Xiang Chinese

Old Xiang varieties (also called Lao Xiang or Hsiang) preserve more features of Middle Chinese — including voiced obstruents that Mandarin has merged with voiceless ones — and are spoken in southwestern and central Hunan. New Xiang varieties show heavier Mandarin influence over recent centuries and are spoken in the more populous central and northern Hunan, including the capital Changsha. Speakers across the Old/New divide may need real effort to follow each other.

Mainly in Hunan province, especially in central and southern parts including Changsha, Xiangtan, Hengyang, Yiyang, and Shaoyang. Smaller pockets exist in adjacent regions of Guangxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou. The Hunan diaspora has spread Xiang across major Chinese cities, but younger urban Hunanese often shift to Mandarin in mixed-origin settings.

No. Xiang is a separate Sinitic language, not mutually intelligible with Mandarin without exposure. They share the Han character writing system, but pronunciation, tone systems, and vocabulary differ enough that Mandarin-only speakers can't follow Xiang conversation. Hunanese speakers grow up bilingual in Xiang and Mandarin via national education.

Six in many varieties, though the count varies by region and by analyst. New Xiang tends to have fewer tones than Old Xiang. Both subgroups share extensive tone sandhi rules that adjust tones in connected speech, similar to other southern Sinitic languages.

Under pressure from Mandarin like most non-Mandarin Sinitic languages. National education uses Mandarin, and Mandarin-medium broadcasting dominates Chinese media. Urban younger Hunanese in Changsha increasingly use Mandarin among themselves, especially with people from outside the province. Rural Xiang transmission remains stronger, and the language is far from immediately endangered.