Äynu language

Not to be confused with the Ainu language.
Äynu
Native to China
Region Xinjiang
Ethnicity Äynu
Native speakers
 6,600 (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 aib
Glottolog ainu1251[2]

Map showing locations of Äynu (red) within Xinjiang

Äynu (also Aini, Ejnu,[3] Abdal[1]) is a Turkic cryptolect spoken in western China known in various spelling as Aini, Aynu, Ainu, Eyni or by the Uyghur Abdal (ئابدال), in Russian sources Эйну́, Айну, Абдал, by the Chinese as Ainu. Some linguists call it a mixed language, having a mostly Turkic grammar, essentially Yugur (close to Uyghur), but a mainly Iranian vocabulary.[4] Other linguists argue that it does not meet the technical requirements of a mixed language.[5] It is spoken by the Äynu, a nomadic people. The Äynu people call their language Äynú (ئەينۇ) [ɛjˈnu].

Geographic distribution

Äynu is spoken in Western China in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin.

Use as a secret language

The only speakers of Äynu are adult men. Uyghur is spoken with outsiders and with women, who do not speak Äynu. Uyghur is spoken at home when it is not necessary to disguise one's speech.[6]

Sounds

Consonants

Consonant phonemes
  Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive p b t d     k ɡ q      
Affricate         t͡ʃ d͡ʒ            
Fricative   v s z ʃ       χ ʁ   ɦ
Nasal m n     ŋ        
Flap/Tap     r                
Lateral     l                
Approximant       j            

Vowels

Numerals

Äynu numerals are borrowed from Persian:

1 yäk, 2 du, 3 si, 4 čar, 5 pänǰ, 6 šäš, 7 häp(t), 8 häš(t), 9 noh, 10 dah, 20 bist, 100 säd, 1000 hazar

Notes

  1. 1 2 Äynu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Ainu (China)". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ Lee-Smith, Mei W. (1996). "The Ejnu language". In Wurm, Stephen A.; Mühlhäusler, Peter; Tyron, Darrell T. Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Volume 2, Part 1. (Volume 13 of Trends in Linguistics, Documentation Series). Walter de Gruyter. p. 851. ISBN 3-11-013417-9.
  4. ↑ Bakker, Peter (2003). "Mixed Languages as Autonomous Systems". In Matras, Yaron; Bakker, Peter. The Mixed Language Debate: Theoretical and Empirical Advances. Trends in Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 107–150. ISBN 3-11-017776-5.
  5. ↑ Johansson 2001
  6. ↑ Johansson, pg. 22.

References

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