Online Encyclopedia
Dungan language
The Dungan language is a language spoken by the Dungan of Central Asia.
The language is unique in that it is the only variation of the Chinese language which is not normally written used Chinese characters. Originally the Dungan, being Muslim, wrote their language using Arabic characters. However the Soviet Union banned all Arabic scripts in the late 1920s. A Roman alphabet lasted until 1940, when the current Cyrillic alphabet was enforced. Like other Chinese languages, Dungan is tonal, with 3 tones, but this is not indicated in writing.
Dungan alphabet: А/а, Б/б, В/в, Г/г, Д/д, Е/е, Ё/ё, Ж/ж, Җ/җ, З/з, И/и, Й/й, К/к, Л/л, М/м, Н/н, Ң/ң, Ә/ә, О/о, П/п, Р/р, С/с, Т/т, У/у, Ў/ў, Ү/ү, Ф/ф, Х/х, Ц/ц, Ч/ч, Ш/ш, Щ/щ, Ъ/ъ, Ы/ы, Ь/ь, Э/э, Ю/ю, Я/я
Chinese: spoken varieties | |
Subdivisions: | Mandarin | Jin | Wu | Hui | Xiang | Gan | Hakka | Yue | Pinghua | Min |
Dungan | Danzhouhua | Shaozhou Tuhua | Xianghua | |
Subdivisions of Min: | Min Dong | Min Bei | Min Zhong | Pu Xian | Min Nan | Qiong Wen | Shao Jiang |
Note: The above is only one classification scheme among many. | |
Official spoken varieties: | Putonghua (PRC) | Guoyu (ROC) | Cantonese (Hong Kong & Macau) |
Historical phonology: | Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Proto-Min | Proto-Mandarin | Haner |
Chinese: written varieties | |
Official written varieties: | Classical Chinese | Vernacular Chinese |