Waxiang Chinese

Waxiang
Waxiang
Waxianghua, Wogang
瓦鄉話/瓦乡话; wǎxiānghuà
Native to	China
Region	western Hunan
Native speakers	(300,000 cited 1995)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic (unclassified) Waxiang; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	wxa
Glottolog	waxi1236
	Dialect map of Hunan.; Waxianhua is the bit of dark blue in the medium blue (SW Mandarin) just above the red (Xiang)

Waxiang (simplified Chinese: 瓦乡话; traditional Chinese: 瓦鄉話; pinyin: wǎxiānghuà; ɕioŋ˥tsa˧) 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, very different from its surrounding Southwestern Mandarin, Xiang and Qo Xiong languages.

Classification

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]

Distribution

Waxianghua is found in Luxi, Guzhang and Yongshun counties in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Zhangjiajie prefecture-level city (in Dayong 大庸), 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 is only a phonetic transcription.

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

Yuanling County: Qingshuiping 清水坪, Maxipu 麻溪铺, Taichang 太常, Wusu 乌宿, Liangshuijing 凉水井
Luxi County: Basheping 八什坪, Shangbao 上堡, Liangjiatan 梁家谭, Baisha 白沙镇
Guzhang County: Linchang 林场 of Gaowangjie 高望界, Gaofeng 高峰 (in Taojin 淘金村, Beishuiping 北水坪, etc.), Yantouzhai 岩头寨, Shanzao 山枣, Yezhu 野竹, Hepeng 河蓬, Caotan 草潭
Chenxi County: Tianwan 田湾, Banqiao 板桥, Chuanxiyi 船溪驿, Tanjiafang 谭家坊
Xupu County: Rangjiaxi 让家溪, Daweixi 大渭溪, Muxi 木溪
Yongshun County: Limin 里明村, Zhenxi 镇溪, Xiaoxi 小溪 of Wangcun Township 王村镇

Liubaohua 六保话, a dialect closely related to Waxianghua, is spoken in several villages in southeastern Guazhang County (including in Shaojitian Village 筲箕田村, Shanzao Township 山枣乡) and parts of Luxi County.^[10] Liubaohua is spoken in the following locations (Zou 2013).

Guzhang County
- Shanzao Township 山枣乡: Huoma 火麻村, Gaozhai 高寨村, Shaojitian 筲箕田村, Modao 磨刀村
- Yantouzhai Township 岩头寨乡: Yinping 银坪村, Zimuping 梓木坪村, Wangouxi 碗沟溪村, etc.
Luxi County: Basheping Township 八什坪乡
Yuanling County: Maxipu Town 麻溪铺镇 and Shaojiwan Town 筲箕湾镇

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):^[11]

Guzhang li⁶, 地 OC (Baxter–Sagart) *lˤejs > MC dijH > Mandarin dì 'earth, ground'
Guzhang lu⁶, 大 OC *lˤats > MC dajH > Mandarin dà 'big'
Guzhang li², 遲 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):^[12]

Guzhang za², 棃 OC *C.rəj > MC lij > Mandarin lí 'pear tree, pear'
Guzhang zɛ², 來 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-:^[13]

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

In some words, Waxiang and Proto-Min have voiced affricates where Middle Chinese has y-:^[14]

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

Waxiang and Caijia

Sagart argues that Waxiang and Caijia together constitute the earliest branching of Chinese. Like Waxiang, Caijia preserves Old Chinese *l-, has a voiced fricative reflex of *r-, and retains the Old Chinese word 字 'love', which has been replaced by 愛 in all other Chinese varieties. Waxiang and Caijia also share two words not found in other Chinese varieties:^[4]

'two': Caijia ta˥, Waxiang tso˥˧, from Old Chinese 再 *tsˤəs 'twice'
'milk': Caijia mi˥, Waxiang mi˥, which Sagart suggests is a non-Sinitic word

References

^ Waxiang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ ^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 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.
^ 湘西瓦乡话“吃饭”【柔摸】读音来历考
^ 沅陵乡话（船溪）与白语蔡家话个别读音对比
^ Wu Yunji, Shen Ruiqing [伍云姬、沈瑞清]. 2010. An Investigative Report of Waxianghua of Guzhang County, Xiangxi Prefecture [湘西古丈瓦乡话调查报告]. Shanghai Educational Press [上海教育出版社].
^ Qu Jianhui 瞿建慧; Tang Jiaxin 唐家新. 2017. 湘西乡话与湘西苗语. Minzu Yuwen, vol. 2.
^ Zou Xiaoling 邹晓玲. 2013. 湘西古丈县“六保话”的系属.
^ Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 109.
^ Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 110.
^ Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 93.
^ Baxter & Sagart (2014), p. 189.