Guiyang Miao, also known as Guiyang Hmong, is a Miao language of China. It is named after Guiyang, Guizhou, though not all varieties are spoken there. The endonym is Hmong, a name it shares with the Hmong language.
Classification Guiyang was given as a subgroup of Western Hmongic in Wang (1985). Matisoff (2001) separated the three varieties as distinct Miao languages, not forming a group. Wang (1994) adds another two minor, previously unclassified varieties.
Northern Southern Southwestern Northwestern (Qianxi 黔西) South-Central (Ziyun 紫云)
Mo Piu, spoken in northern Vietnam, may be a divergent variety of Guiyang Miao.
Representative dialects of Guiyang Miao include: Baituo 摆托, Huaxi District, Guiyang Tieshi 铁石, Qianxi County Zhongba 中坝, Changshun County
Demographics Below is a list of Miao dialects and their respective speaker populations and distributions from Li (2018), along with representative datapoints from Wang (1985).Wang Fushi 王辅世. 1985. Miaoyu jianzhi 苗语简志. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社.
Dialect Speakers Counties Representative datapoint (Wang 1985) North 70,000 Guiyang (in Huaxi, Xiaohe, Baiyun, Wudang districts), Qingzhen, Kaiyang, Xifeng, Xiuwen, Anshun, Pingba, Zhenning, Qianxi, Jinsha, Zhijin, Longli, Guiding Baituo 摆托寨, Qingyan Township 青岩乡, Huaxi District 花溪区, Guiyang City South 20,000+ Anshun, Zhenning Wangjiashan 汪家山, Huayan Township 华严乡, Anshun City Southwest 60,000 Guiyang (in Huaxi, Wudang, Baiyun districts), Qingzhen, Anshun, Pingba, Ziyun, Changshun Kaisa Village 凯洒村, Machang Township 马场乡, Pingba County Northwest 6,000 Qingzhen, Qianxi, Longlin Tieshi Township 铁石苗族彝族乡, Qianxi County South-Central 6,000 Ziyun, Zhenning Hongyanzhai 红岩寨, Baiyun Township 白云乡, Ziyun County
According to Sun (2017), the northern dialect of Guiyang Miao is spoken in the following locations by a total of approximately 60,000 speakers.
Pingba County: Linka 林卡 Qianxi County: Chongxin 重新, Shiping 石平 Jinsha County: Musha 木沙, Bijia 笔架, Zongping 宗平, Dayuan 大员, Xinxi 新西, Anmin 安民, Taoyuan 桃园 Zhenning County: Xinchang 新场 Kaiyang, Xifeng, Xiuwen, Guiding, and other counties
References