ABSTRACT
Mangghuer, or Minhe Mangghuer, is spoken in Minhe Hui and Tu Autonomous County, at the extreme eastern edge of China’s Qinghai Province, just north of the Yellow River. Mangghuer has not usually been described as a language in its own right. Rather, it has been treated as one of the two main dialects of the ethnic ‘language’ spoken by the official ‘Monguor’ (Tu) nationality, the other dialect being (Huzhu) Mongghul, spoken mainly in Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, also in Qinghai. However, Mangghuer speakers and Mongghul speakers alike report that they are unable to understand each other. While no comprehensive study of the differences between these two linguistic systems has been undertaken, it is fairly clear that they are different enough to warrant independent treatment. Since the two speech communities are not geographically contiguous, this ought not to be surprising.
