Qiangic speakers are variously classified as part of the Qiang, Tibetan, Pumi, Nakhi, and Mongol ethnic groups by the People's Republic of China.

[3][4][5] Sun Hongkai (1983)[6] proposes two branches, northern and southern: Sun groups other, poorly described Qiangic languages as: Matisoff (2004)[2] states that Jiarongic is an additional branch: Matisoff (2004) describes Proto-Tibeto-Burman *-a > -i as a typical sound change in many Qiangic languages, and refers to this vowel heightening as "brightening."

She considers the following four languages to be part of four separate Tibeto-Burman branches:[19] Both Shixing and Namuzi are both classified as Naic (Naxi) by Jacques & Michaud (2011), but Naic would not be a valid genetic unit in Chirkova's classification scheme since Shixing and Namuzi are considered by Chirkova to not be part of a single branch.

Yu (2012:218)[7] notes that Ersuic and Naish languages share some forms that are not found in Lolo-Burmese or "core" Qiangic (Qiang, Prinmi, and Minyak).

Shafer (1955) and other accounts of the Dzorgaic/Ch'iang branch[20] preserve the names Dzorgai, Kortsè, Thochu, Outer/Outside Man-tze, Pingfang from the turn of the century.

Sun Hongkai (2013) lists the following watersheds (riverine systems) and the respective Qiangic languages spoken there.