Waxianghua

Introduction

Waxianghua is a language of China. It is spoken in West Hunan Province, a 6,000 square km area, Wuling mountains, including Yuanling, Chunxi, Jishou, Guzhang, and Dayong.

Dialects

Classified as Han nationality. It differs greatly from both Southwestern Mandarin (Xinan Guanhua) (See: Chinese, Mandarin) and Xiang Chinese (Hunanese) (See: Chinese, Xiang?), but is relatively uniform within itself. Neighboring Han Chinese, Miao, and Tujia people do not understand it. Some view it as a special variety of Chinese, others as a minority language, perhaps related to Miao.

The Waxianghua Verb

Verblist

• fi55 -- to fly
• ka55 (ɕiɛ33) -- to tie up, fasten
• khuɑ25 -- to hit
• khuai33 -- to sleep
• liɛ13 -- to cry
• maŋ33 -- to dream
• mɤŋ33 -- to see
• ɳio41 -- to bite
• sau33 -- to laugh
• tɕiəɯ25, tsaŋ55 moŋ55 -- to cook
• tɕiɛ13 -- to sit
• thɤ33 -- to spit
• to55 -- to hold
• toŋ55, vu25 -- to throw
• vai55 -- to sniff, smell
• xoŋ13 -- to walk
• xu13 -- to live, be alive