Daur

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A language of China

ISO 639-3
dta
Alternate Names
Daguor, Dagur, Dawar, Dawo’er, Tahuerh, Tahur
Population

96,100 in China (1999 D. Ying), decreasing. 24,270 monolinguals. 35,000 Buteha dialect, 35,000 Qiqiha’er dialect, 15,500 Haila’er dialect, 4500 Ili dialect. Ethnic population: 132,000 (2000 census).

Location

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Hulun Buir league, Hailar prefecture, Morin Dawa (Molidawa) Daur autonomous banner, Oroqen autonomous banner and Ewenki autonomous banner; Heilongjiang Province, Nenjiang prefecture, Fuyu and Nehe counties; Qiqihar prefecture, Qiqihar city; northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Tacheng prefecture (Ili dialect). Also in Mongolia.

Language Maps
Language Status

7 (Shifting). Statutory language of provincial identity in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Hulun Buir League (1984, Ethnic Regional Autonomy Act, Articles 10 and 21).

Classification
Altaic, Mongolic, Eastern, Dagur
Dialects

Buteha (Aihui, Bataxan, Butah, Darbin, Mergen, Nawen, Nemor), Haila’er (Hailar, Mokertu, Nantun), Ili, Qiqiha’er (Fularji, Jiangdong, Jingxi, Qiqihar, Tsitsikhar). Definitely distinct from other Mongolian languages (Voegelin and Voegelin 1977). Some identify Haila’er dialect as a dialect of Evenki [evn].

Typology

SOV; grammatical function marked mainly by suffixes; some vowel harmony; many consonant clusters; palatalized and labialized consonants; loans from Chinese, Manchu, Evenki

Language Use

In Hulun Buir the language is being retained well; in Heilongjiang not transmitted to children among most groups (Bradley 2007). All domains. Mainly adults. Neutral attitudes. Also use Chinese [cmn] or Mongolian [mvf]. A few also use Evenki [evn], Kazakh [kaz], Oroqen [orh], or Manchu [mnc]. Reportedly high and widespread bilingualism in Chinese, the school language.

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 97% (2000 census, Daur nationality). Some literacy in Mongolian among those 30 to 50 years of age in Hala’er. Poetry. Radio programs. Films. Dictionary. Grammar.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Daur
Writing
Cyrillic script, no longer in use. Han script, Simplified variant. Latin script. Mongolian script, Manchu style, used since the Qing dynasty.
Other Comments

Officially classified within Daur nationality. Traditional religion.

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