Salar language
| Salar | |
|---|---|
| Salarcha 撒拉语 | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang |
| Ethnicity | Salar |
Native speakers | 70,000 (2002) |
Turkic
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Pinyin-based Latin and Chinese characters | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | China |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | slr |
| Glottolog | sala1264 |
| ELP | Salar |
Salar is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Salar is a Turkic language spoken by the Salar people, who mainly live in the provinces of Qinghai and Gansu in China; some also live in Ili, Xinjiang. It is a primary branch and an eastern outlier of the Oghuz branch of Turkic, the other Oghuz languages being spoken mostly in West and Central Asia. The Salar number about 105,000 people, about 70,000 (2002) speak the Salar language; under 20,000 are monolinguals.
According to Salar tradition and Chinese chronicles, the Salars are the descendants of the Salur tribe, belonging to the Oghuz Turk tribe of the Western Turkic Khaganate. During the Tang dynasty, the Salur tribe dwelt within China's borders and since then has lived within the Qinghai-Gansu border region. Contemporary Salar has some influence from Mandarin Chinese and Amdo Tibetan.