TITLE:
A Study of Chinese Vocabulary in the Donggan Language from the Perspective of Cross-Cultural Communication
AUTHORS:
Xiaotian Lei, Dongli Huang
KEYWORDS:
Donggan Language, Chinese Vocabulary, Cross-Cultural Communication, International Chinese Education
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.3,
March
2,
2026
ABSTRACT: In Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan in Central Asia, there lives the Donggan ethnic group, whose ancestors were Hui people who migrated from Shaanxi, Gansu, and other regions in China during the late Qing Dynasty. The language spoken by the Donggan people is the Donggan language, a special overseas variant of Chinese. Derived from the northwestern dialects of Chinese, it serves as the ethnic language of the Hui people who migrated to Central Asia in the late Qing Dynasty. The Donggan language contains a large number of northwestern dialect words, which reflect the unique ethnic culture of the Donggan people. The Chinese vocabulary in the Donggan language holds significant importance for the study of Chinese northwestern dialects, international Chinese education, and the advancement of the “Belt and Road” Initiative. However, due to various reasons, the Donggan language has become an endangered language. This paper first analyzes the Chinese vocabulary in the Donggan language and explores the communication paths of the Donggan language using the “5W” model in communication studies, aiming to make a modest contribution to the research on Donggan studies.