Qiang, Southern

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A language of China

ISO 639-3
qxs
Alternate Names
Ch’iang
Population

81,300 (1999 J. Evans), decreasing. No monolinguals. 8,300 Daqishan dialect, 4,100 Taoping dialect, 3,100 Longxi dialect, 14,500 Mianchi dialect, 31,000 Hehu dialect. Around 130,000 total for Northern and Southern Qiang. 80,000 officially classified within Qiang nationality and speakers 50,000 within Tibetan nationality (1990 J-O. Svantesson). Ethnic population: 306,000 (2000 census).

Location

North central Sichuan Province, Wenchuan and Li counties; South Mao county, which transitions into Northern Qiang [cng].

Language Maps
Language Status

7 (Shifting).

Classification
Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Northeastern Tibeto-Burman, Qiangic
Dialects

Dajishan (Daqishan), Heihu, Jiaochang, Longxi, Mianchi, Sanlong, Taoping.

Typology

SOV; heavy phonemic inventory; few consonant clusters in syllable onsets; tonal, 2–6 tones

Language Use

Parents encourage children’s excellence at school which means learning Mandarin Chinese [cmn]. Some families still use Qiang at home. Home. Older adults. Negative attitudes. Also use Mandarin Chinese [cmn].

Language Development
Those under 35 are functionally literate in Chinese. Dictionary. OT.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Qiang, Southern
Other Comments

Officially classified within Qiang nationality. Buddhist (Lamaist), traditional religion, Daoist.