200,000 (Bradley 2007). Half in Suonanba dialect. 80,000 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 514,000 (Bradley 2007).
Southwest Gansu Province, Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, 7 counties and a city; Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, Yining and Huocheng counties.
6b (Threatened). Language of recognized nationality: Dongxiang.
Sijiaji, Suonanba (Xiaonan), Wangjiaji. Some intelligibility with Bonan [peh]. Minor dialect differences in pronunciation and borrowed words. Suonanba considered the standard.
SOV; no vowel harmony or vowel length distinction; rich in consonants including uvulars; case marking.
Shifting to Chinese. Home, religion, local commerce, oral tradition. Positive attitudes. Written Chinese in common use.
30% of vocabulary borrowed from Chinese. Muslim (Sunni).