Yugur Culture How many languages are there in Yugur?

Yugur people use three languages: East Yugur, West Yugur and Chinese.

Yugu language, also known as Yao language, belongs to Dongxiang branch of Turkic language family of Altai language family. Some scholars believe that the Yugur language in the west belongs to the ancient Turkic language and has many characteristics of the ancient Turkic language, and point out that it is the "mother tongue" of Uygur literary language. There are three tribes that use this language: Yale, Helange and west eight, which are mainly distributed in the west of Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, namely Lianhua and Minghai townships in Minghua District, Leek Valley Township in Dahe District and Maying Township in Huangcheng District.

The eastern Yugur, also known as Engel, belongs to the Mongolian language family in Dongxiang, Altai. According to textual research, it is similar to Mongolian in13rd century, and retains more ancient Mongolian vocabulary and phonetic features. There are five Yugu-speaking tribes in the east, namely Dagoujia, Luoer, Yangjia, Dongbajia and Siwa, which are mainly distributed in Le Kang Township, Hongshiwo Township, Qinglong Township and Hongxing Township in Dahe District, and Beifeng Township, Beiji Township and Dongtan Township in Huangcheng District.

The Yugur people who use Chinese mainly live in Qiantan in Minghua District and Huangnibao in Jiuquan County. Yugur people who speak different languages also use Chinese as a common communication tool. In addition, both western Yugur and eastern Yugur have absorbed a large number of Chinese loanwords, covering a wide range. According to another survey, some people in Dahe District and Huangcheng District speak two Yugur languages. And there are several people in Huangcheng District who can speak Tibetan.

The ancestors of Yugur used the ancient Uyghur language and later lost their own writing. Now, they don't have their own language, but they use Chinese.

Yugu language is one of the national pilot and rescue protection projects of the Ministry of Culture and the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. It can be divided into western languages and eastern languages. Yugu language belongs to Altai Turkic language family and evolved from ancient Uygur language. Oriental language belongs to Mongolian family of Altai language family, which is a fusion of ancient Mongolian language and Salem Uighur language used by Salem Uighurs who moved eastward to the central Qilian Mountains. Yugur language is not only the main tool for Yugur people to communicate with each other, but also the main way to inherit and express Yugur traditional culture after Yugur characters disappear.