Recent Documentation on Turkic and Turkic-Related Languages and Language Varieties in China

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the most significant contributions to the field of linguistics in China achieved by both local and foreign scholars since the publication of Prof. Dr. Lars Johanson’s seminal book, Discoveries on the Turkic Linguistic Map (2001). The focus of this article will be on the field linguistic research and documentation of Turkic and Turkic-related languages and language varieties conducted in China over the last twenty-five years. Considering the number of linguistic fieldwork projects on Turkic and Turkic-related languages and language varieties in Northwest China over the last three decades, it is not surprising that there is a sunstantial scholarly corpus based on these fieldworks. Nevertheless, a comprehensive evaluation encompassing the most significant documentation efforts is still lacking. Due to the sheer volume of material, it is not possible to provide a comprehensive literature review of all these studies. Therefore, this study highlights selected projects and publications that stand out in terms of methodology and scholarly significance. In the following, first, a concise overview of the “Chinese Language Resources Preservation Project” will be provided and then a brief introduction to some significant documentation projects and publications on Salar, Jungar Tuvan and Eynu will be presented. The originality of the article lies in its attempt to fill the gap caused by the lack of comprehensive studies that examine recent Turkological research conducted in China from an integrated perspective.

Ethical committee approval is not required for this research.

The author declares no conflicts of interest in this study

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This article received financial support from TUBITAK BIDEB (2221 Guest or Academic Sabbatical Leave Program). It was developed from a conference that was held on 20 November 2024 during the author’s stay at Hacettepe University, Department of Contemporary Turkish Dialects and Literatures. The conference was part of the Scientist Support Program.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to my friends at Hacettepe University, Department of Contemporary Turkic Langauges and Literatures, TUBITAK, and especially to my dear friend Prof. Dr. Nurettin Demir for giving me this valuable opportunity. The text was edited and improved by Prof. Dr. Nurettin Demir and Prof. Dr. Emine Yılmaz. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to both of them. The remaining issues are the sole responsibility of mine.