The Eastern Yugur Alphabet

Eastern Yugur ^[1] (ISO 639-3: yuy) is a Mongolic language spoken by the Yugur people (裕固族) of Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu province, China. It is also known as Yogur, Yoghur or Sarï Uyghur. Eastern Yugur is distinct from Western Yugur — a Turkic language spoken by other members of the same Yugur ethnic group. Minzu University of China documents Eastern Yugur as one of the rarest Mongolic languages in China.

Eastern Yugur ^[1] is known by several names: Eastern Yugur (academic term distinguishing it from Western Yugur), Yogur (a common alternate spelling), Yoghur (another alternate spelling), and Sarï Uyghur (from the Mongolic tradition, meaning Yellow Uyghur). All these names refer to the same Mongolic language (ISO 639-3: yuy) of the Yugur people of Sunan, Gansu. The term "Eastern" is added to distinguish this Mongolic language from Western Yugur, which is a Turkic language spoken by other Yugur people.

The Yugur people speak two unrelated languages because of their complex history ^[2]. The ancestors of the Yugur people were part of the Uyghur Khaganate, which collapsed in 840 CE. Some descendants moved west and eventually became Turkic-speaking (Western Yugur). Others moved into the Gansu corridor and over centuries assimilated to the local Mongolic-speaking population, developing Eastern Yugur. The Endangered Languages Project documents this historical divergence as the reason for the unusual situation where a single ethnic group speaks two genetically unrelated languages.

Yes — Eastern Yugur ^[2] is critically endangered. The Endangered Languages Project documents only a few hundred fluent speakers remaining, predominantly elderly. Younger Yugur people mostly speak Mandarin Chinese. ELAR ^[3] at SOAS University of London preserves documentation of Eastern Yugur as part of global efforts to record endangered languages before they cease to be actively spoken. The critically endangered status makes Eastern Yugur one of the most urgent documentation priorities among Mongolic languages.

Eastern Yugur ^[1] is a Mongolic language, while Western Yugur is a Turkic language — they are completely unrelated, as different as French and Japanese. The two languages happen to be spoken by members of the same Yugur ethnic group in Sunan County, Gansu. Minzu University of China documents both languages separately. Eastern Yugur is related to Mongolian, Buryat and Tu; Western Yugur (Salar Yugur or Raogai Yugur) is related to other Turkic languages of Central Asia. Speakers of one Yugur language cannot understand the other without study.

Eastern Yugur ^[2] is spoken in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County (肃南裕固族自治县) in Zhangye, Gansu province, China. The county lies along the Hexi Corridor — the ancient Silk Road trade route between China and Central Asia. The Endangered Languages Project documents the remaining fluent speakers as concentrated in this area, where the Yugur people have lived since the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate and subsequent movements during the Tang and Song dynasty periods.

Sarï Uyghur ^[1] means "Yellow Uyghur" in Mongolian and related languages — "sarï" means yellow. This traditional name for Eastern Yugur refers to the yellow colour associated with Buddhism (the Yugur people are predominantly Tibetan Buddhist) and may also reflect the yellow landscape of the Hexi Corridor. Minzu University of China documents Sarï Uyghur as a traditional Mongolian name for the Eastern Yugur-speaking Yugur people, distinguishing them from the Turkic-speaking Western Yugurs who are sometimes called "Ak Yugur" (White Yugur).

Eastern Yugur ^[3] has no standardised writing system. The Yugur community uses Mandarin Chinese for written communication. Academic researchers use a Latin romanization with diacritic characters (Š, Ž, Ŋ, Ö, Ü) to record the phonology of the spoken language. ELAR at SOAS University of London archives romanized transcriptions alongside audio recordings of Eastern Yugur in Sunan County, Gansu — creating a lasting documentary record of this critically endangered Mongolic language under its various names (Eastern Yugur, Yogur, Yoghur, Sarï Uyghur).