Complex sentence: Changsha dialect is what Chinese dialectologists would call a New Xiang variety, as opposed to Old Xiang; the distinction is mainly based on the presence of the Middle Chinese voiced plosives and affricates.
Split into simpler sentences: Changsha dialect is what Chinese dialectologists would call a New Xiang language, as opposed to an Old Xiang language. The distinction is mainly based on the presence of the Middle Chinese voiced plosives and affricates.