Sanqiao language


Sanqiao 三锹话 is a mixed Dong–Miao language spoken in Liping County and Jinping County, Guizhou, China by about 6,000 people.
The Sanqiao people sing traditional songs using the Suantang language, which is similar to New Xiang.

Classification

Sanqiao vocabulary is about 30–40% Miao and 40%-50% Dong, with the remainder consisting of Chinese words. Sanqiao speakers can understand the local Dong and Miao dialects, but the Dong and Miao cannot understand the Sanqiao language.

Distribution

In Liping County and Jinping County, Guizhou, the Sanqiao live in just over 20 villages, with over 6,000 people.
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 of Hunan, and Liping, Jinping, and Tianzhu counties of Guizhou. 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.
The Sanqiao are distributed in the following locations of Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou. There are 22 villages in total.