Bonan language
| Bonan | |
|---|---|
| མ་ནི་སྐད་ཅི, Ma ni skad ci | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Gansu, Qinghai |
Native speakers | (6,000 cited 1999) |
| Tibetan script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | peh |
| Glottolog | bona1250 |
Bonan is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The Bonan language (pronounced [p⁼aoˈnaŋ], Baonang; Chinese: 保安语, Bǎo'ānyǔ; Amdo Tibetan: Dorké), also known by its endonym Manikacha (Tibetan: མ་ནི་སྐད་ཅི; Wylie: Ma ni skad ci), is the Mongolic language of the Bonan people of China. As of 1985, it was spoken by about 8,000 people, including about 75% of the total Bonan ethnic population and many ethnic Monguor, in Gansu and Qinghai Provinces. There are several dialects, which are influenced to varying degrees – but always heavily – by Chinese and Tibetan, while bilingualism in Wutun is less common. The most commonly studied is the Tongren dialect. Bonan is not typically written by speakers, though there is a folk practice of writing Bonan with the Tibetan syllabary following Amdo pronunciation.