How to Learn Uyghur
Read up on Uyghur history and culture., Obtain phrasebooks or Teach Yourself courses on Modern Turkish as well as Mandarin Chinese., Research Uyghur language resources., Learn the Uyghur alphabet., Immerse yourself in Uyghur.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Read up on Uyghur history and culture.
While learning any language, one must learn about the people behind the language.
Conduct internet searches, check out your local library, book shops, and see what you can dig up.
If you have trouble finding books specifically on the Uyghur, try books of a broader scope, such as China, the Silk Road, Central Asia, Turkic peoples, Turkic languages, etc. -
Step 2: Obtain phrasebooks or Teach Yourself courses on Modern Turkish as well as Mandarin Chinese.
Turkish is a linguistic cousin of Uyghur, it shares much of its base vocabulary as well as grammar with Uyghur, and Turkish is also the most widely published-on Turkic language in the English-speaking world, Uyghur is not.
Mandarin Chinese is China's inter-ethnic language as well the second most-spoken and written language in Xinjiang.
Knowing bits and pieces of both languages will better ease you into Uyghur as well as smooth out communication problems should they arise.
The Lonely Planet travel collection has two excellent phrasebooks titled Central Asia and China that both have sections devoted to Uyghur in them.
They also provide wonderful cultural notes as well as guides on how to wisely travel through the Silk Road.
The closest Turkic language to Uygur is in fact Uzbek; however, like most other Turkic languages, resources on Uzbek, in English, are few and far between. , Uyghur works are not widely available nor is it studied as a language in the English-speaking world, and resources are thus scarce.
If you can read in Turkish, Chinese, or Russian, the number of resources available to you will increase signficantly.
If serious language study is your goal, two books and a dictionary you may want to start with include:
Spoken Uyghur by Reinhard Hahn, University of Washington Press Modern Uyghur Grammar (Morphology) by Hämot Tömür and Anne Lee, Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi An Uyghur-English Dictionary by Henry G.
Schwarz , Literacy is key to learning and easing your way through any language.
Within Xinjiang, Uyghur is written using an Arabic-based alphabet modified to meet Uyghur's needs.
Fortunately, unlike Arabic, Persian, or most notably Ottoman Turkish, the Uyghur-Arabic alphabet indicates vowels and vowel harmony in all instances, spanning books to street signage.
Outside Xinjiang, Uyghur is written in either a modified form of the cyrillic alphabet, modelling Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Tatar, or a variant of the latin alphabet, modelling Turkish, Uzbek, and Azeri. , Finding Uyghur language courses and Uyghur tutors outside of select Near Eastern and Turkic Studies departments at certain universities may prove difficult, if not impossible.
If you live in a city with a strong Chinese or strong Islamic/Muslim community, you may find a handful of Uyghur living among them to learn from and practice with.
YouTube and the internet, as a whole, have a variety of Uyghur-language media for you to listen to and watch; just do it and do it often.
Another wise move would be to travel to Xinjiang itself and live among the Uyghur. -
Step 3: Research Uyghur language resources.
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Step 4: Learn the Uyghur alphabet.
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Step 5: Immerse yourself in Uyghur.
Detailed Guide
While learning any language, one must learn about the people behind the language.
Conduct internet searches, check out your local library, book shops, and see what you can dig up.
If you have trouble finding books specifically on the Uyghur, try books of a broader scope, such as China, the Silk Road, Central Asia, Turkic peoples, Turkic languages, etc.
Turkish is a linguistic cousin of Uyghur, it shares much of its base vocabulary as well as grammar with Uyghur, and Turkish is also the most widely published-on Turkic language in the English-speaking world, Uyghur is not.
Mandarin Chinese is China's inter-ethnic language as well the second most-spoken and written language in Xinjiang.
Knowing bits and pieces of both languages will better ease you into Uyghur as well as smooth out communication problems should they arise.
The Lonely Planet travel collection has two excellent phrasebooks titled Central Asia and China that both have sections devoted to Uyghur in them.
They also provide wonderful cultural notes as well as guides on how to wisely travel through the Silk Road.
The closest Turkic language to Uygur is in fact Uzbek; however, like most other Turkic languages, resources on Uzbek, in English, are few and far between. , Uyghur works are not widely available nor is it studied as a language in the English-speaking world, and resources are thus scarce.
If you can read in Turkish, Chinese, or Russian, the number of resources available to you will increase signficantly.
If serious language study is your goal, two books and a dictionary you may want to start with include:
Spoken Uyghur by Reinhard Hahn, University of Washington Press Modern Uyghur Grammar (Morphology) by Hämot Tömür and Anne Lee, Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi An Uyghur-English Dictionary by Henry G.
Schwarz , Literacy is key to learning and easing your way through any language.
Within Xinjiang, Uyghur is written using an Arabic-based alphabet modified to meet Uyghur's needs.
Fortunately, unlike Arabic, Persian, or most notably Ottoman Turkish, the Uyghur-Arabic alphabet indicates vowels and vowel harmony in all instances, spanning books to street signage.
Outside Xinjiang, Uyghur is written in either a modified form of the cyrillic alphabet, modelling Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Tatar, or a variant of the latin alphabet, modelling Turkish, Uzbek, and Azeri. , Finding Uyghur language courses and Uyghur tutors outside of select Near Eastern and Turkic Studies departments at certain universities may prove difficult, if not impossible.
If you live in a city with a strong Chinese or strong Islamic/Muslim community, you may find a handful of Uyghur living among them to learn from and practice with.
YouTube and the internet, as a whole, have a variety of Uyghur-language media for you to listen to and watch; just do it and do it often.
Another wise move would be to travel to Xinjiang itself and live among the Uyghur.
About the Author
Theresa Sullivan
A passionate writer with expertise in DIY projects topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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