MONGOLIAN. Under the term “M. language. " understand both ancient, written M. lang., and modern living M. lang. It is not possible to accurately record the time of the appearance of writing among the Mongols. It is only known that the writing system, ... ... Literary encyclopedia

Self-name: Mongol hal Countries: Mongolia, China, Russia, A ... Wikipedia

Language Self-name: Mongol hal Countries: Mongolia, China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan Official status: Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia) Total number of speakers: 5.7 ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Alphabet (meanings). The Wiktionary contains an article "alphabet" Alphabets ... Wikipedia

Mongolian- Uldgүy tsagaan sar bolokh dөhөzh, nad neg daalimban өngөtei nehiy deel hiyzh өgch, bi bayar bolokh n ghezh hөl gazar hүrekhgүy shaham l baysan. Bitүүniy үdesh yum san. Bansh hiytsgeezh baygaad bi neg bosokhdoo heden banshin deer sanamsargүy garaar darzh bostol, ... ... Identifier of the world's languages ​​by scripts

Mongolian language Self-name: Mongol hal Countries: Mongolia, China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan Official status: Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia) Total number of speakers: 5.7 ... Wikipedia

Cyrillic Type: consonantly vocal Languages: Old Slavonic, Church Slavonic, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian and many others Place of origin: South Eastern Europe ... Wikipedia

Until the beginning of the XIII century. AD the historical role of the Mongols was very insignificant, but after the unification of Mongolia under the rule of Genghis Khan (Temuchin), its dominion extended from Korea to southern Russia. The Mongolian language belongs to the Altaic family of languages. The dialects of the Mongolian language are now spoken by peoples living on the territory from the Great Wall of China to the Amur River and from the Gobi Desert to the Altai Mountains. There are no significant differences between the three main Mongolian dialects or languages ​​- Khalkha, Oirat-Kalmyk and Buryat. Literary Mongolian language is the form of the Khalkha language, for which in the XIII-XIV centuries. the lamas Saskia Pandiat and Choiji Ozerom introduced writing.

Until in 1272 the writing pa-sse-pa or "p" ags-pa was introduced for the Mongolian language, which is a modification of the Tibetan writing system, the Uyghur language and the Uyghur writing system were the official writing and writing of Mongolia. In 1310, the writing of pa-sse-pa was replaced by the writing of galika or kalika (from ka-lekka, that is, "writing ka"), which, relying mainly on the Uyghur alphabet, experienced a certain influence of the Tibetan writing system and adopted the experience of the pa- sse-pa.

During the XIV century. the Galika alphabet (which was used to write the Mongolian translations of Buddhist Sanskrit and Tibetan writings), having undergone some changes, became the Mongolian national alphabet.

Signs of the Mongolian, Kalmyk, Manchu and Buryat alphabets.

The direction of writing in Mongolian writing is vertical, from top to bottom. Perhaps this was due to the Chinese influence, but unlike the Chinese script, the columns here follow one after another from left to right. The Mongolian writing system is not perfect; so, the signs for the sounds g and k, d and t, o and u, y and j are the same in it, therefore, many words that are distant in meaning have a similar spelling, for example urtu "long" and ordu "palace".

Manchu writing

Sample of Manchu writing.

Manchu people speaking the South Tungus language, akin to the Tungus group of Altai languages 1 The Manchu language belongs to the southern group of the Tungus-Manchu languages, which some researchers combine with the Mongolian and Turkic languages ​​into the Altaic family. - Approx. ed, entered the arena of history only in the 17th century. The creator of Manchu writing and literature can be considered Nurkhachu, who, having become emperor in 1616, took the name Akhkai Fulingga (in Chinese Tien Ming - "Appointed by Heaven"). Manchu literature consists primarily of translations or imitations of Chinese works.

Originally, the Manchu writing system was simply a Mongolian alphabet adapted for the Manchu language. In 1632, some diacritics were added to it. In 1748, Manchu writing was reformed by the Manchu emperor of China, Chen-lun, who, according to legend, chose one of the thirty-two existing versions of writing. In Manchu, as in Mongolian, they write in vertical columns, running from left to right.

Kalmyk alphabet

Kalmyks 2 The author means the Kalmyks in a broad sense, including the Oirats, who live mainly in Xinjiang, China. The Kalmyks proper, living in the Kalmyk Autonomous Region in the USSR, have now introduced a written language on a Russian basis. - Approx. ed.- a people related to the Mongols, inhabiting vast areas of Mongolia in the eastern part of the Tien Shan Mountains, on the western border of the Gobi Desert; their nomad camps are widespread in the east up to Gansu and in the west up to the Kalmyk steppes. Some Kalmyks settled on the banks of the Volga.

Kalmyk alphabet.

In 1648, under Lama Zaya Pandita, the Kalmyks adapted the Mongolian alphabet to their language. The Kalmyk alphabet more accurately conveys the sound composition of the language than the Mongolian.

Buryat alphabet

The Buryat language belongs to the Mongolian group of languages, it is spoken by more than 300 thousand people living in the Buryat Autonomous Region and in the Irkutsk Region in Transbaikalia. The writing system of the Buryat language, which is the eastern branch of the Mongolian language group, is the last descendant of the Mongolian alphabet. The Russian alphabet is also adapted to the Buryat language.

INFORMATION FOR TOURISTS

MONGOLIAN LANGUAGE AND WRITING

The Mongolian language belongs to the Mongolian group of the Altai macrofamily languages. The state language of Mongolia is based on the Khalkha dialect, which is spoken by the majority of the country's population.

Over the centuries, the Mongols have had five different scripts and alphabets. One of the Uyghur scripts began to be used from the X-XIII centuries, having come a long way: the Phoenicians, Sogdians, Uyghurs, Khitan.

The Khitan used the "great Khitan writing", similar to the Chinese hieroglyphic, and in 925 they announced the "small Khitan writing", probably borrowed from the Uighurs. Mongolian characters are written from top to bottom and from right to left. There are special methods of cursive writing and rules for abbreviating words. Old Mongolian writing is still used in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (China).

IN 1269 year Monk Pagwa, by order of Kublai, based on the Tibetan alphabet, compiled the Mongolian alphabet (square script), which was used for a century until the fall of the Yuan dynasty (1260-1368).

IN 1986 year the head of the Buddhist church Undur-gegen Zanabazar composed the alphabet from the signs of the "soyombo" ideogram. It includes letters based on the spelling of 16 vowels and 34 consonants in Indian Sanskrit. Some difficulty in writing the letters of this alphabet prevented its wide distribution among the people.

IN 30s of XX century... The Mongols began to use Latin letters, but they were only used for writing headlines for newspapers and posters.

In Mongolia since 1945 the Mongolian letter is replaced by a letter based on the Russian alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Two more letters were added to the letters of the Russian alphabet - fita and izhitsa - to convey the sounds of the front row specific to the Mongolian language. By 1950, as a result of the fight against illiteracy, all Mongols had learned to read and write. Illiteracy was eradicated in a short time and Mongolia acquired a single written language for the first time in its history.

Since 1978, interest in the revival of the old Mongolian writing system has grown sharply, and it has been included in the curriculum of general education schools. In 1990, against the background of populist statements, a decree was adopted to return to the old Mongolian script, the implementation of which was supposed to take 10 years. However, this issue has not yet been resolved. In the Mongolian language, a lot of modern words come from Russian and English.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

"The Mongols have created an invaluable written culture." S. Zhambaldorzh Sh. Chuluunbaatar.
Bulletin of the center "Moscow-Ulan Bator". New !!! year 2009.

The main asset of any nation is its language and writing. They give originality, make it possible to assert national identity, and stand out from others. During their centuries-old history, the Mongols managed to try about ten different alphabets, now this people mainly uses the Cyrillic alphabet. How did the descendants of the conquerors who founded the Golden Horde switch to a written language similar to Russian? And why not Latin or Old Mongolian writing?

There are many alphabets, one language

Many have tried to develop an alphabet suitable for the Mongolian language and all its dialects. The legendary commander Genghis Khan himself, creating a huge empire, took care of the need to start a document circulation in order to record orders and draw up contracts.
There is a legend that in 1204, after the victory over the Naiman tribe, the Mongols captured a scribe named Tatatunga. By order of Genghis Khan, he created a writing system for the conquerors based on his native Uyghur alphabet. All documents of the Golden Horde were compiled using the developments of the captive scribe.
A characteristic feature of the old Mongolian writing is its vertical orientation: words are written from top to bottom, and the lines are arranged from left to right. Some researchers explain this fact by the fact that it was easier for a warrior riding his war horse to read the scrolls drawn up in this way.
In the 90s of the XX century, in the homeland of Genghis Khan, the old Mongolian script was returned to its official status, but the scope of its application is limited to the logos of companies and the names of organizations, since this alphabet is outdated, it does not correspond to the modern pronunciation. In addition, the old Mongolian script is not convenient for working at a computer.
However, a modified version of this alphabet is used in Inner Mongolia, a region of China where the main population is descended from the legendary conquerors.
In the future, there were several more variants of Mongolian writing. For example, at the end of the 13th century, the Tibetan monk Phagba Lama (Dromton Chögyal Phagpa) developed the so-called square writing based on the symbols of Chinese phonetics. And in 1648, another monk - Zaya-Pandita Oirat - created todo-bichig (clear writing), focusing on Tibetan writing and Sanskrit. At the end of the 17th century, the Mongolian scientist Bogdo Dzanabadzar developed the soymbo, and the Buryat monk Aghvan Dorzhiev (1850-1938) developed the vagindra. The main goal of these scholars was to create an alphabet most suitable for translating sacred texts into Mongolian.

Writing is a political issue

The use of certain symbols to write a language is not so much a matter of convenience and linguistic correspondence as the choice of the sphere of political influence. Applying one alphabet, peoples inevitably draw closer together, enter into a common cultural space. In the twentieth century, Mongolia, like many other countries, was actively striving for self-determination, so the reform of the written language was inevitable.
The revolutionary transformations in this Asian state began in 1921, and soon socialist power was established throughout Mongolia. The new leadership decided to abandon the old Mongolian script, which was used to translate religious texts ideologically alien to the communists, and switch to the Latin alphabet.
However, the reformers encountered strong resistance from many representatives of the local intelligentsia, some of whom were supporters of the modification of the old Mongolian script, while others argued that Latin was not suitable for their language. After accusations of nationalism and a wave of repressions in the second half of the 30s of the twentieth century, the reformers from linguistics simply had no opponents left.
The Latin alphabet was officially approved in Mongolia on February 1, 1941, and a modified version of this alphabet was used to print newspapers and books. But less than two months have passed since this decision of the country's leadership was canceled. And on March 25, 1941, the people announced the imminent transition to the Cyrillic alphabet. Since 1946, all the media began to use this alphabet, and since 1950, they began to draw up legal documents on it.
Of course, the choice in favor of the Cyrillic alphabet was made by the Mongolian authorities under pressure from the USSR. At that time, the languages ​​of all the peoples of the RSFSR, Central Asia and neighboring states, which were under the strong influence of Moscow, were ordered by order to be translated into the Cyrillic alphabet.
Only the inhabitants of Inner Mongolia, which is part of the PRC, retained the former vertical writing. As a result, representatives of the same people, separated by a border, use two different alphabets and do not always understand each other.
In 1975, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, preparations began to translate the language of Inner Mongolia into Latin, but the death of the head of the Chinese Communist Party did not allow this plan to come true.
Now, some Mongolians who are citizens of the PRC use the Cyrillic alphabet to emphasize their national identity as opposed to the assimilating influence of the Chinese authorities.

Cyrillic or Latin?

Unlike the Russian alphabet, the Mongolian version of the Cyrillic alphabet has two additional letters: Ү and Ө. The developers managed to distinguish the dialectal sounds of the sounds CH and C, Zh and Z, G and X, O and U, Ө and Ү. And yet, this version of writing does not give a complete correlation between spelling and pronunciation.
Although the Latin alphabet also cannot be called a suitable alphabet for the Mongolian language, this version of the writing has its drawbacks. Not all sounds are the same in spelling and pronunciation.
In the 1990s, in the wake of the rejection of the communist ideology and the search for a further path of development, there was an attempt to return the old Mongolian script, but it ended in failure. This alphabet no longer corresponds to the trends of the times, and translating all scientific terms, formulas, textbooks and office work in the country into the vertical version of the spelling turned out to be inappropriate, costly and time-consuming process. Such a reform would take a long time: it would be necessary to wait for representatives of the next generation, educated in Old Mongolian, to start working as teachers.
As a result, having given the original alphabet the official status, the Mongols use it only for decorative purposes, continuing to write in the Cyrillic alphabet, although from time to time there are calls in the country to switch to the Latin alphabet.
Wanting to demonstrate their national independence, at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, the states of Central Asia abandoned the Cyrillic alphabet imposed on them during the Soviet era. Even in Tatarstan, which is part of Russia, there was talk of a reform of the writing system. This process is actively lobbied by Turkey, which switched to the Latin alphabet in 1928, as well as its NATO allies - Great Britain and the United States, who are interested in spreading their cultural influence in Asia.
However, Mongolia's transition to the Latin alphabet is unlikely for several reasons at once.
Firstly, this country is not among the Turkic-speaking states, unlike its neighbors from Central Asia, and therefore the opinion of official Ankara does not matter much in Ulaanbaatar.
Second, the Mongols have no strong desire to distance themselves from Russia. Despite the repressions of the 30s of the twentieth century, in this country they remember the good things that were done with the help of the USSR: the construction of enterprises, hospitals, educational centers, infrastructure facilities.
Thirdly, the people of Mongolia fear the growing influence of China, which seeks to assimilate all neighboring peoples. The Cyrillic alphabet serves as a kind of cultural buffer that does not allow the Mongols to be deprived of their national identity.
In addition, as we mentioned above, Latin is also not quite suitable for Mongolian, as well as Cyrillic. Therefore, the inhabitants of this country do not see much sense in changing one alphabet to another.

In my life, I have come across the Mongolian alphabet twice, and in two different versions. The first time was in my childhood, when I was enthusiastically solving cryptograms from the collection of "Linguistic problems". Then I came across the ancient Mongolian version - writing from top to bottom with some kind of squiggles, a bit like capital letters. The second time I encountered the Mongolian alphabet was at work. And this was already a modern spelling. I remember then I was very surprised why there is Cyrillic in Mongolia, and I studied this issue a little.

First

There were many different states on the territory of modern Mongolia. Naturally, there was also an ancient alphabet, which later ceased to be used, in my opinion, due to its complexity. As far as I know, the Cyrillic alphabet appeared in Mongolia during the time of close friendship with the Soviet Union, although even in the 19th century Russian educators traveled there, bringing, so to speak, culture to the "illiterate" Asian population. Unfortunately, for some reason, Russians still consider Asia an underdeveloped region, although this has not been the case for a long time. In general, we were so friendly with our Mongolian colleagues that it was decided to write their language in our letters. By the way, the Chuvash language was also written in Cyrillic at the beginning of the 20th century. But the Vietnamese language, for example, is written in Latin.

Second

It seems to me that writing any Asian language with our letters is a rather difficult task. Therefore, in Mongolian Cyrillic there are two additional characters, namely:

As I understand it, this is another "o" and "y". I know that there are two kinds of "o" in Korean, which are almost indistinguishable to our ears. I think it's the same with the Mongolian pronunciation. But the recording of Russian names and surnames in Mongolian is absolutely identical to the spelling in Russian.