Xong language

The Xong language ("Dut Xonb" ), is the northernmost Hmongic language, spoken in south-central China by ca 0.9 million people. It's called "Xiangxi Miaoyu" (湘西苗语), Western Hunan Miao, in Chinese. In Western sources, it's been called Eastern Miao, Meo, Red Miao and North Hmongic. The official alphabet was adopted in 1956.
Distribution.
Xong is spoken mainly in Hunan province, but also in a few areas of Guizhou, Hubei, Guangxi provinces and Chongqing municipality in China. Xong-speaking communities, by county, are,
Classification.
Xong was classified in its own branch of the Hmongic family in Strecker (1987). Xiang (1999) divided Xong into western and eastern dialects. Matisoff (2001) considered these to be two distinct languages, but Matisoff (2006) consolidated them into one. Yang Zaibiao (2004) divides each of these dialects into three subdialects, as listed below. Speaker populations and locations are from Li & Li (2012).
He Fuling (2009) describes a western Qo Xiong dialect of Gouliang Ethnic Miao Village, Ala Township, Fenghuang County (凤凰县阿拉镇勾良苗寨).
Chen (2009) describes a western Qo Xiong dialect of Daxing Town 大兴镇, Songtao County, Guizhou.
Phonology and script.
A written standard based on the Western dialect in Làyǐpíng village and Jíwèi town, Huāyuán county, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture was established in 1956.