Guiyang Miao language


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. Matisoff separated the three varieties as distinct Miao languages, not forming a group. Wang adds another two minor, previously unclassified varieties.
  • Northern
  • Southern
  • Southwestern
  • Northwestern
  • South-Central
Mo Piu, spoken in northern Vietnam, may be a divergent variety of Guiyang Miao.
Representative dialects of Guiyang Miao include:

Demographics

Below is a list of Miao dialects and their respective speaker populations and distributions from Li, along with representative datapoints from Wang.
DialectSpeakersCountiesRepresentative datapoint
North70,000Guiyang, Qingzhen, Kaiyang, Xifeng, Xiuwen, Anshun, Pingba, Zhenning, Qianxi, Jinsha, Zhijin, Longli, GuidingBaituo 摆托寨, Qingyan Township 青岩乡, Huaxi District 花溪区, Guiyang City
South20,000+Anshun, ZhenningWangjiashan 汪家山, Huayan Township 华严乡, Anshun City
Southwest60,000Guiyang, Qingzhen, Anshun, Pingba, Ziyun, ChangshunKaisa Village 凯洒村, Machang Township 马场乡, Pingba County
Northwest6,000Qingzhen, Qianxi, LonglinTieshi Township 铁石苗族彝族乡, Qianxi County
South-Central6,000Ziyun, ZhenningHongyanzhai 红岩寨, Baiyun Township 白云乡, Ziyun County

According to Sun, the northern dialect of Guiyang Miao is spoken in the following locations by a total of approximately 60,000 speakers.