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The Dungan language (东干语 [東干語] in Chinese) is a language spoken by the Dungan of Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
The language is unique in that it is the only variation of the Chinese language which is not normally written using Chinese characters. Originally the Dungan, being Muslim, wrote their language using Arabic characters. However the Soviet Union banned all Arabic scripts in the late 1920s. A Roman alphabet lasted until 1940, when the current Cyrillic alphabet was enforced. Like other Chinese languages, Dungan is tonal. There are two main dialects, one with 4 tones, and the other, upon which the writing system is based, has 3 tones, but this is not indicated in writing.
Dungan is most akin to the dialects of Mandarin spoken in the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. However, it contains many Russian, Arabic, and Persian loanwords.
Dungan alphabet:
А/а, Б/б, В/в, Г/г, Д/д, Е/е, Ё/ё, Ж/ж, Җ/җ, З/з, И/и, Й/й, К/к, Л/л, М/м, Н/н, Ң/ң, Ә/ә, О/о, П/п, Р/р, С/с, Т/т, У/у, Ў/ў, Ү/ү, Ф/ф, Х/х, Ц/ц, Ч/ч, Ш/ш, Щ/щ, Ъ/ъ, Ы/ы, Ь/ь, Э/э, Ю/ю, Я/я
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