Miao language belongs to the branch of Miao Yao language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. In the early 1950s, the second research group of minority languages survey of China Academy of Sciences, through on-the-spot investigation, scientifically studied the word formation of Miao languages in different places, but with different phonetic features, divided Miao languages into three major dialects, namely Xiangxi dialect, Guizhou Oriental dialect, Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan dialect (also known as eastern dialect, central dialect and western dialect), seven sub-dialects and eighteen dialects.
Extended data:
Miao people used to have no writing. At the beginning of this century, British Pollard, Han intellectuals Yang Jacob, Zhang Wu and Li Steven who preached in Shimenkan, Weining, northwest Guizhou, used some Latin letters and some note symbols to create a phonetic symbol called "Miao Wen" (commonly known as "Lao"), which was used to translate the Christian Bible, compile textbooks and record Miao characters.
In the 1940s, some Miao people who spoke the northeast sub-dialect of Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan dialect moved and settled in Xinchi Village, Xiyahe Township, and introduced the "Baoli letter Miao Wen" into Ziyun, which is still in common use today. Moreover, Xinchi Primary School uses this word and Chinese characters for bilingual teaching. In 1950s, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people's government, a large number of linguists including Miao scholars were trained.
The Miao language in China was surveyed, and "Old Miao Wen" was reformed, creating the Latin Pinyin Miao Wen in three dialects: East, West and China. However, due to the complex internal branches of the Miao nationality and the great language differences, it is extremely difficult to unify them?