Most modern linguists today classify Salar as an independent primary branch of the Oghuz languages.

[9][10] The Qing Empire deported some Salars who belonged to the Jahriyya Sufi order to the Ili valley which is in modern-day Xinjiang.

[17] For example; Ili Salar[21] gölök, Qinghai[17] gölix, gölex "cow".

After the Jahriyya revolt, some Salars were deported to the Ili valley and established a new community in the region.

This led to the divergence of a distinctive dialect called Ili Salar influenced by the neighboring Kazakh and Uyghur languages.

[27] In Ili Salar, the high front vowels i and y, when placed after an initial glide, are spirantized with j transforming into ʝ.

[29] In Qinghai Province, the Salar language has been notably influenced by Chinese and Tibetan.

Yet the official Chinese government policy deliberately covers up these influences in academic and linguistics studies, trying to emphasize the Turkic element and completely ignoring the Chinese superstrate in the Salar language.[31][why?]

[41] This lack of an official script has led most Salar to use the Chinese writing system.

[42] China offered the Salar an official writing system quite similar to the Uyghur Yengi Yezik, but it was rejected for similar reasons as Yengi Yezik was rejected in Xinjiang.

[51] William Woodville Rockhill wrote a glossary of Salar in his 1894 book Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet in 1891 and 1892 using the Latin alphabet based on the Wade–Giles romanization system used for Chinese.

[52][53][54] Aa Bb Cc Çç Dd Ee Ff Gg Ğğ Hh İi Iı Kk Ll Mm Nn Ññ Oo Öö Pp Qq Rr Ss Şş Tt Uu Üü Yy Vv Zz A romanization of the Mengda dialect of Salar based on Pinyin has been developed, created by a Salar, Ma Quanlin, who lives in Xunhua.

[56] Letters that occur both in Pinyin and romanization of Mengda Salar share the same sound values.

[57] Here is given an excerpt of the "kiš yiγen ġadïn kiš" ("people-eating woman") story from Ma Wei, Ma Jianzhong & Kevin Stuart's work The Folklore of China's Islamic Salar Nationality.

oholdï bir ninor vumiš aŋa kiǰičix anor vara bir gunor ninačux anasini parlïǰani ziden yanbar(r) yarïm yoldï ulïr xari ġadïnkïšor učiramiš xari ġadïnkiščix daš išdende zoğziba(r) bu ninačix yana varǰani aŋnišmiš e xari nina sen eyiŋ bir kiščuγïŋ munda natburi dimiš Long ago there was a granny.