The Santa language, also known as Dongxiang (), is a Mongolic language spoken by the Dongxiang people in Northwest China. Dialects There are no dialects in strict sense, but three local varieties (tuyu) can be found: Suonanba (ca. 50% of all Dongxiang speakers), Wangjiaji (ca. 30% of all Dongxiang speakers) and Sijiaji (ca. 20% of all Dongxiang speakers). Phonology Except for a limited number of cases there is no vowel harmony and the harmonic rules governing the suffix pronunciation are by far not as strict as those of Mongolian. Consonants Dongxiang has 29 consonants: Vowels Dongxiang has 7 vowels. Unlike other neighboring Mongolic languages, it has neither vowel harmony nor distinctions of vowel length. Grammar Morphology Plural marking -la (remaining of nouns) -sla/-sila (certain nouns and pronouns) -pi (relatives) Cases Santa/Dongxiang has 6 cases. Syntax In common with other Mongolic languages, Dongxiang is spoken as an SOV language. In Linxia, however, under the influence of the Mandarin Chinese dialects spoken by the neighbouring Hui people, sentences of the SVO type have also been observed. Writing system Knowledge of Arabic is widespread among the Sarta and as a result, they often use the Arabic script to write down their language informally (cf. the Xiao'erjing system that was used by Hui people); however, this has been little investigated by scholars. , the official Latin alphabet for Dongxiang, developed on the basis of the Monguor alphabet, remained in the experimental stage. Numerals The Tangwang language There are about 20,000 people in the north-eastern part Dongxiang County, who self-identify as Dongxiang or Hui people who do not speak Dongxiang, but natively speak a Dongxiang-influenced form of Mandarin Chinese. The linguist Mei W. Lee-Smith calls this the "Tangwang language" (), based on the names of the two largest villages (Tangjia and Wangjia, parts of Tangwang Town) where it is spoken and argues it is a creolized language. According to Lee-Smith, the Tangwang language uses mostly Mandarin words and morphemes with Dongxiang grammar. Besides Dongxiang loanwords, Tangwang also has a substantial number of Arabic and Persian loanwords. Like Standard Mandarin, Tangwang is a tonal language, but grammatical particles, which are typically borrowed from Mandarin, but are used in the way Dongxiang morphemes would be used in Dongxiang, don't carry tones. For example, while the Mandarin plural suffix -men (们) has only very restricted usage (it can be used with personal pronouns and some nouns related to