Alternate Names: Ch’iang
Dialects: Dajishan (Daqishan), Heihu, Jiaochang, Longxi, Mianchi, Sanlong, Taoping.
Status Notes: Language of recognized nationality: Qiang.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 81,300 (1999 J. Evans), decreasing. 8,300 Daqishan, 4,100 Taoping, 3,100 Longxi, 14,500 Mianchi, 31,000 Hehu. 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). 0 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 306,000 (2000 census).
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.
Typology: SOV; heavy phonemic inventory; few consonant clusters in syllable onsets; tonal, 2–6 tones.
Nation of Origin: China
Other Comments: Buddhist (Lamaist), Daoist, traditional religion.