Yugur Ethnonyms

Currently, the official name for the nationality of the Yugur is Yugur or, in Chinese, Yùgù (lit. rich union). This name reflects the pronunciation of the Western and Eastern Yugur's autonyms. An older Chinese rendering of this autonym is Yáohuer.


The Turkic speaking Western Yugur's autonym is Yoghïr or Sarïgh Yoghïr (sarïgh yellow, Yoghïr Yugur), that of the Mongolic speaking Eastern Yugur is Yoghor or Shera Yoghor (shera yellow, Yoghor Yugur).

In order to distinguish between the Turkic and Mongolic speaking Yellow Yugur, or Yellow Uygur as they are traditonally known, Chinese linguists coined the terms Western and Eastern Yugur (in Chinese: Xibù Yùgù and Dongbù Yùgù).

It remains to be investigated why and how the Turkic and Mongolic speaking Yugur came to use the same autonym.


The ethnonyms Yoghïr and Yoghor derive from Uygur, the name of a Turkic speaking people that is already attested in ancient Turkic documents. A metathesis form (transposition of two letters in a word) Iugures for Uygur was noted as early as the 13th century by Wilhelm de Rubrouck, a Franciscan missionary and envoy to the Mongol khan.

From the 10th century onwards, Chinese historical documents have recorded the epithet Yellow as part of the ethnonym of the Turkic speaking peoples in the Gansù area, either by translating its meaning (e.g. Huángtóu Huíhe or Yellow-head Uygur), or by giving a phonetic rendering of it (e.g. Sali Wèiwùér, Xiláguer).

It has been suggested that the colour yellow refers to the Buddhist-Lamaist faith, more specifically to the Yellow sect, that these peoples adhered to, but this is uncertain. Many Turkic as well as Mongolic speaking peoples employ colours in their ethnonyms and clan names. Sometimes the colours refer to a specific dress code, as for instance with the ethnonym Karakalpak or Black Cap(s); and sometimes the colour may be taken symbolically, as for instance with the dynastic name Kök Turks or Celestial Turks (kök meaning blue, and by extension, sky). Other examples are the Western Yugur surnames or bone clan names Qïzïl, Red, Aq Thathar, White Tatar, Aq Yaghlahqïr, White Yaghlahqyr, and Qara Yaghlahqïr, Black Yaghlahqyr.

During the Qing dynasty, the Yugur people were called Huángfan (Yellow Foreigners or Yellow Barbarians) by the Chinese, hereby distinguishing them from the Tibetans whom the Chinese called Heifan (Black Foreigners or Black Barbarians).

The Western Yugur of the steppe designate themselves as oy kïsï (steppe person), or oylïgh (steppe + adjective suffix); they designate the Yugur living in the mountains as thagh kïsï (mountain person), or thaghlïgh (mountain + adjective suffix). The oy kïsï are those who live in Mínghua District, and the thagh kïsï those who live in Dàhé District.

The Western Yugur call the Tibetans Taht. This ethnonym is a Turkic word that originally meant stranger, alien. Currently, Taht is used by the Western Yugur of the steppe to refer to the Mongolic speaking Eastern Yugur as well.

The Western Yugur call the Chinese Qhïti. This ethnonym derives from Kitan, the name of a non-Chinese people ruling China in the 10-11th century as the Liao dynasty. Pejorative Western Yugur designations for the Chinese are qara qulaq, black ear, thogh azaq, short foot, and söyrï, a word of unknown origin.

The Western Yugur call the muslim Huí and Uygur Sart. This ethnonym is already attested in ancient Turkic writings, meaning merchant and later on town dweller, and is ultimately a loanword from Sanskrit. An obsolescent designation for the Uygur is Çanthou, a loanword from Chinese Chántóu (wrap-head) that referred to the turban worn by the Uygur.

The Russian Turcologists Malov and Tenishev mention a Western Yugur word Aryq, meaning Chinese or muslim Turk. This is a loanword from Tibetan, A-rig, the name of a country of nomad herdsmen situated to the west of Amdo. It originally may have referred to the local Tibetan population.


According to Potanin and Hermanns, the Mongolic speaking Yugur called the Turkic speaking Yugur Qara Yögür or Xara Yugur, Black Yugur.

Mannerheim reported somewhat bewildered that the Mongolic speaking Yugur regarded the Turkic speaking Yugur as belonging to the same people and at the same time as Tshantu, and that they were of the opinion that the Turkic speaking Yugur should be called Kara Yögur, Black Yugur, and not Sarö Yögur, Yellow Yugur.

By regarding them as Tshantu, the Mongolic speaking Yugur probably recognized that the language of the Turkic speaking Yugur was reminiscent of the Uygur language. Otherwise, the name Tshantu is inexplicable, for the Turkic speaking Yugur never wore turbans, as Malov explicitely states.

Perhaps inspired by the Chinese designations of Yellow and Black Barbarians, the Mongolic speaking Yugur distinguished themselves from the Turkic speaking Yugur by calling them Kara Yögur, Black Yugur.

The Turkic speaking Yugur, however, are not aware of such name, and in the modern sources of the Eastern Yugur language, no such ethnonym occurs.


According to Hermanns, who travelled the Tibetan Amdo area in the 1930s, the Tibetans called the Yugur Hor, and they designated the Yugur living in the east as Hor ser (Yellow Hor), or Hor gur ser (Yellow Tent Hor), and the Yugur living in the west as Hor nag (Black Hor), or Hor gur nag (Black Tent Hor).

In literary Tibetan, Hor means Mongol, or herdsman of northern Tibet, but in the Amdo area, this ethnonym designated such different peoples as muslim Turks or Monguor. Furthermore, Xor occurs as an Eastern Yugur bone clan name.


The Eastern Yugur call their language Ñkar lar (Ngkar language, Ngkar speech). The etymology of this word is uncertain; perhaps it is a loanword from Tibetan mgar-ba, meaning smith, or someone of a low cast. In Western Yugur, this word is rendered as Ïñkar. Incidentally, or perhaps not, the Western Yugur word ïñkar also means confused, muddled.