* Syllabus
Class 1-2: Introduction, Uyghur phonetics and script.
Class 4-12: Grammar, conversation.
Class 13: Final test.
Lecturer: Ondřej Klimeš, Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences
The course is an introduction to modern Uyghur. The language is used by the Uyghur nationality living predominantly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwestern China. Besides Xinjiang (also known as East Turkestan), where they number about 12 million. Uyghur is also spoken by Uyghur communities in
Central Asia, as well as by the diaspora in Turkey, Western Europe, the US and Canada. It belongs to the Karluk branch of the Turkic language family, where it is the closest to Uzbek. Modern Uyghur in based on the Ili dialect of
Uyghur spoken in northern Xinjiang and it is written in fully phonetic modified Arabic script. During the course, students will master Uyghur phonetics, script, basic communication skills, and elementary grammar.