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Äynu
Äynu
Abdal
ئەينۇCategory:Articles containing Ainu (China)-language text, Äynú
	Äynu in Uyghur script.
Pronunciation	Ainu pronunciation: [ɛjˈnu]Category:Pages with Ainu (China) IPA
Native to	China
Region	Xinjiang
Ethnicity	Äynu
Native speakers	12,000 (2017)
Language family	Turkic Common Turkic Karluk Eastern Karluk Äynu; ; ; ;
Writing system	Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aib
Glottolog	ainu1251
ELP	Ainu (China)
	Map showing locations of Äynu (red) within Xinjiang
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Category:Articles lacking in-text citations from October 2025 Category:All articles lacking in-text citations

Äynu (also known as Abdal) is a Turkic cryptolect spoken in Western China. It is spoken by the Äynu, a nomadic people, who use it to keep their communications secret from outsiders.

The grammar of Äynu is mostly Turkic, essentially Uyghur, while its vocabulary is mainly derived from Persian and other Iranian languages.^[3]^[4] Some linguists call it a mixed language,^[5] but other linguists argue that it does not meet the technical requirements of a mixed language.^[4]

Name

The language is known by many different spellings, including Abdal,Category:All articles with unsourced statements Category:Articles with unsourced statements from January 2024^{[citation needed]} Aini, Ainu, Ayni, Aynu, Eyni and Eynu.^[6] The Abdal (ئابدال) spelling is commonly used in Uyghur sources. Russian sources use Eynu, Aynu, Abdal (ЭйнуCategory:Articles containing Russian-language text, АйнуCategory:Articles containing Russian-language text, АбдалCategory:Articles containing Russian-language text) and Chinese uses the spelling Ainu (Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text艾努). The Äynu people call their language Äynú (ئەينۇ, [ɛjˈnu]Category:Pages with Ainu (China) IPA).

Geographic distribution

Äynu is spoken in Western China among Alevi Muslims^[7]^[8]^[9] in Xinjiang on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin.

Similarly mixed varieties of Turkic and Persian are spoken in other locations including Turkey and Uzbekistan. The speakers of these varieties are also referred to as "Abdal".^[5]

Use as a secret language

The only speakers of Äynu are adult men, who are found to speak it outside of their area of settlement in order to communicate without being understood by others. Uyghur is spoken with outsiders who do not speak Äynu and at home when it is not necessary to disguise one's speech.^[10]

Phonology

Consonants

**Consonant phonemes**
	Labial		Alveolar		Alveo- Palatal		Velar		Uvular
Nasal	m		n				ŋ
Plosive/Affricate	p	b	t	d	t͡ʃ	d͡ʒ	k	ɡ	q
Fricative		v	s	z	ʃ				χ	ʁ	ɦ
Flap/Tap			r
Approximant			l		j

/j/ is a palatal consonant. Phonemes on the left of a cell are voiceless, while those on the right are voiced.

Vowels

Vowel Phonemes
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ʉ	u
Mid	e	ɵ	o
Open	ɛ		a

Orthography

Due to Äynu's secretive nature, along with a lack of official status in areas which it is spoken in, it does not have any widely used writing system. However, the Uyghur Arabic alphabet is typically used in the occasion where it needs to be written.

Vocabulary

Most of basic vocabulary in Äynu comes from the Iranian languages, which might be speculated that the language have been originally an Iranian language and have been turned into a Turkic language after a long period.^[11] There are three vocabulary formation methods in the Äynu language: simple words, derived words, and compound words. The affixes of derived words have both Uyghur and Persian origin. Old people mostly use Persian affixes, while the young people use Uyghur derived vocabulary and affixes.^[12]

Numerals

Äynu numerals are completely Persian. However, ordinal adjectives are made by adding Uyghur -(I)ncI suffix.^[13]

Numbers

English	Äynu	Persian	Uyghur
one	yek	yek	bir
two	du	du	ikki
three	si	se	üç
five	pence	penc	peş
ten	deh	deh	on
twenty	bist	bist	yigirme

Ordinal adjectives

English	Äynu	Persian	Uyghur
first	yekinci	yek	bir
second	durinci	duvum	ikkinçi
third	sirinci	sivum	üçinci
fifth	pencinci	pencum	beşinci
tenth	dehinci	dehum	onınçı
twentieth	bistinci	bistum	yigirminçi

Notes

↑ Äynu at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Category:Language articles citing Ethnologue 26
↑ "Ainu (China)". Glottolog.
↑ Liang, Siyu (2020). "Documenting Eynu: A Case Study of Language Contact". University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics. 26 (1).
1 2 Johansson (2001)
1 2 Bakker, Peter (2003). "Mixed Languages as Autonomous Systems". In Matras, Yaron; Bakker, Peter (eds.). The Mixed Language Debate: Theoretical and Empirical Advances. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 107–150. ISBN 978-3-11-017776-3.
↑ Lee-Smith, Mei W. (1996). "The Ejnu Language". In Wurm, Stephen A.; Mühlhäusler, Peter; Tyron, Darrell T. (eds.). Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Volume 2, Part 1. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 851. ISBN 978-3-11-013417-9.
↑ Louie, Kam (2008). The Cambridge Companion to Modern Chinese Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-521-86322-3.
↑ Starr, S. Frederick, ed. (2004). Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland. London: Routledge. p. 303. ISBN 978-0765613189.
↑ Bader, Alyssa Christine (2012). Mummy Dearest: Questions of Identity in Modern and Ancient Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Thesis). Whitman College. p. 31.
↑ Johansson (2001), p. 22
↑ Zhao, Xiangru 赵相如 (2011). Àinǔyǔ yánjiū 艾努语研究 [Ainu Studies] (in Chinese). Beijing Shi: Minzu chubanshe. p. 21. ISBN 978-7-105-11364-4.Category:CS1 uses Chinese-language script (zh)Category:CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)
↑ Zhao, Xiangru 赵相如; Aximu 阿西木 (1982). "Xīnjiāng Àinǔrén de yǔyán" 新疆艾努人的语言 [Asim: The Language of the Ainu People in Xinjiang]. Yǔyán yánjiū 语言研究 (in Chinese). 1982 (1): 259–279.Category:CS1 uses Chinese-language script (zh)Category:CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)
↑ Serkan Çakmak (2015). "TARIM HAVZASI ABDALLARININ GİZLİ DİLİ: EYNUCA". Uluslararası Türkçe Edebiyat Kültür Eğitim Dergisi (in Turkish). 4: 1490.Category:CS1 Turkish-language sources (tr)

References

Hayasi, Tooru (1999). A Šäyxil Vocabulary: A Preliminary Report of Linguistic Research in Šäyxil Village, Southwestern Xinjiang. Kyoto: Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University.
Hayasi, Tooru (2000). "Lexical Copying in Turkic: The Case of Eynu". In Göksel, Asli; Kerslake, Celia (eds.). Studies on Turkish and Turkic languages: Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Turkish Linguistics, Oxford, 1998. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 433–439. ISBN 3-447-04293-1.
Johansson, Lars (2001). Discoveries on the Turkic Linguistic Map (PDF). Stockholm: Svenska Forskningsinstitutet i Istanbul. ISBN 91-86884-10-7.
Ladstätter, Otto; Tietze, Andreas (1994). Die Abdal (Äynu) in Xinjiang (in German). Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 3-7001-2076-1.Category:CS1 German-language sources (de)

External links

Numerals in Äynu Archived 2009-07-27 at the Wayback Machine Category:Webarchive template wayback links

Category:Agglutinative languages Category:Languages of Xinjiang Category:Language contact Category:Cant languages Category:Karluk languages Category:Mixed languages Category:Uyghur language Category:Varieties of Persian

[e26-1] Äynu at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Category:Language articles citing Ethnologue 26

[2] "Ainu (China)". Glottolog.

[3] Liang, Siyu (2020). "Documenting Eynu: A Case Study of Language Contact". University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics. 26 (1).

[Johansson_2001-4] 1 2 Johansson (2001)

[:0-5] 1 2 Bakker, Peter (2003). "Mixed Languages as Autonomous Systems". In Matras, Yaron; Bakker, Peter (eds.). The Mixed Language Debate: Theoretical and Empirical Advances. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 107–150. ISBN 978-3-11-017776-3.

[mei-6] Lee-Smith, Mei W. (1996). "The Ejnu Language". In Wurm, Stephen A.; Mühlhäusler, Peter; Tyron, Darrell T. (eds.). Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Volume 2, Part 1. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 851. ISBN 978-3-11-013417-9.

[KAM-7] Louie, Kam (2008). The Cambridge Companion to Modern Chinese Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-521-86322-3.

[XIN-8] Starr, S. Frederick, ed. (2004). Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland. London: Routledge. p. 303. ISBN 978-0765613189.

[WHIT-9] Bader, Alyssa Christine (2012). Mummy Dearest: Questions of Identity in Modern and Ancient Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Thesis). Whitman College. p. 31.

[10] Johansson (2001), p. 22

[11] Zhao, Xiangru 赵相如 (2011). Àinǔyǔ yánjiū 艾努语研究 [Ainu Studies] (in Chinese). Beijing Shi: Minzu chubanshe. p. 21. ISBN 978-7-105-11364-4.Category:CS1 uses Chinese-language script (zh)Category:CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)

[12] Zhao, Xiangru 赵相如; Aximu 阿西木 (1982). "Xīnjiāng Àinǔrén de yǔyán" 新疆艾努人的语言 [Asim: The Language of the Ainu People in Xinjiang]. Yǔyán yánjiū 语言研究 (in Chinese). 1982 (1): 259–279.Category:CS1 uses Chinese-language script (zh)Category:CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)

[13] Serkan Çakmak (2015). "TARIM HAVZASI ABDALLARININ GİZLİ DİLİ: EYNUCA". Uluslararası Türkçe Edebiyat Kültür Eğitim Dergisi (in Turkish). 4: 1490.Category:CS1 Turkish-language sources (tr)

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