Editing Uyghurs (section)

==Etymology==
In the [[Uyghur language]], the [[ethnonym]] is written {{lang|ug|ئۇيغۇر}} in [[Uyghur Arabic alphabet|Arabic script]], Уйғур in [[Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet|Uyghur Cyrillic]] and ''Uyghur'' or ''Uygur'' (as the standard Chinese [[romanization]], [[National Standards of the People's Republic of China|GB]] 3304–1991) in [[Uyghur Latin alphabet|Latin]];<ref name=MairPrimer>{{cite web | title = A Little Primer of Xinjiang Proper Nouns | last=Mair | first=Victor| author-link=Victor H. Mair | work=[[Language Log]] | access-date=30 July 2009 | date=13 July 2009 | url = http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1576 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090718094537/http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1576 | archive-date=18 July 2009 }}</ref> they are all pronounced as {{IPA|ug|ʔʊjˈʁʊːr|}}.{{sfn|Fairbank|Chʻen |1968|p=364}}{{sfn|Özoğlu|2004|p=16}} In [[Chinese language|Chinese]], this is [[Transcription into Chinese characters|transcribed]] into [[Chinese characters|characters]] as {{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|维吾尔}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|維吾爾}}}}, which is [[Romanization of Chinese|romanized]] in [[pinyin]] as ''Wéiwú'ěr''.

In English, the name is officially spelled ''Uyghur'' by the [[Xinjiang#Politics|Xinjiang government]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.meshrep.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=13450 | title = Recommendation for English transcription of the word 'ئۇيغۇر'/《维吾尔》 | author=The Terminology Normalization Committee for Ethnic Languages of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region | date=11 October 2006 | access-date=14 June 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719064522/http://www.meshrep.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=13450 | archive-date=19 July 2011 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> but also appears as ''Uighur'',<ref name="oed" /> ''Uigur''<ref name=oed/> and ''Uygur'' (these reflect the various Cyrillic spellings Уиғур, Уигур and Уйгур). The name is usually pronounced in English as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|iː|ɡ|ʊər|,_|-|g|ər}} {{respell|WEE|goor|,_|-|gər}} (and thus may be preceded by the [[indefinite article]] "a"),<ref name="oed">{{citation |contribution=Uighur, ''n.'' and ''adj.'' |contribution-url = http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/208581 |title=Oxford English Dictionary |location=Oxford, England |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite EPD|18|Uyghur}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 July 2009 |title=How to say: Chinese names and ethnic groups |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/07/how_to_say_chinese_names_and_e.shtml |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=BBC |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Merriam-Webster Uighur">{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Uighur|access-date=29 April 2023}}</ref> although some Uyghurs advocate the use of a more native pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˌ|uː|i|ˈ|g|ʊər}} {{respell|OO|ee|GOOR}} instead (which, in contrast, calls for the indefinite article "an").{{sfn|Hahn|2006|p=4}}{{sfn|Drompp|2005|p=7}}<ref>{{cite LPD|3|Uighur}}</ref>

The term's original meaning is unclear. [[Old Turkic]] inscriptions record the word ''uyɣur''{{sfn|Russell-Smith|2005|p=33}} ({{langx|otk|𐰆𐰖𐰍𐰆𐰺|link=no}}); an example is found on the Sudzi inscription, "I am khan ata of [[Yaglakar clan|Yaglaqar]], came from the Uigur land." ({{langx|otk|Uyγur jerinte Yaγlaqar qan ata keltim|italic=yes|link=no}}).<ref>Sudzi inscription, [https://bitig.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&m=1&oid=33&word=JGLQR text] at ''Türik Bitig''</ref> It is transcribed into [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] annals as {{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|回纥}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|回紇}}}} (Mandarin: ''Huíhé'', but probably *[ɣuɒiɣət] in [[Middle Chinese]]).{{sfn|Mackerras|1968|p=224}} It was used as the name of one of the Turkic polities formed in [[Göktürk civil war|the interim between the First and Second Göktürk Khaganates]] (AD{{nbsp}}630–684).{{sfn|Güzel|2002}} The ''[[Old History of the Five Dynasties]]'' records that in 788 or 809, the Chinese acceded to a Uyghur request and emended their transcription to {{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|回鹘}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|回鶻}}}} (Mandarin: ''Huíhú'', but [ɣuɒiɣuət] in Middle Chinese).{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=155}}<ref>Jiu Wudaishi, "vol. 138: [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%88%8A%E4%BA%94%E4%BB%A3%E5%8F%B2/%E5%8D%B7138#%E5%9B%9E%E9%B6%BB Huihu]" quote: "回鶻，其先匈奴之種也。後魏時，號爲鐵勒，亦名回紇。唐元和四年，本國可汗遣使上言，改爲'''回鶻'''，義取'''{{linktext|迴}}'''旋搏擊，如'''{{linktext|鶻}}'''之迅捷也。" translation: "''Huihu'', their ancestors had been a kind of ''Xiongnu''. In [[Northern Wei|Later Wei]] time, they were also called ''[[Tiele people|Tiele]]'', and also named ''Huihe''. In the fourth year of [[Tang dynasty]]'s [[Emperor Xianzong of Tang#Early reign|Yuanhe era]] [809 CE], their country's [[Baoyi Qaghan|Qaghan]] sent envoys and requested [the name be] changed to ''Huihu'', whose meaning is taken from a strike-and-return action, like a swift and rapid falcon."</ref>

Modern [[Etymology|etymological]] explanations for the name ''Uyghur'' range from derivation from the verb "follow, accommodate oneself"<ref name=oed/> and adjective "non-rebellious" (i.e., from Turkic ''uy/uð-'') to the verb meaning "wake, rouse or stir" (i.e., from Turkic ''oðğur-''). None of these is thought to be satisfactory because the sound shift of /ð/ and /ḏ/ to /j/ does not appear to be in place by this time.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=155}} The etymology therefore cannot be conclusively determined and its referent is also difficult to fix. The "Huihe" and "Huihu" seem to be a political rather than a [[Tribe|tribal]] designation<ref>Hakan Özoğlu, p. 16.</ref> or it may be one group among several others collectively known as the [[Toquz Oghuz]].{{sfn|Russell-Smith|2005|p= 32}} The name fell out of use in the 15th century, but was reintroduced in the early 20th century{{sfn|Fairbank|Chʻen |1968|p=364}}{{sfn|Özoğlu|2004|p=16}} by the Soviet [[Bolsheviks]] to replace the previous terms ''[[Turkic peoples|Turk]]'' and ''Turki''.<ref>{{citation |last=Ramsey |first=S. Robert |year=1987 |title = The Languages of China |location=Princeton |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages =185–6 }}</ref>{{NoteTag|The term ''Turk'' was a generic label used by members of many ethnicities in Soviet Central Asia. Often the deciding factor for classifying individuals belonging to Turkic nationalities in the Soviet censuses was less what the people called themselves by nationality than what language they claimed as their native tongue. Thus, people who called themselves "Turk" but spoke Uzbek were classified in Soviet censuses as Uzbek by nationality.<ref>{{citation |first=Brian D. |last=Silver |contribution=The Ethnic and Language Dimensions in Russian and Soviet Censuses |editor=Ralph S. Clem |title = Research Guide to the Russian and Soviet Censuses |location=Ithaca |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1986 |pages = 70–97 }}</ref>|name=turki}} The name is currently used to refer to the settled Turkic urban dwellers and farmers of the [[Tarim Basin]] who follow traditional Central Asian [[Sedentism|sedentary]] practices, distinguishable from the nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia.

The earliest record of a Uyghur tribe appears in accounts from the [[Northern Wei]] (4th–6th century A.D.), wherein they were named {{lang|zh-hant|袁紇}} ''Yuanhe'' (< [[Middle Chinese|MC]] [[Zhengzhang Shangfang|ZS]] *''ɦʉɐn-ɦət'') and derived from a confederation named {{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|高车}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|高車}}}} (<small>lit.</small> "High Carts"), read as ''Gāochē'' in [[Mandarin Chinese]] but originally with the reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation *[kɑutɕʰĭa], later known as the ''[[Tiele people|Tiele]]'' ({{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|铁勒}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|鐵勒}}}}, ''Tiělè'').<ref>Weishu [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%AD%8F%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7103#%E9%AB%98%E8%BB%8A "vol. 103 section Gāochē"] text: {{lang|zh-hant|'''高車'''，蓋古赤狄之餘種也，初號為狄歷，北方以為勑勒，諸夏以為'''高車、丁零。'''其語略與匈奴同而時有小異，或云其先匈奴之甥也。其種有狄氏、'''袁紇氏'''、斛律氏、解批氏、護骨氏、異奇斤氏。}} transl. "Gaoche, probably remnant stocks of the ancient Red [[Beidi|Di]]. Initially they had been called Dili, in the North they are considered Chile, the various [[Huaxia|Xia]] (i.e. [[Chinese people|Chinese]]) consider them '''Gaoche Dingling''' / '''Dingling with High-Carts'''. Their language and the Xiongnu's are similar though there are small differences. Or one may say they were sons-in-law / sororal nephews of their Xiongnu  predecessors. Their tribes are Di, '''Yuanhe''', Hulu, Jiepi, Hugu, Yiqijin."</ref><ref>Theobald, Ulrich. (2012) [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/uighurs.html "Huihe 回紇, Huihu 回鶻, Weiwur 維吾爾, Uyghurs"] ''ChinaKnowledge.de – An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art''</ref>{{sfn|Mair|2006|pp=137–8}} ''Gāochē'' in turn has been connected to the [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] ''Qangqil'' ({{lang|ug|قاڭقىل}} or Қаңқил).<ref>Rong, Xinjiang. (2018) "Sogdian Merchants and Sogdian Culture on the Silk Road" in ''Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity: Rome, China, Iran, and the Steppe, Ca. 250–750'' ed. Di Cosmo & Maas. p. 92 of 84–95</ref>