Eastern Buryat
Also Known As:
Mongolian Buriat, бурят-монгольский язык, buryaad xelen, буряад хэлэн, буриад аялгуу, бурятский язык, Northern Mongolian, Buriat, Buryat, Buriat-Mongolian, Mongolia Buriat, Bur:aad, Burjatisch
Dialects & Varieties
  • Aga
  • Khori
Eastern Buryat

Language Information by Source

Red Book on Endangered Languages: Northeast Asia

Juha Janhunen; Tapani Salminen. 2000. "UNESCO RED BOOK ON ENDANGERED LANGUAGES: NORTHEAST ASIA." Online: http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/nasia_report.html

Vulnerable
80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
>300,000
Native Speakers Worldwide
Speaker Number Trends

Speaker Number Trend 2

A majority of community members speak the language. Speaker numbers are gradually decreasing.

2
Transmission

Transmission 1

Most adults in the community, and some children, are speakers.

1

Speakers

Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
400,000
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
In rural areas, knowledge of other languages (Russian, Mongolian, Chinese, and Japanese) seems to be better among adult males than females.

Location and Context

Countries
Mongolia; China
Location Description

In Transbaikalia, extending from Lake Baikal in the west to the Onon basin in the east; also in northeastern Mongolia (since the 19th century) and northwestern Manchuria, China (after 1917); on the Russian side the Eastern Buryat population is today concentrated in the regions known as the Buryat Republic (Buryatia) and the Aga Buryat Autonomous District of Chita Oblast; on the Chinese side the speakers of Eastern Buryat live in the region of the river Xinihe (Shinehen), a tributary to the Imin-Hailar-Argun system in southern Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia.

Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
No results found.
Other Languages Used By The Community
Russian, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese
Number of Other Language Speakers:
None
Domains of Other Languages:
None

Writing Systems

Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
Cyrillic script
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
The language also has a Soviet-period written standard (in Cyrillic script) replacing earlier use of Written Mongolian; the Russian impact is currently being fought back by a purist movement, which aims at reintroducing Written Mongolian as the literary language; Written Mongolian is also going to be reintroduced in Mongolia, and it already serves as the literary language for the Buryat population in China

Community Members