Xiao'erjing, Xiaorjing, Xiaojing or Benjing, is a Perso-Arabic script used to write Sinitic languages, including Lanyin Mandarin, Zhongyuan Mandarin, Northeastern Mandarin, and Dungan. It is used on occasion by many ethnic minorities who adhere to Islam in China—mostly the Hui, but also the Dongxiang and the Salar—and formerly by their Dungan descendants in Central Asia. Orthographic reforms introduced the Latin script and later the Cyrillic script to the Dungan language, which continue to be used today.
Xiao'erjing is written from right to left, like other Perso-Arabic writing systems.
Xiao'erjing is unusual among Arabic script-based writing systems in that all vowels, long and short, are explicitly notated with diacritics, making it an abugida. Some other Arabic-based writing systems in China, such as the Uyghur Arabic alphabet, use letters and not diacritics to mark short vowels.
Nomenclature Xiao'erjing does not have a single, standard name. In Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and eastern Shaanxi, as well as also Beijing, Tianjin and the northeastern provinces, the script is referred to as , which when shortened becomes or (the latter has the meaning of "to review" in the aforementioned regions). In Ningxia, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, western Shaanxi and the northwestern provinces, the script is referred to as . The Dongxiang people refer to it as the "Dongxiang script" or the "Huihui script"; The Salar refer to it as the "Salar script"; The Dungan of Central Asia used a variation of Xiao'erjing called the "Hui script", before being made to abandon the Arabic script for Latin and Cyrillic. According to A. Kalimov, a famous Dungan linguist, the Dungan of the former Soviet Union called this script (, ).
Origins Since the arrival of Islam in Tang dynasty China beginning in the mid-7th century, many Arabic and Persian speaking people migrated into China. Centuries later, these peoples assimilated with the native Han Chinese, forming the Hui ethnicity of today. Many Chinese Muslim students attended madrasas to study Classical Arabic and the Qur'an. Because these students had a very basic understanding of Chinese characters but would have a better command of the spoken tongue once assimilated, they started using the Arabic script for Chinese. This was often done by writing notes in Chinese to aid in the memorization of suras. This method was also used to write Chinese translations of Arabic vocabulary learned in the madrasas. Thus, a system of writing the Chinese language with Arabic script gradually developed and standardized to some extent. Currently, the oldest known artifact showing signs of Xiao'erjing is a stone stele in the courtyard of in Xi'an. The stele shows inscribed Qur'anic verses in Arabic as well as a short note of the names of the inscribers in Xiao'erjing. The stele was done in the year AH 740 in the Islamic calendar (between July 9, 1339, and June 26, 1340). Some old Xiao'erjing manuscripts (along with other rare texts including those from Dunhuang) are preserved in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Usage Xiao'erjing can be divided into two sets, the "Mosque system" and the "Daily system". The "Mosque system" is the system used by pupils and imams in mosques and madrasahs. It contains much Arabic and Persian religious lexicon, and no usage of Chinese characters. This system is relatively standardised, and could be considered a true writing system. The "Daily system" is the system used by the less educated for letters and correspondences on a personal level. Often simple Chinese characters are mixed in with the Arabic script, mostly discussing non-religious matters, and therewith relatively little Arabic and Persian loans. This practice can differ drastically from person to person. The system would be devised by the writer himself, with one's own understanding of the Arabic and Persian alphabets, mapped accordingly to one's own dialectal pronunciation. Often, only the letter's sender and the letter's receiver can understand completely what is written, while being very difficult for others to read. Unlike Hui Muslims in other areas of China, Muslims of the northwest provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu had no knowledge of the Han Kitab or Literary Chinese, they used Xiao'erjing. Xiao'erjing was used to annotate foreign language Islamic documents (in languages like Persian) using the Chinese language.
Xiao'erjing was used mostly by Muslims who could not read Chinese characters. It was imperfect due to various factors. The differing Chinese dialects would require multiple different depictions with Xiao'erjing. Xiao'erjing cannot display the tones present in Chinese, syllable endings are indistinguishable, i.e. xi'an and xian. Xiao'erjing was much simpler than Chinese characters for representing Chinese.
Modern usage In recent years, the usage of Xiao'erjing is nearing extinction due to the growing Chinese economy and the improvement of Chinese character education in rural parts of the country. Chinese characters, along with pinyin, have since replaced Xiao'erjing. Since the mid-1980s, there has been much scholarly work done within and outside China concerning Xiao'erjing. On-location research has been conducted and the users of Xiao'erjing have been interviewed. Written and printed materials of Xiao'erjing were also collected by researchers, the ones at Nanjing University being the most comprehensive. is leading a project in Japan concerning Xiao'erjing. Books are printed in Xiao'erjing. In Arabic language Qur'ans, Xiao'erjing annotations are used to help women read. Xiao'erjing is used to explain certain terms when used as annotations. Xiao'erjing is also used to write Chinese language Qurans.
A Dachang Hui Imam, Ma Zhenwu, wrote a Qur'an translation into Chinese including Chinese characters and Xiao'erjing.
Alphabet Xiao'erjing has 31 letters, 4 of which are used to represent vowel sounds. The 31 letters consists of 28 letters borrowed from Arabic, 4 letters borrowed from Persian along with 2 modified letters and 1 extra letter unique to Xiao'erjing. Initials and consonants
Below table demonstrates the list of consonants, and cases in which two consonants represent the same initial, in the bopomofo order.
بB b پP p مM m فF f دD d ت / طT t نN n لL l قG g کK k ح / خH h ݣ (د)1J j ک (ٿ)2Q q ثX x جZh zh چCh ch شSh sh ژ / رR r ز / ظZ z ڞC c س / صS s یY y وW w ء / ا / عGlottal Note: is more commonly used instead of in Linxia manuscripts to better closely match the local dialect's pronunciation. is more commonly used instead of in Linxia manuscripts to better closely match the local dialect's pronunciation.
Below is the list of initials and consonants used in Xiao'erjing.
SymbolFinal–Medial–InitialStandard ChineseBopomofoPinyinArabicExampleNotes1(ا)(ـا)/a/ , ㄚa, a-, -a, -a-(阿 ā)Vowel sound2(ب)(ببب)/p/ , -ㄅb-(爸 bà)3(پ)(پپپ)/pʰ/ -ㄆp-none (Persian )(婆 pó)Borrowed from Persian4(ت)(تتت)/tʰ/ -ㄊt-(塔 tǎ) Used before syllable with all Hanyu Pinyin finals except for -ong, -uan, -ui, -un, -uo5(ث)(ثثث)-, -ㄑ、ㄒx-(些 xiē)Historically, manuscripts have also used س and ش6(ج)(ججج)/ʈ͡ʂ/ , ㄓzh-(这/這 zhè)Sound change occurs when representing Chinese7(چ)(چچچ)/ʈ͡ʂʰ/ ㄔch-none (Persian )(车/車 chē)Borrowed from Persian8(ح)(ححح)/x/ -ㄏh-(河 hé)Used before syllable with the Hanyu Pinyin finals -e, -ei, -en, -eng9(خ)(خخخ)/x/ -ㄏh-(湖 hú)Used before syllable with all Hanyu Pinyin finals except for -e, -ei, -en, -eng10(د)(د)/t/ , -; -ㄉd-(钉/釘 dīng)Used by some manuscripts to represent a few syllables with the Hanyu Pinyin initial j-. More commonly "ݣ" was used11(ر)(ر)/ɻ/ , -ㄖ r-(仍 réng)Used before syllables with the Hanyu Pinyin finals -eng, -un, -uo/ɻ/ -ㄦ-r(二 èr)Represents the rhotic final -r sound12(ز)(ز)/ʦ/ , -ㄗz-(在 zài)Used before syllable with all Hanyu Pinyin finals except for -ong, -ui, -un, -uo"ذ" is used by some manuscripts instead 13(ژ)(ژ)/ɻ/ , -ㄖr-none (Persian )(热/熱 rè)Used before syllable with all Hanyu Pinyin finals except for -eng, -un, -uo14(س)(سسس)/s/ -, -ㄙs-(四 sì)Used before syllable with all Hanyu Pinyin finals except for -ua, -ui, -un, -uo.Historically, manuscripts have also used this letter for Hanyu Pinyin initial x-15(ش)(ششش)/ʂ/ -, -ㄕsh-(是 shì)Historically, manuscripts have also used this letter for Hanyu Pinyin initial x-16(ص)(صصص)/s/ -ㄙs-(岁/歲 suì)Used before syllables with the Hanyu Pinyin finals -ua, -ui, -un, -uo17(ڞ)(ڞڞڞ)/ʦʰ/ -ㄘc-none(册/冊 cè)18(ط)(ططط)/t/ , -; -ㄉt-(吞 tūn) Used before syllables with the Hanyu Pinyin finals -ong, -uan, -ui, -un, -uo19(ظ)(ظظظ)/ʦ/ , -ㄗz-(作 zuò)Sound change occurs when representing Chinese. Used before syllable with the Hanyu Pinyin finals -ong, -ui, -un, -uo20(ع)(ععع)ㄜ, ㄦ, ㄛ, ㄡe, er, o, ou(恶/惡 è)A vowel when representing Chinese, but considered a consonant when representing Arabic and Persian loans21(ف)(ففف)/f/ -ㄈf-(废/廢 fèi)22(ق)(ققق)/k/ , -ㄍg-(个/個 ge)Sound change occurs when representing Chinese23(ک)(ککک)/kʰ/ -ㄎk-(可 kě)-ㄑq-(穷/窮 qióng)Historically, in Linxia manuscripts, ٿ is more commonly used to represent Hanyu Pinyin initial q-, to more closely match the local dialect's pronunciation24(ݣ)(ݣݣݣ)-ㄐj-none(脚/腳 jiǎo)Used in most manuscripts to represent "j-". Some manuscripts drop the three dots and simply use "ک"25(ل)(للل)/l/ -ㄌl-(里 lǐ)26(م)(ممم)/m/ -ㄇm-(秘 mì)27(ن)(ننن)/n/ -ㄋn-(你 nǐ)28(و)(و)/u/ , ㄨwu, wa, wai, wang, wan, wei, wen, weng, wo, u-, -u, -u-, (无/無 wú)Vowel sound29(ی)(ییی)/i/ , ㄧyi, i-, -i, -i-, (呀 ya)Borrowed from Persian and a vowel sound. (See Perso-Arabic ye)30(ء)(ء), , ㄩyi, yin, yun(孕 yùn)
Additional consonants The consonants in this list are either lesser used alternatives used in regional varieties of Xiao'erjing, or they are common Arabic or Persian letters that are exclusively used for writing loan words in Xiao'erjing texts.
SymbolFinal–Medial–InitialStandard MandarinpronunciationBopomofoHanyu PinyinArabicpronunciationExampleNotes1(ٿ)(ٿٿٿ)-ㄑq-none(穷/窮 qióng)Unique Xiao'erjing letter. Historically, in Linxia manuscripts, this letter instead of ک was used to represent Hanyu Pinyin initial q-, to more closely match the local dialect's pronunciation2(ذ)(ذ)/ʦ/ , -ㄗz-(在 zài) Some manuscripts use this letter instead of ز3(ض)(ضضض)nonenone(letter ḍād)Only used with Arabic loans4(غ)(غغغ)nonenone(criminal fraud)Only used with Arabic loans5(گ)(گگگ)noneㄍnonenone (Persian ) (treasure)Borrowed from Persian and only used with Persian loans6(ه)(ههه)/x/ -ㄏh-(air)Only used with Persian and Arabic loans
Finals and vowels Below is the list of final and vowel endings in each syllable representing each Hanzi in Xiao'erjing.Suutarinen, M. (2015). https://journal.fi/store/article/view/51814 Arabic Script among China's Muslims: A Dongxiang folk story". Studia Orientalia Electronica, 113, 197–208.