Dungan
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A language of Kyrgyzstan
ISO 639-3
Alternate Names
Dzhunyan, Huizu, Kwuizwu, Tungan, Zwn’jan
Population
56,300 in Kyrgyzstan (2009 census). Ethnic population: 58,100 (2009 census). Total users in all countries: 108,400.
Location
Bishkek city; Chuy region: 2 small nearby border areas; Osh region; Ysyk-Kol region: Karakol area.
Language Maps
Language Status
7 (Shifting).
Classification
Dialects
Ganzu (Gansu), Shaanxi (Shensi), Yage. Shaanxi and Ganzu varieties have difficult mutual inherent intelligibility. Debate over whether Dungan has 3 tones (a merging of 2 standard Mandarin tones) or 4 tones (with only a partial merging of the 2 standard Mandarin tones). Different from Mandarin [cmn] in phonology and lexicon.
Language Use
Those under 50–55 speak Russian [rus] as L1.
Language Development
Bible portions: 2006–2011.
Language Resources
Writing
Cyrillic script [Cyrl].
Came from China over 100 years ago. Muslim.