| Sanqiao | |
|---|---|
| Native to | China |
| Region | Guizhou |
| Ethnicity | Miao |
Native speakers | 6,000 (2017)[1] |
Hmong–Mien
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | sanq1234 |
Sanqiao (Chinese:三锹话/三橇话) is aHmongic language spoken inJinping County andLiping County,Guizhou, China by about 6,000 people.[1]
The Sanqiao people sing traditional songs using the Suantang language (酸汤话), a Sinitic language that is similar toNew Xiang.[1]
A study by Hsiu (2024) found that Sanqiao is anEast Hmongic (Central Miao) language, belonging to the East Qiandong dialectal group.[2]
Earlier demographic studies performed by non-linguists claimed that Sanqiao vocabulary is about 30–40% Miao (Hmu) and 40%-50% Dong (Kam), with the remainder consisting of Chinese words.[1]
Sanqiao speakers can understand the local Dong and Miao dialects, but the Dong and Miao cannot understand the Sanqiao language.[1]
InLiping County andJinping County,Guizhou, the Sanqiao live in just over 20 villages, with over 6,000 people (Yu 2017).[1]
Sanqiao in a broader sense, however, is a grouping of about 30,000 people who speak unrelated languages, who are spread across Jingzhou, Huitong, Tongdao, and Suining counties ofHunan, and Liping, Jinping, and Tianzhu counties ofGuizhou.[1] In Hunan, they are also known as the Flowery Miao (花苗) or Flowery-Clothed Miao (花衣苗), while in Guizhou they are known as the Sanqiao people (三撬人).[1]
The Sanqiao are distributed in the following locations ofQiandongnan Prefecture,Guizhou (Deng 2010).[3] There are 22 villages in total.