The Sarigh Uyghur Alphabet — 32 Latin Script Letters of the Yellow Uyghur Turkic Language of Gansu, China

Q: What does "Sarigh Uyghur" mean?

"Sarïgh Uyghur" means "Yellow Uyghur" in Turkic [2] . The "yellow" (sarïgh) component is believed to refer to the yellow robes of Tibetan Buddhist monks , reflecting the deep Tibetan Buddhist influence on the Western Yugur people's culture and identity over many centuries. Sarïgh Uyghur is the traditional self-designation used by the Western Yugur community themselves, as opposed to the Chinese exonym Yughur . The language is also called Yellow Uyghur in English — all three names, Sarïgh Uyghur, Yellow Uyghur, and Yughur, refer to the same language .

Q: Is Sarigh Uyghur the same as Uyghur?

No. Sarïgh Uyghur and Uyghur are completely different languages [1] . Uyghur is spoken by over 10 million people in Xinjiang using an Arabic-based script. Sarïgh Uyghur is spoken by fewer than 5,000 people in Gansu using a Latin-based script — they are not mutually intelligible . Despite sharing a historical connection — both communities descend from the ancient Uyghur Khaganate — the languages have diverged over more than 1,100 years of separate development. Modern Sarïgh Uyghur has absorbed Mongolic, Tibetan, and Mandarin loanwords absent from Uyghur, while diverging greatly in phonology and grammar.

Q: Where is Sarigh Uyghur spoken?

Sarïgh Uyghur is spoken in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County [1] in Zhangye prefecture , Gansu province, northwestern China. The main communities are found in the Qilian Mountain grasslands along the Hexi Corridor, a historic route of the Silk Road. The language is also called Yughur and Yellow Uyghur . With approximately 4,600 speakers , it is classified as severely endangered by UNESCO. Most fluent speakers are elderly, with younger generations shifting to Mandarin Chinese for daily communication.

Q: What language family does Sarigh Uyghur belong to?

Sarïgh Uyghur belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language family [2] . Its closest relatives are Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Kumyk. Like all Turkic languages, it features vowel harmony, agglutinative morphology, and verb-final word order . Sarïgh Uyghur has preserved archaic Turkic features — including the uvular consonant q and the velar fricative γ — that have been reduced or lost in many modern Turkic languages. It has also absorbed significant Mongolic and Tibetan loanwords , making it a linguistically distinctive member of the Turkic family.

Q: How many letters does the Sarigh Uyghur alphabet have?

The Sarïgh Uyghur Latin alphabet has 32 letters [1] : 8 vowels (A, E, I, O, U, Ö, Ü, Ə) and 24 consonants . The 8-vowel system reflects Turkic vowel harmony. The diacritic letters š, ž, č, and ŋ are standard in scholarly Turkic documentation. The uvular consonant Q and the voiced velar fricative Γ (gamma) are characteristic of Kipchak Turkic phonology. The schwa (Ə) represents the neutral mid-central vowel common in unstressed syllables — a sound absent from English spelling but familiar from the unstressed vowels in everyday speech.

Q: What is the cultural heritage of the Sarigh Uyghur people?

The Western Yugur (Sarïgh Uyghur) people have a rich heritage as nomadic pastoralists [2] in the Qilian Mountain grasslands of Gansu. Their traditional life centred on herding sheep, horses, and camels across the high-altitude grasslands between the Hexi Corridor and the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetan Buddhism is central to their identity — the community converted centuries ago and maintains Buddhist monasteries in the Sunan region. Traditional arts include felt-making, embroidery, and distinctive oral literature including the heroic epic Zhaomayuer , one of the most celebrated works in Western Yugur cultural heritage.

Sarïgh Uyghur Alphabet at a Glance

Sarïgh Uyghur uses 32 Latin-based letters: 8 vowels and 24 consonants — the writing system of the Western Yugur Turkic language of Gansu, China
"Sarïgh Uyghur" means Yellow Uyghur in Turkic — approximately 4,600 speakers in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu province, China ^[1]
A Kipchak Turkic language also known as Yughur and Yellow Uyghur — entirely distinct from the Uyghur language of Xinjiang despite the similar name ^[2]
The 8 vowels include front rounded ö and ü, and the schwa ə — reflecting vowel harmony characteristic of all Turkic languages
Special consonant letters include š (sh-sound), ž (zh-sound), č (ch-sound), ŋ (ng-sound), γ (velar fricative), and q (uvular stop)
Sarïgh Uyghur is classified as severely endangered — descended from the ancient Uyghur Khaganate that ruled Central Asia in the 8th–9th centuries CE
The Western Yugur people adopted Tibetan Buddhism centuries ago, giving their culture a distinctive blend of Turkic language and Tibetan spiritual heritage

Sarïgh Uyghur Vowels

The 8 vowel letters of the Sarïgh Uyghur Latin alphabet — A, E, I, O, U, Ö, Ü, Ə. The same 8 vowels used across all three names (Yughur, Sarïgh Uyghur, Yellow Uyghur) for this Western Yugur Turkic language.

The front rounded vowels ö and ü, and the schwa ə, are hallmarks of Turkic vowel systems. Vowel harmony — the principle that front and back vowels are kept separate within a word — is a fundamental feature of Sarïgh Uyghur grammar.

[a]

[e]

[i]

[o]

[u]

[oe]

[ue]

[uh]

[a]

Vowel A — open central vowel, as in "father". Foundational vowel of the Yughur sound system.

[e]

Vowel E — mid front unrounded vowel, as in "bed". Common in Yughur vocabulary.

[i]

Vowel I — high front unrounded vowel, as in "see". A frequent vowel in Yughur.

[o]

Vowel O — mid back rounded vowel, as in "more". Used across Yughur vocabulary.

[u]

Vowel U — high back rounded vowel, as in "moon". A back vowel in Yughur.

[oe]

Vowel Ö — front rounded mid vowel, as in German "schön". A distinctive Turkic vowel in Yughur.

[ue]

Vowel Ü — front rounded high vowel, as in German "über". A characteristic vowel of Turkic languages.

[uh]

Vowel Ə (schwa) — neutral mid-central vowel, as in the unstressed "a" in "about". Used in Yughur unstressed syllables.

Sarïgh Uyghur Consonants

The 24 consonant letters of the Sarïgh Uyghur Latin alphabet — B, P, M, F, D, T, N, L, R, S, Z, Š, Ž, Č, J, G, K, Q, Γ, X, H, Ŋ, W, Y.

The caron-marked letters (Š, Ž, Č) represent postalveolar consonants, while the eng (Ŋ) represents the ng-sound. The uvular stop Q and voiced velar fricative Γ are ancient Turkic consonants preserved in Sarïgh Uyghur that reflect the language's deep Kipchak heritage.

[b]

[p]

[m]

[f]

[d]

[t]

[n]

[l]

[r]

[s]

[z]

[sh]

[zh]

[ch]

[j]

[g]

[k]

[q]

[gh]

[kh]

[h]

[ng]

[w]

[y]

[b]

Consonant B — voiced bilabial stop, as in "boy". A common consonant in Yughur.

[p]

Consonant P — voiceless bilabial stop, as in "pen". Used across Yughur vocabulary.

[m]

Consonant M — bilabial nasal, as in "man". A nasal consonant frequent in Yughur.

[f]

Consonant F — voiceless labiodental fricative, as in "fat". Present in Yughur, often in loanwords.

[d]

Consonant D — voiced alveolar stop, as in "door". A voiced counterpart of T in Yughur.

[t]

Consonant T — voiceless alveolar stop, as in "top". A common stop consonant in Yughur.

[n]

Consonant N — alveolar nasal, as in "no". A very frequent consonant in Yughur.

[l]

Consonant L — lateral approximant, as in "land". Common across Yughur word positions.

[r]

Consonant R — alveolar trill or tap, similar to Spanish "r". A rhotic consonant in Yughur.

[s]

Consonant S — voiceless alveolar fricative, as in "sun". A sibilant used throughout Yughur.

[z]

Consonant Z — voiced alveolar fricative, as in "zoo". The voiced counterpart of S in Yughur.

[sh]

Consonant Š — voiceless postalveolar fricative, the sh-sound as in "she". Written with a caron over S in Yughur.

[zh]

Consonant Ž — voiced postalveolar fricative, the zh-sound as in "measure". The voiced counterpart of Š in Yughur.

[ch]

Consonant Č — voiceless postalveolar affricate, the ch-sound as in "church". Written with a caron over C in Yughur.

[j]

Consonant J — voiced affricate, as in "judge". Used in native and borrowed vocabulary in Yughur.

[g]

Consonant G — voiced velar stop, as in "go". A velar consonant in Yughur.

[k]

Consonant K — voiceless velar stop, as in "key". A frequent consonant in Yughur Turkic vocabulary.

[q]

Consonant Q — voiceless uvular stop, pronounced further back than K. Characteristic of Turkic languages including Yughur.

[gh]

Consonant Γ (gamma) — voiced velar or uvular fricative, a deep throaty gh-sound. A distinctive consonant in Yughur inherited from Old Turkic.

[kh]

Consonant X — voiceless velar fricative, the kh-sound similar to Scottish "loch". Used in Yughur native vocabulary.

[h]

Consonant H — voiceless glottal fricative, as in "hat". A fricative used in Yughur.

[ng]

Consonant Ŋ (eng) — velar nasal, the ng-sound as in "sing". Written with the eng letter in Yughur orthography.

[w]

Consonant W — labial-velar approximant, as in "water". A semivowel in Yughur.

[y]

Consonant Y — palatal approximant, as in "yes". A semivowel acting as consonant in Yughur.

Sarïgh Uyghur Special Characters

The 10 special characters of Sarïgh Uyghur — the same 10 special letters as Yughur: 3 special vowels (Ö, Ü, Ə) and 7 special consonants (Š, Ž, Č, Ŋ, Γ, Q, X) that go beyond the standard Latin alphabet.

These special characters are shared across all three names — Sarïgh Uyghur, Yellow Uyghur, and Yughur — since they describe the same language. The caron letters (Š, Ž, Č), the eng (Ŋ), and the gamma (Γ) reflect the ancient Turkic phonological heritage of the Western Yugur people.

[oe]

[ue]

[uh]

[sh]

[zh]

[ch]

[ng]

[gh]

[q]

[kh]

[oe]

Special Vowel Ö — front rounded mid vowel, as in German "schön". Unique to Yughur among basic Latin scripts; essential for Turkic vowel harmony.

[ue]

Special Vowel Ü — front rounded high vowel, as in German "über". A distinctive Turkic vowel marking front-rounded harmony in Yughur words.

[uh]

Special Vowel Ə (schwa) — mid-central neutral vowel, as in the unstressed "a" in "about". Unique to Yughur among Turkic Latin scripts.

[sh]

Special Consonant Š — postalveolar fricative (sh-sound), as in "she". Written with a caron (háček) over S; a key caron letter in Yughur.

[zh]

Special Consonant Ž — voiced postalveolar fricative (zh-sound), as in "measure". Caron letter; the voiced counterpart of Š in Yughur.

[ch]

Special Consonant Č — postalveolar affricate (ch-sound), as in "church". Caron letter replacing the digraph "ch" in Yughur orthography.

[ng]

Special Consonant Ŋ (eng) — velar nasal (ng-sound), as in "sing". The eng letter represents a sound that English spells with two letters "ng".

[gh]

Special Consonant Γ (gamma) — voiced velar or uvular fricative (deep gh-sound). An ancient Turkic consonant preserved in Yughur, inherited from Old Turkic.

[q]

Special Consonant Q — voiceless uvular stop, articulated further back than K. A characteristic Turkic consonant in Yughur that distinguishes back-vowel harmony words.

[kh]

Special Consonant X — voiceless velar fricative (kh-sound), similar to Scottish "loch" or German "Bach". Used in native Yughur vocabulary.

Sarïgh Uyghur Digits

Sarïgh Uyghur uses Arabic numerals (0–9) in everyday writing, with Kipchak Turkic number words: nöl (0), bir (1), eki (2), üč (3), tört (4), beš (5), altı (6), yeti (7), sekiz (8), toğuz (9).

These number words are shared with other Kipchak Turkic languages like Kazakh and Kyrgyz, reflecting the common Turkic origin. The special letter Č appears in üč (3) and Š in beš (5), showing how Sarïgh Uyghur's special characters appear in everyday vocabulary.

[noel]

[beer]

[ek-ee]

[uch]

[tort]

[besh]

[al-tuh]

[yet-ee]

[seh-keez]

[toh-ghuz]

[noel]

Zero — Nöl (0). Yughur uses Arabic numerals 0–9 in everyday writing alongside the Latin script.

[beer]

One — Bir (1). The Turkic word for one, shared with Turkish, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz: bir.

[ek-ee]

Two — Eki (2). The Kipchak Turkic word for two; related to Kazakh eki and Kyrgyz eki.

[uch]

Three — Üč (3). Turkic word for three, using the special letter Č (ch-sound): üč.

[tort]

Four — Tört (4). The Kipchak Turkic word for four, shared with Kazakh and Kyrgyz: tört.

[besh]

Five — Beš (5). Turkic word for five, using the special letter Š (sh-sound): beš.

[al-tuh]

Six — Altı (6). The Turkic word for six, broadly shared across the Turkic language family: altı.

[yet-ee]

Seven — Yeti (7). Kipchak Turkic word for seven; related to Turkish yedi and Kazakh jeti.

[seh-keez]

Eight — Sekiz (8). The Turkic word for eight, preserved across Kipchak and Oghuz branches: sekiz.

[toh-ghuz]

Nine — Toğuz (9). Kipchak Turkic word for nine; related to Kazakh toğız and Kyrgyz toğuz.

Complete Sarïgh Uyghur Alphabet

A complete view of all 32 Sarïgh Uyghur letters — 8 vowels and 24 consonants — arranged alphabetically. Sarïgh Uyghur, Yellow Uyghur, and Yughur share the same 32-letter Latin alphabet.

The 10 special letters — Ö, Ü, Ə, Š, Ž, Č, Ŋ, Γ, Q, X — extend the basic Latin alphabet to capture the distinctive sounds of this endangered Kipchak Turkic language of the Western Yugur people of Gansu, China.

[a]

[b]

[ch]

[d]

[e]

[uh]

[f]

[g]

[gh]

[h]

[i]

[j]

[k]

[l]

[m]

[n]

[ng]

[o]

[oe]

[p]

[q]

[r]

[s]

[sh]

[t]

[u]

[ue]

[w]

[kh]

[y]

[z]

[zh]

Expand All Collapse All

What does "Sarigh Uyghur" mean?

Is Sarigh Uyghur the same as Uyghur?

Where is Sarigh Uyghur spoken?

What language family does Sarigh Uyghur belong to?

How many letters does the Sarigh Uyghur alphabet have?

What is the cultural heritage of the Sarigh Uyghur people?

References:

[1] Glottolog 5.x. "Western Yugur [west2403]" — Turkic > Siberian Turkic classification; an endangered language of Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu, China. Retrieved from Glottolog: Western Yugur
[2] SIL International. "Western Yugur [ybe]" — ISO 639-3 Registration Authority entry for Yughur (Sarïgh Uyghur / Yellow Uyghur), an endangered Turkic language of Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Gansu, China. Retrieved from SIL ISO 639-3: Western Yugur