| Also Known As: Uyghur,Wiga,Uighuir,Uigur,Novouygur,Uyghuri,Uighur,Weiwuer,Uygur,Uiguir,Uighor,Wighor
Description:
Uyghur (ئۇيغۇرچە/Uyƣurqə/Уйғурчә, or ئۇيغۇر تىلى/Uyƣur tili/Уйғур тили) is a Turkic language spoken by the Uyghur people in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a Central Asian region administered by China. In English, the name of the ethnicity and its language is spelled variously as Uyghur, Uighur, Uygur and Uigur, with the preferred spelling being Uyghur. Many English speakers pronounce it as /ˈwi.ɡər/ but the pronunciation /ujˈɡur/ is closer to native [ʔʊɪ'ʁʊː].
The Uyghur language belongs to the Uyghuric group of the Turkic language family, which is among the Altaic languages. The languages most closely related to it include Uzbek, Salar, Ili Turki, and Aini.
Uyghur is spoken by 10 million (2007)(20 million according to some unofficial sources) in China, mostly in the far western Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Uyghur is also spoken by 300,000 in Kazakhstan, and there are Uyghur-speaking communities in Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, and Uzbekistan.
Old Uyghur is an ancient form of Turkic used from the 7th to the 13th centuries in Mongolia..... full article at Wikipedia |