UYGHUR (China)

Family
Eastern-(Chagatay)-Turkic languages

Country
China

Language code
UIG

Continent
Asia

Alternate language names
UIGHUR, UYGUR, UIGUR, UIGHUIR, UIGUIR, WEIWUER

Dialect names
KASHGAR-YARKAND (KASHI-SHACHE), YENGI HISSAR (YENGISAR), KHOTAN-KERYA (HOTAN-YUTIAN), CHARCHAN (QARQAN, QIEMO), AKSU(AQSU), QARASHAHR (KARAXAHAR), KUCHA (KUQA), TURFAN (TURPAN), KUMUL (HAMI), ILI (KULJA, YINING, TARANCHI), URUMQI (URUMCHI), LOPNOR (LOPNUR), DOLAN, AKTO TÜRKMEN

Genetic affiliation
Altaic, Turkic, Eastern

Geographical region
Throughout the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Also in Germany, India, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, USA, possibly Morocco, Iran

Population
7,214,431 in China (1990 census), including 4,700,000 Central Uyghur, 1,150,000 Hotan, 25,000 Lop; 245,000 in Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, and Uzbekistan (1986); 3,000 in Afghanistan; 1,000 in Mongolia; 500 or more in Turkey (1981); a few hundred families of traders in Pakistan; 7,464,000 total or more

Bible printings
1950

New Testament printings
1914-1939

Printings of whole books of Bible
1898-1982

Status
Work in progress

Remarks
Roman, Arabic, and Cyrillic script have been used. Urumqi is the literary dialect in China. One of the five main official nationalities in China. It had a Pinyin (Roman) alphabet in China; a new Arabic script was introduced in 1987. Cyrillic script is used in the former USSR. Only the Roman alphabet is known in Turkey. There are radio broadcasts in Uyghur. Those in the north are more influenced by modern Chinese culture. The Akto Türkmen speak a dialect of Uyghur with 500 different seldom-used words. They have different appearance and customs. They say they originated in Samarkand, and are listed as Kirghiz by the government. There are 2,000 in two villages, Kösarap and Oytak in Akto County, south of Kashgar, Xinjiang. Dolan is a dialect spoken around the fringes of the Taklimakan desert in Xinjiang

Ecosystem type
Desert, oases

Geological type
Valleys

Subsistence type
Agriculturalists: grain, fruit, grapes, vegetables, cotton; traders; craftsmen

Grammar typology
SOV

Total speakers
7,464,000 or more

Religion
Sunni Muslim

Also in
Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Turkey, Pakistan, Germa- ny, Australia, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, USA, Taiwan, Kyrghyzstan, Uzbekistan