Language Information
Map of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Uyghur is the the native language of over thirteen million people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the nearby countries of Central Asia, and in diaspora around the world. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region occupies one-sixth of the People’s Republic of China’s territory, making it nearly as large as Alaska.
Uyghur belongs to the Karluk branch of the Turkic language family, which also includes the Uzbek language. Uyghur vocabulary is basically Turkic in origin, but there are strong influences from Arabic, Persian, Russian, and Chinese. Uyghur is most commonly written using a modified form of Perso-Arabic script that utilizes mandatory marking of all vowels, although other writing systems are used for auxiliary and historical purposes.
Indiana University is one of two universities in the U.S. that offers three levels of Uyghur (introductory through advanced). The Department of Central Eurasian Studies also offers a full major in the language.
Additional resources are available from the Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center and the Center for Languages of Central Asian Region.