Alternate Names: Sala
Dialects: Ili, Jiezi, Mengda. Salar is spoken by descendants of an Oghuz-Turkic-speaking subtribe. Has an Oghuz Turkic base, and took on a medieval Chaghatay Turkic stratum through Central Asian contacts and finally acquired a stratum of features from local languages (1989 R. Hahn). Jiezi often seen as standard dialect.
Status Notes: Language of recognized nationality: Salar.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 70,000 (2002), increasing. 10,000 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 105,000 (2000 census). L2 users: Some, especially men of other area languages, use Salar.
Language Use: Some speakers of other languages in the area use Salar, especially men. Domestic, informal domains. All ages, but children less. Positive attitudes. Also use Central Tibetan [bod], Mandarin Chinese [cmn], Uyghur [uig].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: 0%. Literacy rate in L2: 60%. Dictionary. Grammar.
Typology: SOV; postpositional; verbs take up to 3 or 4 suffixes, no prefixes; no person or gender marking; 27 consonant and 8 vowel phonemes; nontonal.
Writing System: Unwritten
Nation of Origin: China
Other Comments: Muslim (Sufi), Muslim (Ikhwan), Muslim (Sunni).