Essays on Writing and Language in Honor - Sino-Platonic Papers

Sino-Plaronic Papers, 27 (August 3 1, 199 1)
traditional Chinese foods (such as 'manti' and 'lakhmanw), use
chopsticks, and observe traditional Chinese birth, death, and
marriage customs (14).
In an attempt to preserve their national identity, the
Dungans, like many small emigrant communities, tend to be
conservative and nationalistic. One of the cultural features
which has been consciously maintained by the Dungans is their
language (15).
As mentioned earlier, the Dungans that we met in Kirghizstan
were particularly sensitive about their Dungan identity. When,
at first, we referred to Dungan as a dialect of Chinese, we were
politely reminded that since the mutual intelligibility between
Dungan and Chinese is low and since Dungan is written with a
~yrillic script, it is more appropriate to regard Dungan as a
separate and independent language. Mr. Zhang presented us with a
finely printed booklet, which included translations from Tolstoy
as well as stories by native Dungan authors. We learned that a
considerable literary tradition is growing around the Dungan
language.
The issue as to whether or not Dungan constitutes a separate
language can of course be debated, since the degree of mutual
intelligibility between Dungan and its source dialects in
northwest China has yet to be determined. (Comparing Dungan with
Putonghua would be missing the point). Also, while the script a
language uses can have important effects on the development of
the language, it is not a relevant consideration for determining
the degree of genetic relatedness. Similarly, the fact that
Dungan is spoken across a national boundary from its source is
not a relevant consideration either. Nonetheless, it is a
significant sociolinguistic fact that the speakers should feel
that Dungan is now an independent language.
But Dungan nationalism and conservatism have even deeper
roots which divide the Dungans into even smaller communities.
Dungans living only several kilometers apart identify themselves
as Gansu or Shaanxi Dungans, each preserving their own traditions
and dialects (Dyer 1979:13-14). On the basis of place of origin,
the Dungan nationality of the Soviet Union is divided into two
major and one minor groups. The Dungans living in Kirghiz SSR
are primarily 'Gansu Dungan', whereas those living in the Chu
Valley region of the Kazakh SSR are primarily 'Shaanxi Dunganr.
The third and minor group is the 'Yager ('Iage') or
'Dungan-Yage'. This group traces its origins to the Chinese
cities of Lanzhou in Gansu, and Yinzhou in Shaanxi (16).
The topic of Dungan "homelandsr@ leads us to questions raised
earlier on the origin of the term 'Dungan'. According to Wixman