Huishui Miao, a.k.a. Huishui Hmong, is a Miao language of China. It is named after Huishui County, Guizhou, though not all varieties are spoken there. The endonym is Mhong, though it shares this with Gejia and it is simply a variant spelling of Hmong.
Huishui was given as a subgroup of Western Hmongic in Strecker (1987). Matisoff (2001) split it into four separate languages, and, conservatively, did not retain it as a group.
Demographics Below is a list of Miao dialects and their respective speaker populations and distributions from Li (2018), along with representative datapoints from Wang (1985).Wang Fushi 王辅世. 1985. Miaoyu jianzhi 苗语简志. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe 民族出版社.
Dialect Speakers Counties Representative datapoint (Wang 1985) North 60,000 Guiyang (including in Huaxi Gaopo 花溪区高坡乡), Longli, Guiding, Huishui Jiading 甲定寨, Gaopo Township 高坡苗族乡, Guiyang City Central 40,000+ Huishui, Changshun Baijin Township 摆金乡, Huishui County East 10,000+ Huishui, Pingtang Xiguan Township 西关乡, Pingtang County West 50,000 Huishui, Changshun Yarong Township 鸭绒乡, Huishui County
According to Sun (2017), the northern dialect of Huishui Miao is spoken in the following townships by a total of approximately 50,000 speakers.
Guiyang City: Gaopo 高坡 Huishui County: Yangchang 羊场 Guiding County: Tangbao 塘堡, Pingfa 平伐, etc.
References