Languages of Central Asia
Central Asia has many languages, but they are gradually decreasing.
Countries 
[edit]
Central Asia consists of 5 countries, as well as the northern part of 2 other countries.
Kazakhstan[edit]
Kazakh (قازاق/Қазақ/Qaşaq) is mainly spoken in Kazakhstan (kɑzɑɣstɑn), while Uzbek and Tajik is also spoken in the Southwest. Much Russian (русский язык) is spoken in the North, as well as German (Deutsch). Kazakh is written[1] in Cyrillic script or Persian Alphabet.
Uzbekistan[edit]
Uzbek (O‘zbekcha/Ўзбекча/اۉزبېک تیلی) is the main language spoken in Uzbekistan, while it is only spoken in the Southwest area of the Karakalpakstan (Qoraqalpoghistan) Autonomous Republic, Xorazm region and about ten regions in eastern Uzbekistan. Kazakh is spoken widely in Karakalpakstan (Qoraqalpoghistan) as well as some Turkmen in the South. In the East there are many exclaves of Russian and Tajik, as seen on the map. A language called Dungan(ese)[2] (Хуэйзў йүян/Huejzw jyjan/حُوِظُ يُوْيًا/回族語言) is spoken by 110,000 people in Fergana and Chu valleys in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.
Karakalpakstan (Qoraqalpoghistan)[edit]
Kazakh is spoken widely in Karakalpakstan (Qoraqalpoghistan) as well as some Turkmen in the South. Karakalpak (Qaraqalpaq/Қарақалпақ/قاراقالپاق) is also spoken in Karakalpakstan (Qoraqalpoghistan). Uzbek is also spoken in an area in eastern Karakalpakstan.
Tajikistan[edit]
Tajik (Tojikī/Тоҷикӣ) is spoken all over Tajikistan. Uzbek is widely spoken in the southwest. Yaɤnobi[3] (Yaɣnobī́ zivók/йағнобӣ зивок) is spoken in an area in Northwestern Tajikistan.
Gorno-Badakhshan (Kuhistani Badakhshan)[edit]
A lot of languages are spoken in Gorno-Badaɤshan, including Yazghulami, Rushani, ɤufi and Shuɤni.
Kyrgyzstan[edit]
Kyrgyz (Кыргыз/قىرعىز تئلى) is a language spoken by many Kyrgyz people. The diversity of languages in the city of Osh interests many linguists[4]. The average number of languages spoken for each person is about 4, which is exceptionally high. Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Tajik and Turkmen are the main languages spoken there.
Turkmenistan[edit]
Turkmen (Türkmençe/Түркменче/تۆرکمنچه) is widely spoken throughout Turkmenistan as the official language. Many Russian language exclaves exist. Also, Balochi (Balòci/بلۏچی) is spoken in a large enclave in central eastern Turkmenistan. Much Kurdish (Kurdî/کوردی) is spoken in the south.
Northern Afghanistan[edit]
Pashto and Uzbek are spoken in northwestern Afghanistan, around the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, thought not in it. In Mazar-i-Sharif, Persian is the main language, as well as in areas around the Turkmen border. The Rushani language (ręxenay zęv) is spoken just west of where Batangi, ɤufi and Shuɤni (xuǧnůn ziv/хуг̌ну̊н зив/помирай зив) are spoken, by 18,000 people. Ishkashimi is spoken south of this.
Northern Pakistan[edit]
Waɤi (وخی/x̌ik zik/Х̌ик зик), a Pamir language (or an Iranic language in other classifications), is spoken in extreme northern Pakistan. Shina is a Dardic language spoken in many areas in northern Pakistan. Another Dardic language is Khowar (کهووار), spoken by as many as 290,000. Yet another Dardic, Burushi, is spoken east of where Khowar is. Kohistani (Kōstāĩ), another Dardic language, is spoken by over 200,000 people. There are 2 more Dardic languages in Pakistan, Kalasha and Torwali spoken by 5,000 (Kalasha) and 110,000 (Torwali). Pahari, an Indic language, is spoken here as well.
Other information[edit]
Scripts, language names, Wikipedias etc.
Scripts[edit]
- Kazakh mainly uses Cyrillic script, however Latin script and Arabic script are also used.
- Uzbek uses Cyrillic script, just like Kazakh.
- Dungan(ese) traditionally uses Xiao'erjing script (小儿经, Chinese Simplified/小兒經, Chinese Traditional/شِيَوْ عَر دٍ, Dungan Xiao'erjing), however today both Cyrillic script and Latin script are also widely used.
- Karakalpak uses Cyrillic script.
- Tajik uses either Latin, Cyrillic, Nasta'līq or Perso-Arabic script.
- Kyrgyz uses Latin script, Cyrillic script or Arabic script. Before the Soviet Union, Arabic script was used, but Stalin replaced this with Cyrillic script. After the Soviet union, both are used, but Latin script is now widely used as well.[5]
- Turkmen mainly uses Latin script, however Cyrillic script is also used.
- Yazghulami uses Cyrillic script and Latin script.
- Yaghnobi uses Cyrillic, Latin and Arabic scripts, though many diacritics are needed to complete the Yaghnobi alphabet in Latin and Cyrillic, as well as one unwritten Arabic letter, resulting in Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic letters in the Cyrillic Yaghnobi alphabet.
Name of language in different scripts[edit]
| Language | Name of language in language (Latin) | Name of language in language (Cyrillic) | Name of language in language (Arabic) | Name of language in language (Chinese) | Name of language in language (Xiao'erjing) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kazakh | Qaşaqşa or Qaşaq tili | Қазақша or қазақ тілі | قازاقشا or قازاق تىلى | ||
| Uzbek | O'zbekcha or O'zbek tili | Ўзбекча or ўзбек тили | اۉزبېک تیلی or اۉزبېکچه | ||
| Kyrgyz | Kyrgyzča | Кыргыз | قىرعىز تئلى | ||
| Dungan | Huejzw jyjan | Хуэйзў йүян | 回族語言 | حُوِظُ يُوْيًا | |
| Karakalpak | Qaraqalpaq or Qaraqalpaq tili | Қарақалпақ or Қарақалпақ тили | اراقالپاق or اراقالپاق تىلى | ||
| Tajik | Tojikī | Тоҷикӣ | |||
| Yaɤnobi | Yaɣnobī́ zivók | йағнобӣ зивок | |||
| Yazghulami | Yuzdami zevég | ||||
| Shughni | Xuǧnůn ziv | хуг̌ну̊н зив or помирай зив | |||
| Wakhi | Х̌ik zik | Х̌ик зик | وخی (Nasta'lĪq) | ||
| Turkmen | Türkmençe or Türkmen dili | Түркменче or Түркмен дили | تۆرکمن ديلی or تۆرکمنچه |
Wikis[edit]
Wikipedias[edit]
Updated every 6 hours
| Language | Site | Pages (Only content) | Pages (All, including content, redirect, talk pages) | Files uploaded | Page edits since the Wikipedia was set up | Registered users | Active users (Users who have performed an action in the last 30 days) | Total words in all content pages | Script |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English (for reference) | en.wikipedia.org | 386,668 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Latin |
| Russian | ru.wikipedia.org | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cyrillic |
| Kazakh | kk.wikipedia.org | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cyrillic |
| Uzbek | uz.wikipedia.org | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Latin, Cyrillic |
| Karakalpak | kaa.wikipedia.org | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Latin |
| Tajik | tg.wikipedia.org | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Latin, Cyrillic, Nasta'līq Urdu |
| Kyrgyz | ky.wikipedia.org | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Latin |
| Turkmen | tk.wikipedia.org | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Latin |
See Also[edit]
Other articles of the topic Language : Simplified Chinese characters, Latin, Google Translate, Traditional Chinese characters
Other articles of the topic Linguistics : Portal:Language
References[edit]
External Links[edit]
- Kazakh Wikipedia
- Uzbek Wikipedia
- Dungan Wikipedia
- Karakalpak Wikipedia
- Tajik Wikipedia
- Yaghnobi Wikipedia
- Yazghulami Wikipedia
- Shughni Wikipedia
- Wakhi Wikipedia
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