > Mandarin chí 'slow'
Guzhang luʔ⁸, 讀 OC *C.lˤok > MC duwk > Mandarin dú 'read'

Waxiang also has some cases of /z/ for Old Chinese *r- (which became l- in Middle Chinese):^[16]

Guzhang za², 棃 OC *C.rəj > MC lij > Mandarin lí 'pear tree, pear'
Guzhang zɛ², 來き OC *mə.rˤək > *rˤə > MC loj > Mandarin lái 'come'

In a number of words, Waxiang and Proto-Min have affricate initials where Middle Chinese has sy-:^[17]

Guzhang tsu³, pMin *tšyi^B, 水みず OC *s.turʔ > MC sywijX > Mandarin shuǐ 'water'
Guzhang tɕiəu¹, pMin *tšy^A, 書しょ OC *s-ta > MC syo > Mandarin shū 'writing'

In some words, Waxiang and Proto-Min have voiced affricates where Middle Chinese has y-:^[18]

Guzhang dzoŋ³, pMin *-džioŋ^B, 癢 OC *Cə.ɢaŋʔ > MC yangX > Mandarin yǎng 'itch'

Waxiang and Caijia

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.^[5]

Like Waxiang, Caijia preserves Old Chinese *l-, has a voiced fricative reflex of *r-, and retains the Old Chinese word 字じ 'love', which has been replaced by 愛あい in all other Chinese varieties. Waxiang and Caijia also share two words not found in other Chinese varieties:^[5]

'two': Caijia ta⁵⁵, Waxiang tso⁵³, from Old Chinese 再さい *tsˤəs 'twice'
'milk': Caijia mi⁵⁵, Waxiang mi⁵⁵, which Sagart suggests is a non-Sinitic word

References

^ Waxiang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2023-07-10). "Glottolog 4.8 - Waxianghua". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7398962. Archived from the original on 2023-08-24. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
^ ^a ^b Baxter, William; Sagart, Laurent (2014). Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction. Oxford University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-19-994537-5.
^ ^a ^b Kurpaska, Maria (2010). Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of "The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects". Walter de Gruyter. p. 73. ISBN 978-3-11-021914-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sagart, Laurent. 2011. Classifying Chinese dialects/Sinitic languages on shared innovations. Talk given at Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l’Asie orientale, Norgent sur Marne.
^ de Sousa, Hilário. 2015. The Far Southern Sinitic Languages as part of Mainland Southeast Asia. In Enfield, N.J. & Comrie, Bernard (eds.), Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: The state of the art (Pacific Linguistics 649), 356–439. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. doi:10.1515/9781501501685-009.
^ 湘西瓦かわら乡话“吃ども饭”【柔やわら摸】读音来らい历考
^ 沅陵乡话（船ふね溪けい）与あずか白しろ语蔡家か话个别读音おん对比
^ Wu Yunji, Shen Ruiqing [伍ご云うん姬ひめ、沈瑞清きよし]. 2010. An Investigative Report of Waxianghua of Guzhang County, Xiangxi Prefecture [湘西古こ丈たけ瓦かわら乡话调查报告]. Shanghai Educational Press [上海しゃんはい教育きょういく出版しゅっぱん社しゃ].
^ Qu Jianhui 瞿建慧とし; Tang Jiaxin 唐とう家か新しん. 2017. Xiangxi Xianghua yu Xiangxi Miaoyu 湘西乡话与湘西苗なえ语. Minzu Yuwen, vol. 2.
^ Zou, Xiaoling 邹晓玲れい. 2012. Classification of "Siklehua" in Guzhang County in Western Hunan 湘西古こ丈たけ县“六ろく保ほ话”的てき系けい属ぞく. Journal of Jishou University (Social Science Edition) 吉よし首くび大学だいがく学がく报(社会しゃかい科学かがく版ばん) 33(1).
^ Zheng, Yanxia [郑焱霞かすみ]; Peng, Jianguo [彭建国こく]. 2016. Hunan Chengbu Xuntou Xianghua yanjiu [湖みずうみ南城なんじょう步あゆみ巡じゅん头乡话研究けんきゅう]. Hunan Normal University Press [湖南こなん师范大学だいがく出版しゅっぱん社しゃ].
^ Zheng, Yanxia 郑焱霞かすみ. 2010. Xiang-Gui bianjie Nanshan Xianghua yanjiu 湘桂边界南山なんざん乡话研究けんきゅう. Doctoral dissertation. Changsha: Hunan Normal University 湖南こなみ师范大学だいがく.
^ 伍ご云うん姬ひめ、沈瑞清きよし合ごう著ちょ《湘西古こ丈たけ瓦かわら乡话调查报告》
^ Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 109.
^ Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 110.
^ Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 93.
^ Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 189.