View source for Social:Uyghur language

{{Short description|Turkic language of the Karluk sub-branch}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Uyghur
| altname          = Uighur
| nativename       = {{lang|ug-Arab|ئۇيغۇر تىلى}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Уйғур тили}}, {{lang|ug-Latn|Uyghur tili,<br />Uyƣur tili, Uyğur tili}}
| pronunciation    = <span style=>{{IPA|[ʊj.ʁʊɾˈtʃɛ], [ʊjˈʁʊɾ.tɪ.lɪ]}}</span>
| image            = Uyghurche.svg
| imagescale       = 0.75
| imagecaption     = "Uyghur" written in Perso-Arabic script
| states           = {{wipe|China}}, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
| ethnicity        = Uyghurs
| speakers         = 8–13 million
| date             = 2021
| ref              = <ref name="ChineseLanguagePolicy">{{cite journal |last1=Han |first1=Yawen |last2=Johnson |first2=David Cassels |title=Chinese Language Policy and Uyghur Youth: Examining Language Policies and Language Ideologies |journal=Journal of Language, Identity & Education |date=2021 |volume=20 |issue=3 |page=186 |doi=10.1080/15348458.2020.1753193 |s2cid=225676857 |access-date=4 November 2022|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15348458.2020.1753193}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Altaic
| fam1             = [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]]
| fam2             = [[Social:Common Turkic languages|Common Turkic]]
| fam3             = [[Social:Karluk languages|Karluk]]
| dia1             = Central Uyghur
| dia2             = Khotan
| dia3             = [[Social:Lop dialect|Lopnor]]
| ancestor         = [[Social:Karakhanid language|Karakhanid]]
| ancestor2        = [[Social:Chagatai language|Chagatai]]
| ancestor3        = Eastern Turki
| script           = [[Social:Uyghur alphabets|Uyghur alphabets]]: Perso-Arabic (official in China), [[Social:Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]], [[Social:Uyghur Latin alphabet|Latin]], New Script
| nation           = China ([[Place:Xinjiang|Xinjiang]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=China |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/CN/status  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225165727/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/CN/status |archive-date=25 December 2018 |access-date=3 June 2015 |website=Ethnologue}}</ref>
| agency           = Working Committee of Ethnic Language and Writing of [[Place:Xinjiang|Xinjiang]]
| iso1             = ug
| iso1comment      = Uighur, Uyghur
| iso2             = uig
| iso2comment      = Uighur, Uyghur
| iso3             = uig
| iso3comment      = Uighur, Uyghur
| glotto           = uigh1240
| glottoname       = Uighur
| map              = Uyghur Linguistic Map (2015) in Xinjiang and the outskirts of Xinjiang..png
| mapalt           = Uyghur is spoken in Northwest China
| mapcaption       = Geographical extent of Uyghur Language in China (Xinjiang) and outskirts of Xinjiang.
| notice           = IPA
}}

'''Uyghur''' or '''Uighur''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|iː|ɡ|ʊər|,_|-|g|ər}};<ref>{{Cite EPD|18|Uyghur}}</ref> {{lang|ug-Arab|ئۇيغۇر تىلى}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Уйғур тили}}, {{lang|ug-Latn|Uyghur tili, Uyƣur tili}}, {{IPA-all|ʊjˈʁʊɾ.tɪ.lɪ}} or {{lang|ug-Arab|ئۇيغۇرچە}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Уйғурчә}}, {{lang|ug-Latn|Uyghurche, Uyƣurqə}}, {{IPA-all|ʊj.ʁʊɾˈtʃɛ}}, CTA: Uyğurçä; formerly known as '''Eastern Turki''') is a [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic language]] written in a Uyghur Perso-Arabic script with 8–13 million speakers,<ref name="ChineseLanguagePolicy" /> spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China. Apart from Xinjiang, significant communities of Uyghur speakers are also located in Kazakhstan, {{wipe|Pakistan}}, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, and various other countries have Uyghur-speaking expatriate communities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Uyghur |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/uig |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=Ethnologue |language=en}}</ref> Uyghur is an official language of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; it is widely used in both social and official spheres, as well as in print, television, and radio. Other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang also use Uyghur as a common language.<ref>Engesæth 2009, p. 7</ref> 

Uyghur belongs to the [[Social:Karluk languages|Karluk]] branch of the [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic language family]], which includes languages such as [[Social:Uzbek language|Uzbek]]. Like many other Turkic languages, Uyghur displays [[Social:Vowel harmony|vowel harmony]] and agglutination, lacks noun classes or grammatical gender, and is a left-branching language with [[Social:Subject–object–verb word order|subject–object–verb]] word order. More distinctly, Uyghur processes include vowel reduction and umlauting, especially in northern dialects. In addition to other Turkic languages, Uyghur has historically been strongly influenced by [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]] and [[Social:Persian language|Persian]], and more recently by [[Social:Russian language|Russian]] and [[Social:Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin Chinese]].

The modified Arabic-derived writing system is the most common and the only standard in China,<ref>{{harvnb|Hamut|Joniak-Lüthi|2015}}</ref> although other writing systems are used for auxiliary and historical purposes. Unlike most Arabic-derived scripts, the Uyghur Arabic alphabet has mandatory marking of all vowels due to modifications to the original Perso-Arabic script made in the 20th century. Two Latin alphabets and one Cyrillic alphabet are also used, though to a much lesser extent. The two Latin-based and the Arabic-based Uyghur alphabets have 32 characters each; the Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet also uses two iotated vowel letters (Ю and Я).

== History ==
{{Main|Social:Chagatai language}}
The [[Social:Middle Turkic languages|Middle Turkic languages]] are the direct ancestor of the [[Social:Karluk languages|Karluk languages]], including Uyghur and the [[Social:Uzbek language|Uzbek language]].

Modern Uyghur is not descended from [[Social:Old Uyghur|Old Uyghur]], rather, it is a descendant of the [[Social:Karluk languages|Karluk language]] spoken by the [[Place:Kara-Khanid Khanate|Kara-Khanid Khanate]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arik |first=Kagan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3tAqIU0dPsC&pg=PA145 |title=One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520255609 |editor-last=Austin |editor-first=Peter |edition=illustrated |page=145}}</ref> as described by Mahmud al-Kashgari in ''Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clauson |first=Gerard |date=1965 |title=Review An Eastern Turki-English Dictionary by Gunnar Jarring |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |language=en |issue=1/2 |pages=57 |volume=97| doi=10.1017/S0035869X00123640 |jstor=25202808|s2cid=163362680 }}</ref> According to Gerard Clauson, [[Social:Western Yugur language|Western Yugur]] is considered to be the true descendant of Old Uyghur and is also called "Neo-Uyghur". According to Frederik Coene, Modern Uyghur and Western Yugur belong to entirely different branches of the Turkic language family, respectively the [[Social:Karluk languages|Southeastern Turkic languages]] and the [[Social:Siberian Turkic languages|Northeastern Turkic languages]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coene |first=Frederik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7XuMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |title=The Caucasus: An Introduction |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1135203023 |page=75 |access-date=10 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Coene |first=Frederik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FqFMmVbfRfEC&pg=PA75 |title=The Caucasus: An Introduction |date=2009 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0203870716 |edition=illustrated, reprint |page=75}}</ref> The [[Social:Western Yugur language|Western Yugur language]], although in geographic proximity, is more closely related to the [[Social:Siberian Turkic languages|Siberian Turkic languages]] in Siberia.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1998|pp=83–84}}</ref> Robert Dankoff wrote that the Turkic language spoken in Kashgar and used in Kara Khanid works was Karluk, not (Old) Uyghur.<ref name="KöprülüLeiser2006">{{Cite book |last1=Mehmet Fuat Köprülü |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&pg=PA158 |title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature |last2=Gary Leiser |last3=Robert Dankoff |date=2006 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-36686-1 |pages=158}}</ref>

Robert Barkley Shaw wrote, "In the Turkish of Káshghar and Yarkand (which some European linguists have called Uïghur, a name unknown to the inhabitants of those towns, who know their tongue simply as Túrki), ... This would seem in many case to be a misnomer as applied to the modern language of Kashghar".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robert Shaw |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw7gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA2 |title=A Sketch of the Turki Language: As Spoken in Eastern Turkistan ... |date=1878 |pages=2}}</ref> Sven Hedin wrote, "In these cases it would be particularly inappropriate to normalize to the East Turkish literary language, because by so doing one would obliterate traces of national elements which have no immediate connection with the Kaschgar Turks, but on the contrary are possibly derived from the ancient Uigurs".<ref name="HedinDahlgren1905">{{Cite book |last1=Sven Anders Hedin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ug_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA659 |title=Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia 1899–1902: Lop-Nor, by Sven Hedin &#91;1905 |last2=Erik Wilhelm Dahlgren |last3=Axel Lagrelius |last4=Nils Gustaf Ekholm |last5=Karl Gustaf Olsson |last6=Wilhelm Leche |last7=Helge Mattias Bäckström |last8=Harald Johansson |date=1905 |publisher=Lithographic institute of the General staff of the Swedish army &#91;K. Boktryckeriet, P.A. Norstedt & söner |pages=659}}</ref>

Probably around 1077,<ref name="dankoff">{{Citation |last=Dankoff |first=Robert |title=Inner Asian Wisdom Traditions in the Pre-Mongol Period |date=March 1981 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=87–95 |postscript=. |publisher=American Oriental Society |doi=10.2307/602165 |jstor=602165}}</ref> a scholar of the Turkic languages, Mahmud al-Kashgari from [[Place:Kashgar|Kashgar]] in modern-day [[Place:Xinjiang|Xinjiang]], published a Turkic language dictionary and description of the geographic distribution of many Turkic languages, ''Dīwān ul-Lughat al-Turk'' (English: ''Compendium of the Turkic Dialects''; Uyghur: {{ug-textonly|تۈركى تىللار دىۋانى}}, ''Türki Tillar Diwani''). The book, described by scholars as an "extraordinary work,"<ref>{{Citation |last=Brendemoen |first=Brett |title=The Turkic languages |date=1998 |pages=236–41 |editor-last=Lars Johanson, Éva Csató |chapter=Turkish Dialects |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA236 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-08200-6 |access-date=8 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="shaman" /> documents the rich literary tradition of Turkic languages; it contains folk tales (including descriptions of the functions of shamans)<ref name="shaman">{{Cite book |last=Baldick |first=Julian |title=Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia |date=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhQtVH4-fW8C&pg=PA50 |page=50 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-86064-431-3}}</ref> and didactic poetry (propounding "moral standards and good behaviour"), besides poems and poetry cycles on topics such as hunting and love<ref>{{Citation |last=Kayumov |first=A. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |date=2002 |volume=4 |page=379 |editor-last=C. E. Bosworth, M.S.Asimov |chapter=Literature of the Turkish Peoples |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ELrRr0L8UOsC&pg=PA379 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1596-4}}</ref> and numerous other language materials.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 February 2010 |title=Türki tillar diwani pütün türkiy xelqler ücün engüshterdur |script-title=ug:تۈركى تىللار دىۋانى پۈتۈن تۈركىي خەلقلەر ئۈچۈن ئەنگۈشتەردۇر |language=ug |trans-title=The Compendium of Turkic Languages Was for All Turkic Peoples |work=Radio Free Asia |url=http://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/tepsili_xewer/turki-dillar/diwani-02122010022941.html |url-status=dead |access-date=15 February 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415173450/http://www.rfa.org/uyghur/xewerler/tepsili_xewer/turki-dillar/diwani-02122010022941.html |archive-date=15 April 2013}}</ref> Other Kara-Khanid writers wrote works in the Turki Karluk Khaqani language. Yusuf Khass Hajib wrote the Kutadgu Bilig. Ahmad bin Mahmud Yukenaki (Ahmed bin Mahmud Yükneki) (Ahmet ibn Mahmut Yükneki) (Yazan Edib Ahmed b. Mahmud Yükneki) (w:tr:Edip Ahmet Yükneki) wrote the {{transl|ar|italic=no|Hibat al-ḥaqāyiq}} (هبة الحقايق) ({{transl|ug|italic=no|Hibet-ül hakayik}}) (Hibet ül-hakayık) (Hibbetü'l-Hakaik) (Atebetüʼl-hakayik) (w:tr:Atabetü'l-Hakayık).

[[Social:Middle Turkic languages|Middle Turkic languages]], through the influence of [[Social:Persian language|Perso]]-[[Social:Arabic|Arabic]] after the 13th century, developed into the [[Social:Chagatai language|Chagatai language]], a [[Social:Literary language|literary language]] used all across [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]] until the early 20th century. After Chaghatai fell into [[Social:Language death|extinction]], the [[Social:Standard language|standard versions]] of Uyghur and [[Social:Uzbek language|Uzbek]] were developed from dialects in the Chagatai-speaking region, showing abundant Chaghatai influence. Uyghur language today shows considerable [[Social:Persian language|Persian]] influence as a result from Chagatai, including numerous Persian [[Social:Loanword|loanword]]s.<ref>{{Citation |last=Badīʻī |first=Nādira |title=Farhang-i wāžahā-i fārsī dar zabān-i ūyġūrī-i Čīn |date=1997 |page=57 |place=Tehran |publisher=Bunyād-i Nīšābūr}}</ref>

Modern Uyghur religious literature includes the Taẕkirah, biographies of Islamic religious figures and saints. The Taẕkirah is a genre of literature written about Sufi Muslim saints in Altishahr. Written sometime in the period between 1700 and 1849, the Chagatai language (modern Uyghur) ''Taẕkirah of the Four Sacrificed Imams'' provides an account of the Muslim Karakhanid war against the Khotanese Buddhists, containing a story about Imams, from Mada'in city (possibly in modern-day Iraq) came 4 Imams who travelled to help the Islamic conquest of Khotan, Yarkand and Kashgar by Yusuf Qadir Khan, the Qarakhanid leader.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thum |first=Rian |date=2012 |title=Modular History: Identity Maintenance before Uyghur Nationalism |url=https://www.academia.edu/1558522 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |language=en |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=632 |doi=10.1017/S0021911812000629 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904025819/http://www.academia.edu/1558522/Modular_History_Identity_Maintenance_before_Uyghur_Nationalism |archive-date=4 September 2015 |access-date=29 September 2014 |s2cid=162917965}}</ref> The shrines of Sufi Saints are revered in Altishahr as one of Islam's essential components and the tazkirah literature reinforced the sacredness of the shrines. Anyone who does not believe in the stories of the saints is guaranteed hellfire by the tazkirahs. It is written, "And those who doubt Their Holinesses the Imams will leave this world without faith and on Judgement Day their faces will be black ..." in the ''Tazkirah of the Four Sacrificed Imams''.<ref name="Thum2014">{{Cite book |last=Rian Thum |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pP6EBAAAQBAJ&q=tazkirah&pg=PA113 |title=The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History |date=13 October 2014 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-59855-3 |pages=113}}</ref> Shaw translated extracts from the Tazkiratu'l-Bughra on the Muslim Turki war against the "infidel" Khotan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robert Shaw |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw7gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA102 |title=A Sketch of the Turki Language: As Spoken in Eastern Turkistan ... |date=1878 |pages=102–109}}</ref> The Turki-language ''Tadhkirah i Khwajagan'' was written by M. Sadiq Kashghari.<ref name="Storey2002">{{Cite book |last=C. A. Storey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VleM1pOXgdQC&q=Semyonov+chahars&pg=PA1026 |title=Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey |date=February 2002 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-947593-38-4 |pages=1026}}</ref> Historical works like the ''Tārīkh-i amniyya'' and ''Tārīkh-i ḥamīdi'' were written by Musa Sayrami.

The Qing dynasty commissioned dictionaries on the major languages of China which included Chagatai Turki language, such as the Pentaglot Dictionary.

The historical term "Uyghur" was appropriated for the language that had been known as Eastern Turki by government officials in the Soviet Union in 1922 and in Xinjiang in 1934.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Brown |first1=Keith |title=Uyghur |date=2009 |encyclopedia=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World |page=1143 |postscript=. |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-087774-7 |last2=Ogilvie |first2=Sarah |author-link=Keith Brown (linguist)}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1998|p=379}}</ref> Sergey Malov was behind the idea of renaming Turki to Uyghurs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kd22AAAAIAAJ&q=uighur.+This+designation+of+the+Turkic+language+spoken+in+Xinjiang+was+introduced+in+1921+at+a+meeting+in+Tashkent+in+the+Soviet+Union.+Its+originator+was+the+Soviet+turcologist+SE+Malov.+It+should+thus+be+borne+in+mind+that+the+modem |title=Journal of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, Volumes 12–13 |date=1991 |publisher=King Abdulaziz University |page=108}}</ref> The use of the term Uyghur has led to anachronisms when describing the history of the people.<ref name="ReedRaschke2010">{{Cite book |last1=Reed |first1=J. Todd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5I2b_hrJO8sC&q=anachoristic+uyghur&pg=PA7 |title=The ETIM: China's Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat |last2=Diana Raschke |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-36540-9 |pages=7}}</ref> In one of his books the term Uyghur was deliberately not used by James A. Millward.<ref name="Levey2006">{{Cite book |last=Benjamin S. Levey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzEeAQAAMAAJ&q=scholars+may+view+the+application+of+the+term+%22Uyghur%22+to+people+in+the+early+nineteenth+century+to+be+an+anachronism.+For+instance,+James+Millward+avoids+the+term+%22Uyghur%22+in+Beyond+the+Pass, |title=Education in Xinjiang, 1884–1928 |date=2006 |publisher=Indiana University |page=12}}</ref> The name Khāqāniyya was given to the Qarluks who inhabited Kāshghar and Bālāsāghūn, the inhabitants were not Uighur, but their language has been retroactively labelled as Uighur by scholars.<ref name="KöprülüLeiser2006" /> The Qarakhanids called their own language the "Turk" or "Kashgar" language and did not use Uighur to describe their own language, Uighur was used to describe the language of non-Muslims but Chinese scholars have anachronistically called a Qarakhanid work written by Kashgari as "Uighur".<ref name="Herzig2014">{{Cite book |last=Edmund Herzig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ML2bBQAAQBAJ&q=anachoristic+uyghur&pg=PA23 |title=The Age of the Seljuqs |date=30 November 2014 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1-78076-947-9 |pages=23}}</ref> The name "''Altishahri-Jungharian Uyghur''" was used by the Soviet educated Uyghur Qadir Haji in 1927.<ref name="Brophy2016">{{Cite book |last=Brophy |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=84bPCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT230 |title=Uyghur Nation |date=4 April 2016 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-97046-5 |author-link=David Brophy (historian)}}</ref>

== Classification ==
{{Main|Social:Turkic languages}}
The Uyghur language belongs to the [[Social:Karluk languages|Karluk Turkic]] (''Qarluq'') branch of the [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic language family]]. It is closely related to [[Social:Äynu language|Äynu]], Lop, [[Social:Ili Turki language|Ili Turki]], the [[Social:Extinct language|extinct language]] Chagatay (the East Karluk languages), and more distantly to [[Social:Uzbek language|Uzbek]] (which is West Karluk).

== Dialects ==
[[File:Lang Status 20-CR.svg|thumb|right|{{center|<small>Lopnor Uighur is classified as Critically Endangered by the [[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]] Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger</small>}}]]
It is widely accepted that Uyghur has three main dialects, all based on their geographical distribution. Each of these main dialects have a number of sub-dialects which all are [[Social:Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] to some extent.

* '''Central''': Spoken in an area stretching from Kumul southward to Yarkand
* '''Southern''': Spoken in an area stretching from Guma eastward to Qarkilik
* '''Eastern''': Spoken in an area stretching from Qarkilik northward to {{Interlanguage link multi|Qongköl|zh|3=琼库勒乡}}. The [[Social:Lop dialect|Lop dialect]] (also known as Lopluk) that falls under the Eastern dialect of the Uighur language is classified as a critically endangered language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Did you know Lopnor Uighur is critically endangered? |url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/10481 |access-date=10 August 2020 |website=Endangered Languages |language=en}}</ref> It is spoken by less than 0.5% of the overall Uighur speakers population but has tremendous values in comparative research. 

The Central dialects are spoken by 90% of the Uyghur-speaking population, while the two other branches of dialects only are spoken by a relatively small minority.<ref>{{Harvnb|Yakup|2005|p=8}}</ref>

Vowel reduction is common in the northern parts of where Uyghur is spoken, but not in the south.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|p=53}}</ref>

== Status ==
Uyghur is spoken by an estimated 8–11 million people in total.<ref name="ChineseLanguagePolicy" /> In addition to being spoken primarily in the [[Place:Xinjiang|Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region]] of Western China, mainly by the Uyghur people, Uyghur was also spoken by some 300,000 people in Kazakhstan in 1993, some 90,000 in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in 1998, 3,000 in Afghanistan and 1,000 in Mongolia, both in 1982.<ref name="Dwyer.2005.12-132" /> Smaller communities also exist in Albania, {{wipe|Australia}}, Belgium, {{wipe|Canada}}, {{wipe|Germany}}, Indonesia, {{wipe|Pakistan}}, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tajikistan, [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], {{wipe|United Kingdom}} and the {{wipe|United States}} ({{wipe|New York City}}).<ref name="ethnologue">{{Cite web |last1=Eberhard |first1=David M. |last2=Simons |first2=Garry F. |last3=Fennig |first3=Charles D. |title=Uyghur |url=http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=uig |url-access=subscription  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716180124/http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=uig |archive-date=16 July 2012 |access-date=6 April 2012 |website=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |publisher=Ethnologue |location=Dallas, Texas}}</ref>

The Uyghurs are one of the 56 recognized ethnic groups in China and Uyghur is an official language of [[Place:Xinjiang|Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region]], along with [[Social:Standard Chinese|Standard Chinese]]. As a result, Uyghur can be heard in most social domains in Xinjiang and also in schools, government and courts.<ref name="Dwyer.2005.12-132">{{Harvnb|Dwyer|2005|pp=12–13}}</ref> Of the other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, those populous enough to have their own autonomous prefectures, such as the Kazakhs and the Kyrgyz, have access to schools and government services in their native language. Smaller minorities, however, do not have a choice and must attend Uyghur-medium schools.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hann|first=Chris|date=2011|title=Smith in Beijing, Stalin in Urumchi: Ethnicity, Political Economy, and Violence in Xinjiang, 1759–2009|journal=Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology|language=en|issue=60|page=112|doi=10.3167/fcl.2011.600109}}</ref> These include the Xibe, Tajiks, Daurs and Russians.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dwyer|first=Arienne|url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf|title=The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse|date=2005|publisher=East-West Center|isbn=1-932728-29-5|series=Policy Studies|volume=15|location=[[Place:Washington, D.C.|Washington]]|pages=12–13|access-date=4 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101342/https://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf|archive-date=11 October 2017}}</ref> 

According to reports in 2018, Uyghur script was erased from street signs and wall murals, as the Chinese government has launched a campaign to force Uyghur people to learn Mandarin. Any interest in Uyghur culture or language could lead to detention.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Byler|first=Darren|date=2 January 2019|title=The 'Patriotism' of Not Speaking Uyghur|work=SupChina|url=https://supchina.com/2019/01/02/the-patriotism-of-not-speaking-uyghur/|access-date=3 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103161214/https://supchina.com/2019/01/02/the-patriotism-of-not-speaking-uyghur/|archive-date=3 January 2019}}</ref> Recent news reports have also documented the existence of mandatory boarding schools where children are separated from their parents; children are punished for speaking Uyghur, making the language at a very high risk of extinction.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sudworth|first=John|date=4 July 2019|title=China Separating Muslim Children from Families|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48825090|access-date=5 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705043103/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48825090|archive-date=5 July 2019}}</ref> 

The Chinese government have implemented bi-lingual education in most regions of Xinjiang.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gupta |first1=Sonika |last2=Ramachandran |first2=Veena |date=1 November 2016 |title=Bilingual Education in Xinjiang in the Post-2009 Period |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310471668  |journal=China Report |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=306–323 |doi=10.1177/0009445516661885 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906162345/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310471668_Bilingual_Education_in_Xinjiang_in_the_Post-2009_Period |archive-date=6 September 2021 |access-date=10 August 2020 |s2cid=157480863}}</ref> The bi-lingual education system teaches Xinjiang's students all STEM classes using only Mandarin Chinese, or a combination of Uighur and Chinese. However, research have shown that due to differences in the order of words and grammar between the Uighur and the Chinese language, many students face obstacles in learning courses such as Mathematics under the bi-lingual education system.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mamaitiim |first=Sagittarm |date=28 May 2013 |title=The Research on the Language Problems in Xinjiang Uyghur-Han Bilingual Teaching of Mathematics |journal=Xinjiang Normal University}}</ref> 

Uyghur language has been supported by [[Software:Google Translate|Google Translate]] since February 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 February 2020 |title=Google Translate supports new languages for the first time in four years, including Uyghur |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/26/21154417/google-translate-new-languages-support-odia-tatar-turkmen-uyghur-kinyarwanda  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404162826/https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/26/21154417/google-translate-new-languages-support-odia-tatar-turkmen-uyghur-kinyarwanda |archive-date=4 April 2020 |access-date=30 March 2020 |website=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=26 February 2020 |title=Google Translate adds five languages |url=https://blog.google/products/translate/five-new-languages/  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321093154/https://www.blog.google/products/translate/five-new-languages/ |archive-date=21 March 2020 |access-date=30 March 2020 |website=Google Blog}}</ref>

About 80 [[Biology:Newspaper|newspapers]] and [[Finance:Magazine|magazines]] are available in Uyghur; five TV channels and ten publishers serve as the Uyghur [[Social:Mass media|media]]. Outside of China, Radio Free Asia provides news in Uyghur.

Poet and activist Muyesser Abdul'ehed teaches the language to diaspora children online as well as publishing a magazine written by children for children in Uyghur.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Freeman|first=Joshua L.|title=Uighur Poets on Repression and Exile|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/08/13/uighur-poets-on-repression-and-exile/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115154650/https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/08/13/uighur-poets-on-repression-and-exile/|archive-date=15 November 2020|access-date=9 November 2020|website=The New York Review of Books|language=en}}</ref>

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels ===
The vowel inventory of Uyghur is the same as [[Social:Finnish language|Finnish]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XIG8ZDzuAHcC&dq=uyghur+vowel+harmony&pg=PA78|title=Locality in Vowel Harmony|page=78|isbn=9780262140973 |last1=Nevins |first1=Andrew |date=23 October 2023 |publisher=MIT Press }}</ref> The vowels of the Uyghur language are, in their alphabetical order (in the Latin script), {{angle bracket|a}}, {{angle bracket|e}}, {{angle bracket|ë}}, {{angle bracket|i}}, {{angle bracket|o}}, {{angle bracket|ö}}, {{angle bracket|u}}, {{angle bracket|ü}}. There are no diphthongs. Hiatus occurs in some loanwords.<br />Uyghur vowels are distinguished on the bases of height, backness and roundness. It has been argued, within a lexical phonology framework, that {{IPAslink|e}} has a back counterpart {{IPAslink|ɤ}}, and modern Uyghur lacks a clear differentiation between {{IPAslink|i}} and {{IPAslink|ɯ}}.

{|  class="wikitable"
|-
! || colspan="2" | Front || colspan="2"|Back
|- class=small
! || Unrounded || Rounded || Unrounded || Rounded
|- align=center
! Close
| {{IPA link|i}}, {{IPA link|ɪ}} || {{IPA link|y}}, {{IPA link|ʏ}} || ({{IPA link|ɨ}}), ({{IPA link|ɯ}})|| {{IPA link|ʊ}}, {{IPA link|u}}
|- align=center
! Mid
| {{IPA link|e}} || || ({{IPA link|ɤ}}) || {{IPA link|o}}
|- align=center
! Open
| {{IPA link| ɛ}}, {{IPA link|æ}} || {{IPA link|œ}} || {{IPA link|ʌ}}, {{IPA link|ɑ}} || {{IPA link|ɔ}} 
|}

{|  class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" | || colspan="2" | Front || colspan="2" | Back
|- class="small"
!  colspan="2" | || UR || R || UR || R
|- style="text-align: center;"
!rowspan=3| Close
! Arabic
| ئى / ى || ئۈ / ۈ || ئى / ى || ئۇ / ۇ
|-
! [[Social:Uyghur Latin alphabet|Latin]]
| I i || Ü ü || I i || U u
|-
! IPA
| [{{IPA|ɪ}}] || [{{IPA|ʏ}}] || ([{{IPA|ɯ}}]) || [{{IPA|u}}]
|- style="text-align: center;"
!rowspan=3| Mid
! Arabic
| ئې / ې || ئۆ / ۆ || || ئو / و
|-
! [[Social:Uyghur Latin alphabet|Latin]]
| Ë ë || Ö ö || || O o
|-
! IPA
| [{{IPA|e}}] || [{{IPA|ø}}] || || [{{IPA|o}}]
|- style="text-align: center;"
!rowspan=3| Open
! Arabic
| ئە / ە || || ئا / ا ||
|-
! [[Social:Uyghur Latin alphabet|Latin]]
| E e || || A a || 
|-
! IPA
| {{IPA|æ}} || || {{IPA|ɑ}} ||
|}

Uyghur vowels are by default short, but long vowels also exist because of historical vowel assimilation (above) and through loanwords.  Underlyingly long vowels would resist vowel reduction and devoicing, introduce non-final stress, and be analyzed as |Vj| or |Vr| before a few suffixes. However, the conditions in which they are actually pronounced as distinct from their short counterparts have not been fully researched.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1998|p=380}}</ref>

The high vowels undergo some tensing when they occur adjacent to alveolars ({{IPA|s, z, r, l}}), palatals ({{IPA|j}}), dentals ({{IPA|t̪, d̪, n̪}}), and post-alveolar affricates ({{IPA|t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ}}), e.g. ''chiraq'' {{IPA|[t͡ʃʰˈiraq]}} 'lamp', ''jenubiy'' {{IPA|[d͡ʒɛnʊˈbiː]}} 'southern', ''yüz'' {{IPA|[jyz]}} 'face; hundred', ''suda'' {{IPA|[suːˈda]}} 'in/at (the) water'.

Both {{IPAblink|i}} and {{IPAblink|ɯ}} undergo apicalisation after alveodental continuants in unstressed syllables, e.g. ''siler'' {{IPA|[sɪ̯læː(r)]}} 'you (plural)', ''ziyan'' {{IPA|[zɪ̯ˈjɑːn]}} 'harm'. They are medialised after {{IPAslink|χ}} or before {{IPAslink|l}}, e.g. ''til'' {{IPA|[tʰɨl]}} 'tongue', ''xizmet'' {{IPA|[χɨzˈmɛt]}} 'work; job; service'. After velars, uvulars and {{IPAslink|f}} they are realised as {{IPAblink|e}}, e.g. ''giram'' {{IPA|[ɡeˈrʌm]}} 'gram', ''xelqi'' {{IPA|[χɛlˈqʰe]}} 'his [etc.] nation', ''Finn'' {{IPA|[fen]}} 'Finn'. Between two syllables that contain a rounded back vowel each, they are realised as back, e.g. ''qolimu'' {{IPA|[qʰɔˈlɯmʊ]}} 'also his [etc.] arm'.

Any vowel undergoes laxing and backing when it occurs in uvular ({{IPA|/q/, /ʁ/, /χ/}}) and laryngeal (glottal) ({{IPA|/ɦ/, /ʔ/}}) environments, e.g. ''qiz'' {{IPA|[qʰɤz]}} 'girl', ''qëtiq'' {{IPA|[qʰɤˈtɯq]}} 'yogurt', ''qeghez'' {{IPA|[qʰæˈʁæz]}} 'paper', ''qum'' [qʰʊm] 'sand', ''qolay'' [qʰɔˈlʌɪ] 'convenient', ''qan'' [qʰɑn] 'blood', ''ëghiz'' [ʔeˈʁez] 'mouth', ''hisab'' [ɦɤˈsʌp] 'number', ''hës'' [ɦɤs] 'hunch', ''hemrah'' [ɦæmˈrʌh] 'partner', ''höl'' [ɦœɫ] 'wet', ''hujum'' [ɦuˈd͡ʒʊm] 'assault', ''halqa'' [ɦɑlˈqʰɑ] 'ring'.

Lowering tends to apply to the non-high vowels when a syllable-final liquid assimilates to them, e.g. ''kör'' {{IPA|[cʰøː]}} 'look!', ''boldi'' {{IPA|[bɔlˈdɪ]}} 'he [etc.] became', ''ders'' {{IPA|[dæːs]}} 'lesson', ''tar'' {{IPA|[tʰɑː(r)]}} 'narrow'.

Official Uyghur orthographies do not mark vowel length, and also do not distinguish between {{IPA|/ɪ/}} (e.g., {{ug-textonly|بىلىم}} {{IPA|/bɪlɪm/}} 'knowledge') and back {{IPAslink|ɯ}} (e.g., {{ug-textonly|تىلىم}} {{IPA|/tɯlɯm/}} 'my language'); these two sounds are in complementary distribution, but phonological analyses claim that they play a role in vowel harmony and are separate phonemes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|p=34}}</ref>  {{IPA|/e/}} only occurs in words of non-Turkic origin and as the result of vowel raising.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vaux|2001}}</ref>

Uyghur has systematic vowel reduction (or vowel raising) as well as vowel harmony. Words usually agree in vowel backness, but compounds, loans, and some other exceptions often break vowel harmony. Suffixes surface with the rightmost [back] value in the stem, and {{IPA|/e, ɪ/}} are transparent (as they do not contrast for backness). Uyghur also has rounding harmony.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vaux|2001|pp=1–2}}</ref>

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-style="font-size: 90%;"
!
!colspan=2| Labial
!colspan=2| Dental
!colspan=2| Post-<br/>alveolar/Palatal
!colspan=2| Velar
!colspan=2| Uvular
!colspan=2| Glottal
|-
! <small>Nasal</small>
|width=20px style="border-right:0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|m}}
|width=20px style="border-right:0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|n̪|n}}
|colspan=2|
|width=20px style="border-right:0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left:0;"|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2| 
|-
! <small>Stop</small>
|style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|p}}||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|b}}
|style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|t̪|t}}||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|d̪|d}}
|width=20px style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|tʃ}}||width=20px style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|dʒ}}
|style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|k}}||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|width=20px style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|q}}||width=20px style="border-left:0;"|
|width=20px style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|ʔ}}||width=20px style="border-left:0;"|
|-
! <small>Fricative</small>
|style="border-right:0;"|({{IPAlink|f}})|| style="border-left:0;" |({{IPAlink|v}})
|style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|s̪|s}}||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|z̪|z}}
|style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|ʒ}}
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right:0;"|{{IPAlink|χ}}||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|ʁ}}
|style="border-right:0;"| ||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|ɦ}}
|-
! <small>Trill</small>
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right:0;"| ||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|r̪|r}}
|colspan=2| 
|colspan=2| 
|colspan=2| 
|colspan=2| 
|-
! <small>Approximant</small>
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right:0;"| ||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|l̪|l}}
|style="border-right:0;"| ||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|j}}
|style="border-right:0;"| ||style="border-left:0;"|{{IPAlink|w}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2| 
|}

Uyghur voiceless stops are aspirated word-initially and intervocalically.<ref name="Hahn.1991.89">{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|p=89}}</ref> The pairs {{IPA|/p, b/}}, {{IPA|/t, d/}}, {{IPA|/k, ɡ/}}, and {{IPA|/q, ʁ/}} alternate, with the voiced member devoicing in syllable-final position, except in word-initial syllables. This devoicing process is usually reflected in the official orthography, but an exception has been recently made for certain Perso-Arabic loans.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|pp=84–86}}</ref> Voiceless phonemes do not become voiced in standard Uyghur.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|pp=82–83}}</ref>

Suffixes display a slightly different type of consonant alternation. The phonemes {{IPA|/ɡ/}} and {{IPA|/ʁ/}} anywhere in a suffix alternate as governed by vowel harmony, where {{IPA|/ɡ/}} occurs with front vowels and {{IPA|/ʁ/}} with back ones.  Devoicing of a suffix-initial consonant can occur only in the cases of {{IPA|/d/}} → {{IPA|[t]}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}} → {{IPA|[k]}}, and {{IPA|/ʁ/}} → {{IPA|[q]}}, when the preceding consonant is voiceless. Lastly, the rule that /g/ must occur with front vowels and {{IPA|/ʁ/}} with back vowels can be broken when either {{IPA|[k]}} or {{IPA|[q]}} in suffix-initial position becomes assimilated by the other due to the preceding consonant being such.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|pp=80–84}}</ref> <!-- Examples: qoyda, müshükte, atta, qoygha, müshükke, atqa, sözlik, karliq, xaltagha, xelqqe -->

Loan phonemes have influenced Uyghur to various degrees. {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} and {{IPA|/χ/}} were borrowed from Arabic and have been nativized, while {{IPA|/ʒ/}} from Persian less so. {{IPA|/f/}} only exists in very recent Russian and Chinese loans, since Perso-Arabic (and older Russian and Chinese) {{IPA|/f/}} became Uyghur {{IPA|/p/}}. Perso-Arabic loans have also made the contrast between {{IPA|/k, ɡ/}} and {{IPA|/q, ʁ/}} phonemic, as they occur as allophones in native words, the former set near front vowels and the latter near a back vowels.  Some speakers of Uyghur distinguish {{IPA|/v/}} from {{IPA|/w/}} in Russian loans, but this is not represented in most orthographies.  Other phonemes occur natively only in limited contexts, i.e. {{IPA|/h/}} only in few interjections, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, and {{IPA|/ʁ/}} rarely initially, and {{IPA|/z/}} only morpheme-final. Therefore, the pairs {{IPA|*/t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/}}, {{IPA|*/ʃ, ʒ/}}, and {{IPA|*/s, z/}} do not alternate.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1998|pp=381–382}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|pp=59–84}}</ref>

=== Phonotactics ===
The primary syllable structure of Uyghur is CV(C)(C).<ref name="ethnologue" /> Uyghur syllable structure is usually CV or CVC, but CVCC can also occur in some words. When syllable-coda clusters occur, CC tends to become CVC in some speakers especially if the first consonant is not a sonorant.  In Uyghur, any consonant phoneme can occur as the syllable onset or coda, except for {{IPA|/ʔ/}} which only occurs in the onset and {{IPA|/ŋ/}}, which never occurs word-initially. In general, Uyghur [[Social:Phonology|phonology]] tends to simplify [[Social:Phoneme|phonemic]] consonant clusters by means of elision and epenthesis.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|pp=22–26}}</ref>

== Orthography ==
{{Main|Social:Uyghur alphabets}}
[[File:Military Museum of Xinjiang signboard in Uyghur-Mandarin.jpg|thumb|A signboard in front of the Bingtuan Military Museum of Xinjiang written in Uyghur (using Arabic script) and Standard Chinese]]
[[File:Yining.jpg|thumb|A sign in Ghulja, Xinjiang, written in Uyghur (using Arabic script) and Chinese (both Hanzi and [[Pinyin|Pinyin]])]]
[[File:Khotan-ciber-d01.jpg|thumb|Internet café (on the left) and barbershop (on the right) in Khotan oasis city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Address written in Uyghur with the Arabic script.]]

The Karluk language started to be written with the Perso-Arabic script (Kona Yëziq) in the 10th century upon the conversion of the Kara-Khanids to Islam. This Perso-Arabic script (Kona Yëziq) was reformed in the 20th century with modifications to represent all Modern Uyghur sounds including short vowels and eliminate Arabic letters representing sounds not found in Modern Uyghur. Unlike many other modern [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic languages]], Uyghur is primarily written using a Perso-Arabic-based alphabet, although a [[Social:Cyrillic script|Cyrillic alphabet]] and two Latin alphabets also are in use to a much lesser extent. Unusually for an alphabet based on the Arabic script, full transcription of vowels is indicated. (Among the Arabic family of alphabets, only a few, such as [[Social:Kurdish alphabets|Kurdish]], distinguish all vowels without the use of optional diacritics.)

The four alphabets in use today can be seen below.

* Uyghur Arabic alphabet or ''UEY''
* [[Social:Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet|Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet]] or ''USY''
* The Uyghur New Script or ''UYY''
* [[Social:Uyghur Latin alphabet|Uyghur Latin alphabet]] or ''ULY''

In the table below the alphabets are shown side-by-side for comparison, together with a phonetic transcription in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! No.
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! UEY
! [[Social:Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet|USY]]
! UYY
! [[Social:Uyghur Latin alphabet|ULY]]
| rowspan="21" | &nbsp;
! No.
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! UEY
! [[Social:Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet|USY]]
! UYY
! [[Social:Uyghur Latin alphabet|ULY]]
|-
| '''1''' || {{IPAslink|ɑ}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ئا}}</span> || А а ||colspan="2"| A a
| '''17''' || {{IPAslink|q}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ق}}</span> || Қ қ || Ⱪ ⱪ || Q q
|-
| '''2''' || {{IPAslink|ɛ}} ~ {{IPAslink|æ}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ئە}}</span> || Ә ә || Ə ə || E e
| '''18''' || {{IPAslink|k}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ك}}</span> || К к ||colspan="2"| K k
|-
| '''3''' || {{IPAslink|b}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ب}}</span> || Б б ||colspan="2"| B b
| '''19''' || {{IPAslink|ɡ}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|گ}}</span> || Г г ||colspan="2"| G g
|-
| '''4''' || {{IPAslink|p}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|پ}}</span> || П п ||colspan="2"| P p
| '''20''' || {{IPAslink|ŋ}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ڭ}}</span> || Ң ң ||colspan="2"| Ng ng
|-
| '''5''' || {{IPAslink|t̪|t}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ت}}</span> || Т т ||colspan="2"| T t
| '''21''' || {{IPAslink|l}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ل}}</span> || Л л ||colspan="2"| L l
|-
| rowspan="2"| '''6''' || rowspan="2"| {{IPAslink|dʒ}} || rowspan="2"| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ج}}</span> || rowspan="2"| Җ җ || J j ||rowspan="2"| J j
| rowspan="2"| '''22''' || rowspan="2"| {{IPAslink|m}} || rowspan="2"| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|م}}</span> || rowspan="2"| М м || rowspan="2" colspan="2"| M m
|-
| Zh zh
|-
| rowspan="2"| '''7''' || rowspan="2"| {{IPAslink|tʃ}} || rowspan="2"| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|چ}}</span> || rowspan="2"| Ч ч || Q q || rowspan="2"| Ch ch
| rowspan="2"| '''23''' || rowspan="2"| {{IPAslink|n̪|n}} || rowspan="2"| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ن}}</span> || rowspan="2"| Н н || rowspan="2" colspan="2"| N n
|-
| Ch ch
|-
| '''8''' || {{IPAslink|χ}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|خ}}</span> || Х х || H h || X x
| '''24''' || {{IPAslink|h}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ھ}}</span> || Һ һ || Ⱨ ⱨ || H h
|-
| '''9''' || {{IPAslink|d̪|d}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|د}}</span> || Д д ||colspan="2"| D d
| '''25''' || {{IPAslink|o}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ئو}}</span> || О о ||colspan="2"| O o
|-
| '''10''' || {{IPAslink|r}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ر}}</span> || Р р ||colspan="2"| R r
| '''26''' || {{IPAslink|u}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ئۇ}}</span> || У у ||colspan="2"| U u
|-
| '''11''' || {{IPAslink|z}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ز}}</span> || З з ||colspan="2"| Z z
| '''27''' || {{IPAslink|ø}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ئۆ}}</span> || Ө ө || Ɵ ɵ || Ö ö
|-
| '''12''' || {{IPAslink|ʒ}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ژ}}</span> || Ж ж || Ⱬ ⱬ || Zh zh
| '''28''' || {{IPAslink|y}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ئۈ}}</span> || Ү ү ||colspan="2"| Ü ü
|-
| rowspan="2"| '''13''' || rowspan="2"| {{IPAslink|s}} || rowspan="2"| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|س}}</span> || rowspan="2"| С с || rowspan="2" colspan="2"| S s
| rowspan="2"| '''29''' || rowspan="2"| {{IPAslink|v}}~{{IPAslink|w}} || rowspan="2"| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ۋ}}</span> || rowspan="2"| В в || V v || rowspan="2"| W w
|-
| W w
|-
| rowspan="2"| '''14''' || rowspan="2"| {{IPAslink|ʃ}} || rowspan="2"| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ش}}</span> || rowspan="2"| Ш ш || X x || rowspan="2"| Sh sh
| rowspan="2"| '''30''' || rowspan="2"| {{IPAslink|e}} || rowspan="2"| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ئې}}</span> || rowspan="2"| Е е || rowspan="2"| E e || rowspan="2"| Ë ë (formerly É é)
|-
| Sh sh
|-
| '''15''' || {{IPAslink|ʁ}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|غ}}</span> || Ғ ғ || Ƣ ƣ || Gh gh
| '''31''' || {{IPAslink|ɪ}} ~ {{IPAslink|i}}|| <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ئى}}</span> || И и ||colspan="2"| I i
|-
| '''16''' || {{IPAslink|f}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ف}}</span> || Ф ф ||colspan="2"| F f
| '''32''' || {{IPAslink|j}} || <span style="font-size:160%; line-height:160%;">{{ug-textonly|ي}}</span> || Й й ||colspan="2"| Y y
|}

== Grammar ==
Like other Turkic languages, Uyghur is a head-final [[Social:Agglutinative language|agglutinative language]] with a [[Social:Subject–object–verb|subject–object–verb]] word order. Nouns are inflected for number and case, but not gender and definiteness like in many other languages. There are two numbers: singular and plural and six different cases: nominative, accusative, dative, locative, ablative and genitive.<ref name="EnYaDw.2009.1-2">{{Harvnb|Engesæth|Yakup|Dwyer|2009|pp=1–2}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1991|pp=589–590}}</ref> Verbs are conjugated for [[Social:Grammatical tense|tense]]: present and past; voice: causative and passive; aspect: continuous and mood: e.g. ability. Verbs may be negated as well.<ref name="EnYaDw.2009.1-2" />

== Lexicon ==
The core [[Social:Lexicon|lexicon]] of the Uyghur language is of [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]] stock, but due to different kinds of language contact throughout its history, it has adopted many [[Social:Loanword|loanword]]s. [[Social:Kazakh language|Kazakh]], [[Social:Uzbek language|Uzbek]] and [[Social:Chagatai language|Chagatai]] are all [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic languages]] which have had a strong influence on Uyghur. Many words of [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]] origin have come into the language through [[Social:Persian language|Persian]] and [[Social:Tajik language|Tajik]], which again have come through Uzbek and to a greater extent, Chagatai. Many words of Arabic origin have also entered the language directly through [[Religion:Islamic literature|Islamic literature]] after the introduction of [[Religion:Islam|Islam]] around the 10th century.

[[Social:Chinese language|Chinese]] in Xinjiang and [[Social:Russian language|Russian]] elsewhere had the greatest{{vague|date=August 2020}} influence on Uyghur. Loanwords from these languages are all quite recent, although older borrowings exist as well, such as borrowings from [[Social:Dungan language|Dungan]], a [[Social:Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin language]] spoken by the Dungan people of [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]]. A number of loanwords of [[Social:German language|German]] origin have also reached Uyghur through Russian.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hahn|1998|pp=394–395}}</ref>

[[Social:Code-switching|Code-switching]] with [[Social:Standard Chinese|Standard Chinese]] is common in spoken Uyghur, but stigmatized in formal contexts. Xinjiang Television and other mass media, for example, will use the rare Russian loanword ''aplisin'' ({{lang|ru|апельсин}}, ''apel'sin'') for the word "orange", rather than the ubiquitous Mandarin loanword ''juze'' ({{zh|c=橘子|p=júzi|labels=no}}). In a sentence, this mixing might look like:<ref name="Thompson">{{Cite thesis |last=Thompson |first=Ashley Claire |title=Our 'Messy' Mother Tongue: Language Attitudes Among Urban Uyghurs and Desires for 'Purity' in the Public Sphere |date=2013 |degree=M.A. |publisher=University of Kansas |language=en |hdl=1808/11705 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>{{fs interlinear|مېنىڭ تەلەفونىم گۇئەنجى، شۇڭا سىزگە دۇئەنشىن ئەۋەتەلمىدىم.|Më-ning telfon-im guenji, shunga siz-ge duenshin ewet-elmi-dim.|1sg-GEN cellphone-POSS.1sg shut.down, so 2sg-DAT text.message send-CAP.NEG-PST.1sg|My (cell) phone shut down (关机; guānjī), so I wasn't able to send you a text message (短信; duǎnxìn).|lang=ug|indent=3}}Below are some examples of common loanwords in the Uyghur language.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Origin
! Source word
! Source (in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
! Uyghur word
! Uyghur (in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
! [[Social:English language|English]]
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[Social:Persian language|Persian]]
| <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{lang|fa|افسوس}}</span> || {{IPA|[afˈsuːs]}} || ''epsus'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|ئەپسۇس|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/ɛpsus/}} || pity
|-
| <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{lang|fa|گوشت}}</span>  || {{IPA|[ɡoːʃt]}} || ''gösh'' {{Lang-ug| گۆش‎|label=none}}|| {{IPA|/ɡøʃ/}} || meat
|-
| <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{lang|fa|ساعت}}</span> || {{IPA|[ˈsaːʔat]}} || ''saet'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|سائەت|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/sɑʔɛt/}}|| hour
|-
| rowspan="5" | [[Social:Russian language|Russian]]
| {{lang|ru|велосипед}} || {{IPA|[vʲɪləsʲɪˈpʲɛt]}} || ''wëlsipit'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|ۋېلسىپىت|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/welsipit/}} || bicycle
|-
| {{lang|ru|доктор}} || {{IPA|[ˈdoktər]}} || ''doxtur'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|دوختۇر|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/doχtur/}} || doctor (medical)
|-
| {{lang|ru|поезд}} || {{IPA|[ˈpo.jɪst]}} || ''poyiz'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|پويىز|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/pojiz/}} || train 
|-
| {{lang|ru|область}} || {{IPA|[ˈobləsʲtʲ]}} || ''oblast'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|ئوبلاست|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/oblɑst/}}|| oblast, region
|-
| {{lang|ru|телевизор}} || {{IPA|[tʲɪlʲɪˈvʲizər]}} || ''tëlëwizor'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|تېلېۋىزور|label=none}}</span> ||  {{IPA|/televizor/}} || television set
|-
<!--
| rowspan="2" | [[Social:English language|English]]
| radio|| {{IPA|[ˈɹeɪdiːəʊ]}} || ''radiyo'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|رادىئو|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/radijo/}} ||radio
|-
| telephone|| {{IPA|[ˈtɛləfəʊn]}} || ''tëlëfon'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|تېلېفون|label=none}}</span>|| {{IPA|/telepon/}} || telephone
|-
-->
| rowspan="5" | [[Social:Chinese language|Chinese]]
| {{lang|zh|凉粉}}, ''liángfěn'' || {{IPA|[li̯ɑŋ˧˥fən˨˩]}} || ''lempung'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|لەڭپۇڭ|label=none}}</span>|| {{IPA|/lɛmpuŋ/}} ||agar-agar jelly 
|-
| {{lang|zh|豆腐}}, ''dòufu'' || {{IPA|[tou̯˥˩fu˩]}} || ''dufu'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|دۇفۇ|label=none}}</span>|| {{IPA|/dufu/}} || bean curd/tofu
|-
| {{lang|zh|书记}}, ''shūjì'' || {{IPA|[ʂútɕî]}} || ''shuji'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|شۇجى|label=none}}</span>|| {{IPA|/ʃud͡ʒi/}} || secretary<ref name="Mi">Mi, Chenggang, et al. "Recurrent Neural Network Based Loanwords Identification in Uyghur." ''Proceedings of the 30th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation: Oral Papers.'' 2016.</ref>
|-
| {{lang|zh|桌子}}, ''zhuōzi'' || {{IPA|[ʈʂwótsɹ̩]}} || ''joza'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|جوزا|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/d͡ʒozɑ/}}|| table<ref name="Thompson" />
|-
| {{lang|zh|冰箱}}, ''bīngxiāng'' || {{IPA|[píŋɕjáŋ]}} || ''bingshang'' <span style="font-size:110%; line-height:170%;">{{Lang-ug|بىڭشاڭ|label=none}}</span> || {{IPA|/biŋʃɑŋ/}}|| refrigerator<ref name="Thompson" />
|}

== Sample text ==
The following is a sample text in Uyghur of Article 1 of the [[Philosophy:Universal Declaration of Human Rights|Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] with English.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Uyghur Arabic:
| dir="rtl" |{{Lang|ug|ھەممە ئادەم زانىدىنلا ئەركىن، ئىززەت-ھۆرمەت ۋە ھوقۇقتا باپباراۋەر بولۇپ تۇغۇلغان. ئۇلار ئەقىلغە ۋە ۋىجدانغا ئىگە ھەمدە بىر-بىرىگە قېرىنداشلىق مۇناسىۋىتىگە خاس روھ بىلەن موئامىلە قىلىشى كېرەك.|size=125%|rtl=yes}}
|-
!Uyghur Latin:
|Hemme adem zanidinla erkin, izzet-hörmet we hoquqta bapbarawer bolup tughulghun. Ular eqilghe we wijdan'gha ige hemde bir-birige qërindashliq munasiwitige xas roh bilen moamile qilishi kërek.
|-
!IPA:
|/ɦɛm.mɛ ʔɑdɛm zɑnidinlɑ ʔɛrkin, ʔiz.zɛt hørmɛt wɛ ɦoquqtɑ bɑpbɑrɑwɛr bolup tuʁulʁun. ʔulɑr ʔɛqilʁɛ wɛ widʒdɑnʁɑ ʔigɛ ɦɛmdɛ bir birigɛ qerindɑʃliq munɑsiwitigɛ χɑs roh bilɛn moʔɑmilɛ qiliʃi kerɛk/
|-
!'''English original:'''
|"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
|}

== See also ==
* [[Social:Languages of China|Languages of China]]
{{Clear}}

== References ==

=== Notes ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== General ===
* {{Cite thesis |last=Abdurehim |first=Esmael |title=The Lopnor Dialect of Uyghur: A Descriptive Analysis |date=2014 |degree=Doctoral |publisher=University of Helsinki |isbn=978-951-51-0384-0 |language=en |hdl=10138/136392 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{Cite conference |last1=Duval |first1=Jean Rahman |last2=Janbaz |first2=Waris Abdukerim |date=2006 |title=An Introduction to Latin-Script Uyghur |url=http://www.uyghurdictionary.org/excerpts/An%20Introduction%20to%20LSU.pdf |conference=2006 Middle East & Central Asia Politics, Economics, and Society Conference. Sept 7 – 9, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022113840/http://www.uyghurdictionary.org/excerpts/An%20Introduction%20to%20LSU.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-22}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dwyer |first=Arienne |title=Facts About the World's Languages |date=2001 |publisher=H. W. Wilson |isbn=978-0-8242-0970-4 |editor-last=Garry |editor-first=Jane |pages=786–790 |chapter=Uyghur |editor-last2=Rubino |editor-first2=Carl}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Engesæth |first1=Tarjei |url=http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/bitstream/1808/5624/3/EngYakDwy2009_Uyg1full_10.pdf |title=Greetings from the Teklimakan: A Handbook of Modern Uyghur, Volume 1 |last2=Yakup |first2=Mahire |last3=Dwyer |first3=Arienne |date=2009 |publisher=University of Kansas Scholarworks |isbn=978-1-936153-03-9 |location=Lawrence |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401001721/http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/bitstream/1808/5624/3/EngYakDwy2009_Uyg1full_10.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2010 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hahn |first=Reinhard F. |title=Spoken Uyghur |date=1991 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0-295-98651-7 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hahn |first=Reinhard F. |title=The Turkic Languages |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-08200-6 |editor-last=Johanson |editor-first=Lars |pages=379–396 |chapter=Uyghur |editor-last2=Csató |editor-first2=Éva Ágnes}}
* {{Cite book |last=Johanson |first=Lars |title=The Turkic Languages |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-08200-6 |editor-last=Johanson |editor-first=Lars |pages=81–125 |chapter=History of Turkic |editor-last2=Csató |editor-first2=Éva Ágnes}}
* {{Cite web |last=Vaux |first=Bert |date=2001 |title=Disharmony and Derived Transparency in Uyghur Vowel Harmony |url=http://www.uwm.edu/~vaux/uyghur.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208045946/http://www.uwm.edu/~vaux/uyghur.pdf |archive-date=8 February 2006 |publisher=Harvard University |via=uwm.edu |place=Cambridge}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tömür |first=Hamüt |title=Modern Uyghur Grammar (Morphology) |date=2003 |publisher=Yıldız |isbn=975-7981-20-6 |location=İstanbul |translator-last=Lee |translator-first=Anne}}
* {{Cite book |last=Yakup |first=Abdurishid |title=The Turfan Dialect of Uyghur |date=2005 |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=3-447-05233-3 |location=Wiesbaden}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Hamut |first1=Bahargül |last2=Joniak-Lüthi |first2=Agnieszka |date=2015 |title=The Language Choices and Script Debates among the Uyghur in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China |journal=Linguistik Online |volume=70 |pages=111–124 |citeseerx=10.1.1.692.7380}}

== External links ==
{{interwiki|code=ug}}
{{wikivoyage|Uyghur phrasebook}}

=== Textbooks ===
* (free to use) [https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/5624 Greetings from the Teklimakan: a handbook of Modern Uyghur] from the [[Organization:University of Kansas|University of Kansas]]

=== Dictionaries ===
* [http://www.uighurdictionary.com/ Uyghur-English Dictionary]
* [http://dict.yulghun.com Online Uyghur, English, Chinese Multi-directional Dictionary (Arabic Alphabet)]
* [http://www.uyghurche.com Uyghur–Chinese Dictionary]
* {{in lang|zh}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20151122140018/http://www.tilmach.cn/ 丝路语通 Online Uyghur–Chinese Dictionary and translation services]
* [http://www.anasoz.com Uyghur English Dictionary (in Uyghur Latin, Arabic and Cyrillic scripts) ]

=== Radio ===
* [http://www.trt.net.tr/international/news.aspx?Dil=uy TRT: Uyghur]
* [http://uygur.chinabroadcast.cn/ Uyghur edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228152348/http://uygur.chinabroadcast.cn/ |date=28 February 2019 }} of China Radio International

=== Television ===
* [http://uyghur.cntv.cn/ Uyghur edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226000210/http://uyghur.cntv.cn/ |date=26 December 2018 }} of China Central Television

=== Fonts ===
* [http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Uighur.html Arabic Uyghur in different fonts]
* [http://www.ukij.org/fonts/ Unicode based TrueType/OpenType fonts of the Uyghur Computer Science Association]

=== Romanizations ===
* , published by the Library of Congress.
*Transliteration of Minority-Language Place Names Using Hanyu Pinyin Letters ({{lang|zh-hans|少数民族语地名汉语拼音字母音译转写法}})[http://www.moe.gov.cn/ewebeditor/uploadfile/2015/01/12/20150112161436994.pdf] {{in lang|zh-hans}}
*Uyghur Scripts Latinization Project ({{lang|zh-hans|维吾尔文拉丁化方案}}) [https://web.archive.org/web/20131201102602/http://www.xjyw.gov.cn/Web/article.aspx?ArticleID=1088] {{in lang|zh-hans}}

{{Turkic languages}}
{{Languages of China}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uyghur Language}}
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Subject–object–verb languages]]
[[Category:Languages of China]]
[[Category:Vowel-harmony languages]]

{{Sourceattribution|Uyghur language}}