Nuoxi language

Nuoxi Yao, or Nuoxihua ?溪话, is a Kam–Sui language of Nuoxi Township, Dongkou County, Hunan Province, China. Even though they are classified as ethnic Yao people by the Chinese government, the Nuoxi Yao speak a Kam–Sui language closely related to Dong. Shi considers Nuoxi Yao to have split off from Dong about 600 years.

Names

The Nuoxi Yao call themselves the '1 or '2 '1, and refer to their own language as '1. The town of Nuoxi is pronounced in the local Hunanese dialect as '2 '1.

Demographics

Shi estimates a total of 2,500 speakers and 5,000 ethnic Yao in Nuoxi Township. According to the Shaoyang Prefecture Gazetteer, language varieties closely related to Southern Kam are spoken in Nuoxi, Dongkou County and Lianmin, Suining County.
The Suining County Gazetteer documents the variety of Lianmin Yao as spoken in Xiaohuang, Tianluoxuan Village, Lianmin Ethnic Miao and Yao Township, Suining County, Hunan Province, China. It is closely related to Nuoxi Yao.

History

Chen Qiguang reports that the ancestors of Nuoxihua speakers had migrated to their current location from Tianzhu, Liping, and Yuping counties of southeastern Guizhou during the early 15th century. According to Shi Lin, the Nuoxi Yao had migrated from Gaoyi Township, Huitong County, Hunan Province in 1403.