{{language
|name=Xiang
|nativename=湘语
|states=[[China]]
|region=[[Hunan]]
|speakers=36 million
|rank=30
|familycolor=Sino-Tibetan
|fam2=[[Chinese language|Chinese]]
|iso1=zh|iso2b=chi|iso2t=zho|iso3=hsn}}

'''Xiang''' (湘語/湘语), also '''Hunan''', '''Hunanese''', or '''Hsiang''', is a subdivision of [[Chinese spoken language|spoken Chinese]].

Xiang is spoken by over 36 million people in China, primarily in [[Hunan]] province, and also in over 20 counties in [[Sichuan]], and parts of [[Guangxi]] and [[Guangdong]] provinces.  Many scholars divide Xiang into two distinct varieties: Old Xiang, which is spoken in the southern parts of the Xiang-speaking area, and New Xiang, which can be heard in the northern Xiang-speaking area and is significantly closer to [[Mandarin (linguistics)|Mandarin]] due to the influence of Mandarin.

Linguistically, Xiang is between Mandarin and [[Wu]] Chinese and marginally intelligible with them.  The written form is standard Chinese.

Like all other varieties of [[Chinese language|Chinese]], there is plenty of dispute as to whether Xiang is a [[language]] or a [[dialect]]. See [[Identification of the varieties of Chinese]] for the issues surrounding this dispute.

== Dialects ==

Xiang can be divided into three dialects:

* Changyi
* Luoshao
* Jishu

== Trivia ==

[[Mao Zedong]] spoke Xiang instead of normal Mandarin.

==External links==
* [http://www.glossika.com/en/dict/classification/xiang/index.php Classification of Xiang Dialects]

{{Chinese language}}
{{st-lang-stub}}

[[Category:Chinese language]]

[[br:Hounaneg]]
[[de:Xiang]]
[[fr:Xiang]]
[[ja:湘方言]]
[[zh:湘语]]