Objective To investigate the types of tongue movement in Xinjiang Kazakhs, to explore the relationship between tongue movement types, and to provide inference for genetic of human anthropology.   Methods Totally 405 samples (178 males, 227 females) of Kazakh in Tacheng, Xinjiang, were investigated for the types of tongue movement. Chi-square test, u test and cluster analysis were used to explore the characteristics of tongue movement of Kazakhs and the tongue movement of other ethnic groups relation. Generalized multivariate dimension reduction (GMDR) analysis and logistic regression were used to analyze the correlations between tongue movements.   Results The frequencies of rolling tongue, folding tongue, twisting tongue, and pointed tongue were 73.08%, 41.97%, 18.02%, and 66.91% respectively. No gender difference was found in the frequencies of four tongue moving types. Compared with other ethnic groups in our country, the frequency of rolling tongue and pointed tongue was at a moderate level, the frequency of folding tongue was higher, and the frequency of twisting tongue was lower. The cluster analysis result  showed that the tongue movement type of Xinjiang Kazak was closest to that of Han nationality in Jinzhou, Liaoning. GMDR result  showed that among the four tongue movements, there were interactions between the combinations of rolling tongue and folding tongue, folding tongue and rolling tongue and pointed tongue, twisting tongue and pointed tongue, and rolling tongue and folding tongue，and pointed tongue and folding tongue. Logistic regression result  showed that there were correlations between rolling tongue and folding tongue, pointed tongue and folding tongue, folding tongue and pointed tongue and rolling tongue.  Conclusion Compared with the tongue movements of the domestic ethnic groups, the four types of tongue movements of the Kazakhs in Xinjiang are stronger in folding tongue movement, weaker in tongue turning movement, and average in rolling tongue and pointed tongue movement. There is a relationship between rolling tongue and folding tongue, pointed tongue and folding tongue, and folding tongue are related to pointed tongue and rolling tongue.