The World's Writing Systems: The Mongolian Script

SECTION 49: ARAMAIC SCRIPTS FOR ALTAIC LANGUAGES

The Mongolian script

At the very beginning of the Mongol empire, the Uyghur alphabet became the writing
system of the Mongols; see table 49.4. The whole set of symbols together with the
orthography was borrowed, and for several centuries no new letters were created for
the few Mongol phonemes unknown in Uyghur. This led to additional ambiguities
(e.g., initial yodh more often represents 7" than y, while medial tsadi renders both c and
/). Thus, in the orthography without diacritics, qacar 'cheek' and yajar 'place' have
the same written form. And though the Uyghur alphabet can distinguish d from t, no
initial d is marked, since this phoneme did not occur initially in Uyghur (so Mongo-
lian dalai 'ocean' is written with initial taw). Medial and final taw was later used for
syllable-final d, medial lamedh {d) for both d and t. In the late, classical orthography
(I7th-i8th century), the angular tsadi marks c, the smooth tsadi renders medial/. Ini-
tial yodh remained ambiguous until Manchu hooked yodh was accepted for initial y
(19th century). Zain had the same value as shin = s\ it became obsolete for classical
MongoHan. As in Uyghur, several schools of orthography existed, with or without di-
acritics, and attempts were made to avoid ambiguity.

Dominance of this vertical script was challenged in 1 26() by the introduction of
Emperor Qubilai's square script or imperial alphabet ('Phags pa, section 40) — and
in the seventeenth century by the Manchu alphabet, the clear script, the svdyambhu
script, and the horizontal square script (the latter two were invented by Jiianavajra,
the Khalkha high priest). However, none of these offered the simplicity of the Uy-
ghur-Mongol vertical script. In 1587 Ayushi created an amplified version of this al-
phabet for the exact transcription of Sanskrit and Tibetan words; his new symbol for
foreign h was taken from Tibetan. A modern version of Ayushi 's alphabet replaced the
older Mongol renderings of Mandarin syllables.

The Mongol script is known in various handwritten, shorthand, printed, and or-
namental styles. There exist several alphabetical orders, different from the Aramaic.
In Inner Mongolia (China), this Mongol script now also serves for writing the Tun-
gusic language Evenki. It was replaced by CyriUic in 1946 in the Mongolian Repub-
Uc, but recent political changes favor its revival. (For the use of CyrilHc in three
varieties of Mongolic, see below.)

PART VIII: MIDDLE EASTERN WRITING SYSTEMS
TABLE 49.4: The Mongolian Script

Mongol. Value Initial

i (yodh)

o/u (waw)
o/u=waw+yodh
innon-istsylL
n before vowel
n syll./wd. final

q

7 before vowel

Y syll./wd. final

b

s

s

s final (Uyg. z)

t/d (taw)

d/t (lamedh)

I

4
4

a

j/y (medial: top, j; j^
bottom, y) '^^

k/g

r
w/v

h

P

Medial

Final Separate Miscellaneous Mongol. Value

u

■«Ff

1 ^

<4

-3

1

-^

-J'

^

^

ba/e
k/ga/e

bi
k/gi

bo/u
k/go/u

Mongyol

ml

ja

Sample of Mongolian

•<i

i t -1 1 1 J

1. Transliteration: tY pwp^5hy s^6wp'm' h' ^ /s'6wp^ ynvv p'y ' 6wr m'rk^n

2. Normalization: tere bodhi-saduva ma-ha-saduva inu bey-e-diir mergen
J. Gloss: that bodhisattva mahasattva 3p()Ss body-DAT wise

1. k'm'n / Vq'q5'qwy : t¥ pw|3^6hy s'5w(3' m' h' V s'6wp 'ynw serekii

2. kemen / uqaydaqui tere bodhi-saduva ma-ha-saduva inu serekiii
J. saying should.know that bodhisattva mahasattva 3POSS waking

7. ba : / s^kykwy

2. ba : / sedkikiii

3. and thinking

p^ : VyPtkwy kyk^t : / m^5^kwy dwr m^rk^n k^m^n
ba tiiledkiii kiged medekiii-diir mergen kemen
and acting as. well knowing-DAi wise saying

/. Vq^q6^qwy : / tY pwp^Shy s^6wp^ m^ h^ Vs^5wP^ ^ynw twyrwn twyk^kwy :

2. uqaydaqui tere bodhi-saduva ma-ha-saduva inu toron tugeklii

3. should.know that bodhisattva mahasattva 3P()SS bom spreading

'You should know: that bodhisattva and mahasattva is wise 11 n (the knowledge
of) body. You should know: that bodhisattva and mahasattva is v^ise in watch-
fulness, thinking, acting as well as perceiving. That bodhisattiva (is wise in the
knowledge of) the sense organs and sense objects (lit. what is being generated
and what is spreading.'

—From the printed Mongol Kanjur, vol 49, folio 2 A. Text without diacritics.

Early 18th century blockprint.)

SECTION 49: ARAMAIC SCRlFi S bOK ALTAIC LAJNUUAUiiS

TABLE 49.8: Mongolic in Cyrillic Script

Letter

Khalkha

Buryat

Kalmyk

A

a

a

a

a

a

a

-

-

a

B

6

b

b

b

B

B

w

(v)

w

r

r

g

g

g

n

h

-

-

Y(gh)

A

ff

d

d

d

E

e

ye/yo

ye/yo

e/ye-

£

e

yo

yo

3C

3C

J

J

z(zh)

^

:^

-

-

J

3

3

j(dz)

z

z

H

H

i

i

i

H

H

i

i

y

K

K

(k)

k

JI

JI

1

1

1

M

M

m

m

m

H

H

n-, -ng

n-, -ng

n

^

^

-

-

ng

e

e

6

n

n

P

P

P

p

P

r

r

r

c

c

s

s

s

T

T

t

t

t

y

y

u

u

u

Y

Y

u

u

u

(D

4)

(f)

X

X

X

X

x(kh)

n

h

-

h

-

^

^

c

(c)

c(ts)

H

H

c

(c)

c(ch)

m

m

s

s

s(sh)

n^

n^

(sc)

!>

I.

mute shwa "hard sign"

BI

BI

long ii

ei/ii

B

b

1

palatalization

3

3

e

e

e initial

K)

K)

yu/yti

yu/yii

yu initial

il

a

ya

ya

ya initial

Cyrillic script

Cyrillic script was introduced for Mongolic languages by Soviet authorities in 1939
(see SECTION 65), and in Mongolia in 1946 (table 49.8).

Long vowels and diphthongs are written as vowel+vowel in Khalkha (i.e. Mod-
ern Mongolian) and Buryat; Kalmyk marks long vowels this way only in the first syl-
lable of a word; in syllables after the first, short vowels are omitted, and long vowels
are represented by a single letter. In Khalkha, -hh represents long // following a pal-
atal or palataHzed consonant; -bi represents long // following a non-palatal consonant.
Khalklia orthography has complex rules specifying whether a short vowel in a sylla-
ble other than the first is to be written. "Buryat" is 6ypaaff bufdd in Cyrillic Buryat,
6ypHaA huriadm Khalkha, and buriyad in Classical Mongolian. "Kalmyk" is xajibMr
khaVmg in Kalmyk, xajiHMar xalimag in Khalkha, and qalimay in Classical Mongo-
lian.

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THE WORLD'S
WRITING SYSTEMS

Edited by
Peter T. Daniels

William Bright