It is spoken throughout some areas of Yongzhou prefecture (apart from Qiyang County in the northeast) and in the western half of Chenzhou prefecture, in which Xiangnan dialects of Southwestern Mandarin are also spoken.

[1] Xiangnan Tuhua is spoken by the Sinicized Pingdi ('plains') Yao.

[2] Xiangnan Tuhua, which differs enough from those of other parts of Hunan that there is little mutual intelligibility, is known to its speakers as [tifɯə] 'Dong language'.

[3] Most Jiangyong residents are bilingual in Xiangnan Tuhua and the Hunan dialect of Southwestern Mandarin.

Nǚshū yòngzì bǐjiào 女书用字比较 [Comparison of the Characters Used to Write Nüshu] (in Chinese).