Ili Turki

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A language of China

ISO 639-3
ili
Alternate Names
Ili Turk, T’urk, Taranchi, Tu’erke, Tuerke
User Population

120 in China (1980 R. Hahn), decreasing. The language of about 30 families (Salminen 2007). Total users in all countries: 240.

Location

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region: Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, Gongliu, Nilka, Tekes, Xinyuan, Zhaosu, and other counties, Ili valley near Kuldja.

Language Maps
Language Status

8a (Moribund). Language of recognized nationality: Uzbek.

Classification
Turkic, Eastern
Dialects

None known. Ili Turki is indistinguishable from the Central Uyghur [uig] variety spoken in the Ili (Ghulja) area (2015 A. Dwyer).

Typology

SOV; vowel harmony; influenced greatly by Kazakh and Uyghur; has Arabic, Persian, Chinese, and Russian loans.

Language Use

Older adults only. Shifted to Kazakh [kaz] (Salminen 2007). Shifted to Uyghur [uig] (Salminen 2007).

Language Development

Texts.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Ili Turki
Other Comments

Ethnically and linguistically distinct, discovered in 1956. Their oral history says they came from the Ferghana Valley (Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan) about 200 years ago. Muslim.

Also spoken in:

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