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| Äynu | |
|---|---|
| ئەينۇ,Äynú | |
 Äynu inUyghur script. | |
| Pronunciation | Ainu pronunciation:[[ɛjˈnu]] |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Xinjiang |
| Ethnicity | Äynu |
Native speakers | 12,000 (2017)[1] |
| Arabic script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | aib |
| Glottolog | ainu1251 |
| ELP | Ainu (China) |
 Map showing locations of Äynu (red) within Xinjiang | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Äynu (also known as Abdal) is aTurkiccryptolect spoken in WesternChina. It is spoken by theÄynu, a nomadic people, who use it to keep their communications secret from outsiders.
The grammar of Äynu is mostly Turkic, essentiallyUyghur, while its vocabulary is mainly derived fromPersian and otherIranian languages.[3][4] Some linguists call it amixed language,[5] but other linguists argue that it does not meet the technical requirements of a mixed language.[4]
The language is known by many different spellings, includingAbdal,[citation needed]Aini,Ainu,Ayni,Aynu,Eyni andEynu.[6] TheAbdal (ئابدال) spelling is commonly used inUyghur sources.Russian sources useEynu,Aynu,Abdal (Эйну,Айну,Абдал) and Chinese uses the spellingAinu (艾努). The Äynu people call their languageÄynú (ئەينۇ,[ɛjˈnu]).
Äynu is spoken in Western China amongAlevi Muslims[7][8][9] inXinjiang on the edge of theTaklimakan Desert in theTarim 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]
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]
Most of basic vocabulary in Äynu comes from theIranian 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]
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| Labial | Alveolar | Alveo- Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 apalatal consonant. Phonemes on the left of a cell arevoiceless, while those on the right arevoiced.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ʉ | u |
| Mid | e | ɵ | o |
| Open | ɛ | a |
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, theUyghur Arabic alphabet is typically used in the occasion where it needs to be written.
Äynu numerals are completely Persian. However, ordinal adjectives are made by adding Uyghur -(I)ncI suffix.[13]
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Reconstructed |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Oghur | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Turkic |
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| Disputed classification | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Potentially Turkic languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Creoles andpidgins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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