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Uyghur Language in Kazakhstan
The Uyghur people are a Turkic ethnic group that predominantly resides in the modern-day Xinjiang region of China. The group holds a unique language, rich culture, and profound history. In the 1950s, the People’s Republic of China occupied Xinjiang, and introduced a series of cultural assimilation policies, decreasing the use of the Uyghur language in institutions and society. As a result of these compounding pressures, many Uyghurs fled the PRC-controlled Xinjiang for nearby countries. In this series, initiative member Mariyam Makhmudova interviewed members of her native Uyghur expat community in Kazakhstan. Although PRC assimilation policies no longer applied, social dynamics in Kazakhstan still favor the use of Kazakh or Russian in daily speech, posing a threat to the survival of the Uyghur language.
Basic information
Name: Uyghur
Speakers: 1-1.5 million outside of China, 10-11 million within China
UNESCO Classification: Vulnerable
Yining, a historically Uyghur town
The official documentary of Mariyam’s Uyghur language preservation project. In this documentary, Mariyam interviews her grandmother, who fled from Kulja (today called Yining, Xinjiang, in China), a fluent speaker of Uyghur; her grandmother’s niece, and her grandmother’s niece’s daughter.
Another interview with Mariyam’s older sister, Ramilya, describing the journey of her grandmother and the present & future for the Uyghur language in Kazakhstan and China.
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