Language
| Islam in China |
|---|
|
History
History Tang Dynasty • Song Dynasty |
|
Major figures
Chang Yuchun • Hu Dahai • Mu Ying • Yeheidie'erding Hui Liangyu • Ma Bufang |
|
Culture
Cuisine • Martial arts Chinese mosques • Sini |
|
Cities/Regions
Hong Kong • Kashgar • Linxia Ningxia • Taiwan • Xinjiang |
|
Groups
Hui • Uyhgurs Kazakhs • Dongxiang |
Both the Muslim Bonans in Gansu and their Buddhist cousins in Qinghai (officially classified as Monguor) have historically spoken the Bonan language, a Mongolic language. The Buddhist Bonan of Qinghai speak a slightly different dialect that the Muslim Bonan of Gansu. Whereas the Bonan language of Gansu has undergone Chinese influences, the Bonan language of Qinghai has been influenced by Tibetan.
They don't have a script for their language.
The Muslim Gansu Bonans are more numerous than their Buddhist Qinghai cousins (the estimates for the two groups were around 12,200 (in 1990), and around 3,500 (in 1980), respectively). However, it has been observed that in Gansu the use of Bonan language is declining (in favor of the local version – the "Hezhou dialect" – of Mandarin Chinese), while in Qinghai the language keeps being transmitted to younger generations.
Read more about this topic: Bonan People
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“It is silly to call fat people “gravitationally challenged”Ma self-righteous fetishism of language which is no more than a symptom of political frustration.”
—Terry Eagleton (b. 1943)
“This poem is concerned with language on a very plain level.
Look at it talking to you.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“The style of an author should be the image of his mind, but the choice and command of language is the fruit of exercise.”
—Edward Gibbon (1737–1794)