ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Old Uyghur alphabet

Have you ever heard of the Uyghur people? They live in a place called Xinjiang, which is in China. A long time ago, the Uyghur people made their own alphabet to write their language. This alphabet has been used for over 1000 years!

The Uyghur alphabet looks different from the alphabet that we use in English. It has totally different letters and symbols that stand for different sounds. The letters are written from right to left, not left to right like in English.

The Uyghur alphabet has 32 letters. That's a lot of letters! Each letter is made up of a combination of lines and dots. Some of the letters look like they have hats or tails on them.

One really interesting thing about the Uyghur alphabet is that it has changed over time. There have been different versions of the alphabet throughout history. Some versions looked more like Arabic, which was the language that the Uyghur people used to write in before making their own alphabet. Other versions looked more like the Mongolian alphabet.

Today, most Uyghur people don't use the old Uyghur alphabet anymore. The Chinese government has made them use the Chinese language and alphabet instead. But some Uyghur people still use the old Uyghur alphabet to write poetry, stories, or songs. It's important to them because it's part of their history and culture.