Ili Turki

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A language of China

ISO 639-3
ili
Alternate Names
Ili Turk, Tuerke, Tu’erke, T’urk
Population

120 in China (1980 R. Hahn), decreasing. The language of about 30 families (Salminen 2007).

Location

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, Tekes, Nilka, Xinyuan, Gongliu, Zhaosu, and other counties, Ili valley near Kuldja. Also in Kazakhstan.

Language Maps
Language Status

8a (Moribund).

Classification
Altaic, Turkic, Eastern
Typology

SOV; vowel harmony; influenced greatly by Kazakh and Uyghur; has Arabic, Persian, Chinese, and Russian loans

Language Use

Younger generations are shifting to Kazakh [kaz] or Uygur [uig] (2007). Older adults. Also use Kazakh [kaz] or Uyghur [uig].

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Ili Turki
Other Comments

Ethnically and linguistically distinct, discovered in 1956. Their oral history says they came from the Ferghana Valley (Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan) about 200 years ago. Officially classified within Uzbek nationality. Muslim (Sunni).

Also spoken in:

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