Abstract

This paper examines how ethnic Kazakhs from the Ili region of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region conceptualize variation within the Kazakh language and how these perceptions are shaped by language ideologies. Although Kazakh is often described in linguistic scholarship as a language with relatively limited dialectal differentiation, speakers’ perceptions reveal that linguistic differences are interpreted through ideological frameworks that link language use to authenticity, morality, and cultural belonging. This study investigates how Xinjiang Kazakhs perceive dialect variation across the Kazakhstan–China border and how these perceptions construct symbolic boundaries within the Kazakh-speaking world.

The analysis draws on qualitative fieldwork conducted with ethnic Kazakhs born in Xinjiang who later migrated to southern Kazakhstan. Using methods from perceptual dialectology and following Preston’s framework, which elicits speakers’ attitudes, evaluations, and mental maps of linguistic variation, semi-structured interviews were employed for this study. Participants were asked to comment on regional language differences, evaluate speech samples from different regions of Kazakhstan, and describe where they believe dialectal boundaries exist. While participants experienced difficulty with map-based elicitation tasks commonly used in perceptual dialectology, their verbal responses provided detailed insights into how linguistic differences are imagined and evaluated.

The findings demonstrate that participants consistently interpret linguistic variation through an ideology of linguistic purism. Many described the Kazakh spoken in Xinjiang as таза (‘pure’) or нақ қазақ (‘real Kazakh’), contrasting it with what they perceive as “mixed” or “influenced” Kazakh in Kazakhstan due to Russian borrowings and code-switching. These evaluations reflect broader ideological associations between linguistic purity and cultural authenticity. At the same time, participants frequently portray Kazakh in Kazakhstan as linguistically homogeneous, overlooking internal dialect diversity. These perceptions illustrate the semiotic process of erasure, whereby the ideology of linguistic purity renders both contact-induced features in Xinjiang Kazakh and dialect variation within Kazakhstan largely invisible to speakers. Furthermore, judgments about linguistic purity are reproduced at smaller regional scales within Xinjiang itself, demonstrating the process of fractal recursivity in the construction of dialect hierarchies.

By examining how speakers ideologically interpret linguistic variation, this paper contributes to scholarship on language ideology, perceptual dialectology, and cross-border linguistic identities in Central Eurasia. The study highlights how dialect boundaries are not simply linguistic realities but socially constructed through speakers' beliefs about authenticity, purity, and cultural legitimacy.