Chu language

The Chu language is an attested language spoken in the Chu Dynasty of eastern China, contemporary with the Qin dynasty, which encompasses the people who eventually came to be known as the Old Chinese-speaking "Han" people. The Chu language had its own characters modeled on Chinese characters, and there is evidence of language contact and borrowing between Old Chinese and the Chu language. Chu is believed to be the base precursor to Xiang Chinese, a dialect spoken in Hunan.

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