Mongolian Script Research Articles

Старомонгольская письменность в Байкальском регионе на современном этапе: курс на ревитализацию?

This paper aims to provide an analysis of the development of the Mongolian script in the sociocultural context of the Baikal region in modern times. The main purpose of this article is to characterize the key trends in society from the point of view of sociolinguistic processes. Materials and methods. The research is based on a thorough examination of official data from the Government of the Republic of Buryatia, government departments of the Irkutsk region and Transbaikal region, as well as publications in the media and field materials gathered through an expert survey of heads of educational centers and language activists. The authors have adopted a systematic approach and applied a range of general scientific and special methods, including comparative historical and statistical methods, to conduct this study. Results and conclusions. It has been revealed that the Mongolian script has significant role in performing various socio-cultural functions. Mongolian script has gained widespread popularity in the form of calligraphy in the Baikal region. Furthermore, the language is deeply embedded with ethno cultural symbolism, making it a valuable source for the development of the Buryat language and culture as a whole. There is a growing interest in analyzing the language situation in Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China, particularly in terms of the implementation of state language policy in perspective. The status and functional role of Mongolian script in these regions are of utmost importance in understanding its impact on the overall language landscape.

Implementation of Language Policy in USSR in 1930s (Buryat-Mongolian Language)

The study focuses on analyzing the development of the Buryat-Mongolian language and writing system amidst socio-cultural transformations during the Soviet period. Textbooks, methodological guides, as well as ethnographic and sociolinguistic reports from the 1930s, serve as the research materials. Educational materials on teaching methods for the Buryat-Mongolian language and writing in general education institutions are of research interest for analyzing approaches to practical implementation of the educational process and material content. This historical period is marked by the transformation of societal structures resulting from extensive sociopolitical processes not only in our country but also in the Mongolian People’s Republic and the People’s Republic of China. The Soviet leadership reasonably paid special attention to eradicating illiteracy and implementing language policy in the country. It was revealed that education in the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR faced linguistic, methodological, and staffing contradictions. The process of studying the native language underwent systematic reforms within a relatively short historical period. The traditional Old Mongolian script was replaced by Latin in 1931 and then by Cyrillic in 1939, leading to a decline in educational quality. Such transitions were accompanied by restructuring educational and methodological aspects of the educational process.

Offline Mongolian Handwriting Recognition Based on Data Augmentation and Improved ECA-Net

Writing is an important carrier of cultural inheritance, and the digitization of handwritten texts is an effective means to protect national culture. Compared to Chinese and English handwriting recognition, the research on Mongolian handwriting recognition started relatively late and achieved few results due to the characteristics of the script itself and the lack of corpus. First, according to the characteristics of Mongolian handwritten characters, the random erasing data augmentation algorithm was modified, and a dual data augmentation (DDA) algorithm was proposed by combining the improved algorithm with horizontal wave transformation (HWT) to augment the dataset for training the Mongolian handwriting recognition. Second, the classical CRNN handwriting recognition model was improved. The structure of the encoder and decoder was adjusted according to the characteristics of the Mongolian script, and the attention mechanism was introduced in the feature extraction and decoding stages of the model. An improved handwriting recognition model, named the EGA model, suitable for the features of Mongolian handwriting was suggested. Finally, the effectiveness of the EGA model was verified by a large number of data tests. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed EGA model improves the recognition accuracy of Mongolian handwriting, and the structural modification of the encoder and coder effectively balances the recognition accuracy and complexity of the model.

«Сказание о хождении в Тибет пандита-хамбо-ламы Заяева из цонгольского рода» как источник по истории буддизма

The history of Buddhism and the initial period of its spread in Transbaikalia in the XVII-XVIII centuries are insufficiently studied due to the lack of archival materials and sources, while the surviving historical records provide different information about some events, such as the year of construction of the first Buddhist temple and the first sermon, the years of D.-D. Zayaev's life. The earliest extant sources are "Autobiography" and "Travel Notes" written by D.-D. Zayaev in 1768. They contain valuable information not only about the history of Buryat Buddhism, but also about the life and activities of D.-D. Zayaev (1711-1776), the first Buryat pandita Khambo-Lama, whose name is associated with the beginning of the spread of Buddhism among the Buryats and its institutionalization in the Russian Empire, but also with the description of his pilgrimage to Tibet. In this regard, in order to clarify some dates on the early history of Buryat Buddhism, texts related to him have been searched for and analyzed in the funds of the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs (CVRK) of the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the RAS. It was established that of the six sources found, the most informative work is "The Legend of the Tsongol Kin Pandita Khambo-Lama Zayaev's Journey to Tibet" in the Old Mongolian script, stored in the Mongolian collection of the CVRK. As a result of the study, it was revealed that this work is a late manuscript consisting of the "Travel Notes", the Biography of D.-D. Zayaev and of an anonymous manuscript containing a brief description of Buddhist sacred places and shrines in India, Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia, what has determined its structure consisting of 3 parts. It was found out that this manuscript contains information about the socio-economic situation of the population of Tibet and neighboring countries, as well as information about the history of Buddhism in Transbaikal region in the middle of the XVIII century. It testifies to Russia's geopolitical interests in this region of Inner Asia and the peoples living there, as the author reports, saying that it was written at the behest of Catherine II, who outlined a range of issues: "to describe what I’ve seen on my way to Tibet, the length of the road and distance, as well as about the customs and habits of people". The unique historical information preserved by the Buryat pilgrim and the Russian citizen D.-D. Zayaev is also relevant for conducting comparative studies of the phenomenon of modern pilgrimage that is becoming popular not only for believers but among ordinary lay population.

Using Natural Language Processing Techniques to Study the Development Dynamics of the Subei Mongolian Language and Its Shaping of the Chinese National Community Consciousness

Abstract Language and society are a pair of covariance; language reflects the changes in society, and the changes in society have an important impact on the language. The urbanization process in the Subei area is reflected in the current Mongolian language use situation. This paper explores the intrinsic connection between language and the Chinese national community, in which the emotional identity of Mongolian script is one of the factors affecting the development of Mongolian language in Subei. Mongolian emotions are represented semantically using the SOFT self-attention mechanism. The computation of emotion word weights and distributions is carried out sequentially to enhance the emotion word tokens that semantic rules represent. Through the mining of emotion prior knowledge, new emotion words are found from the Mongolian emotion corpus with the help of emotion seed words, and a set of candidate emotion words is constructed. The emotion words that were mined in Mongolia are merged into emotion sentences, and then they are emotionally masked. An empirical survey is designed to visit and examine the local Mongolian residents in Subei using random sampling. The psychological distance of Mongolians towards intermarriage is the lowest among the subject ethnic groups, with a mean value of 1.7585. The development of the Mongolian language in Subei is a map of the progress of the Chinese nation’s consciousness and contributes to the formation of a sense of community among its people.

Results of Compliance Test for Determining the Mongolian Script Knowledge and Skills of Civil Servants

In the framework of conducting the preparatory work for the implementation of the medium and long-term planning of the official transition to the use of the Mongolian script, the results of the analysis of the test used to determine the level of knowledge and ability of government employees in the Mongolian script are reflected in this article. The study will determine the level of knowledge and skills of the government employees in Mongolian script, and based on that, the directions and forms of activities will be determined. Also, this study is academically and practically important on the following points. Contribute to the development of Mongolian literacy education theory and methodology. Ideas and understanding of adult literacy (Mongolian script) education will develop. Contribute to the creation of systematic knowledge about the research methods of Mongolian script. It will be possible to put research materials on Mongolian literacy education into academic circulation. It is possible to use the programs, manuals, training materials, and methods developed during the pilot study. Once the comprehensive and systematic procedure of Mongolian script for adults (programs, manuals, trainers, electronic and paper materials) is tested and ready, the target groups (public servants) will be upskilled and human resources will be increased in the field. As a result of the study, a database, standardized test database, and research database will be created. Төрийн албан хаагчдын монгол бичгийн мэдлэг, чадварыг тодорхойлох сорилын нийцлийн шинжилгээний үр дүн Хураангуй: Монгол бичгийн хэрэглээнд албан ёсоор шилжих дунд болон урт хугацааны төлөвлөлтийг хэрэгжүүлэх бэлтгэл ажлын хүрээнд төрийн албан хаагчдын монгол бичгийн мэдлэг, чадварын түвшнийг тогтооход ашиглах сорилын нийцлийг шинжлэх судалгааны үр дүнг энэхүү өгүүлэлд тусгав. Төрийн албан хаагчдын монгол бичгийн мэдлэг, чадвар ямар түвшинд байгааг судалгаагаар тогтоож, түүнд тулгуурлан дэмжих чиглэл, үйл ажиллагааны арга хэлбэрийг тодорхойлох юм. Мөн энэхүү судалгааны эрдэм шинжилгээний болон практик ач холбогдлыг бид дараах байдлаар тодорхойлж байна. Монгол бичиг үсгийн боловсролын онол, арга зүйг хөгжүүлэхэд хувь нэмэр оруулна. Насанд хүрэгчдийн бичиг үсгийн (монгол бичгийн) боловсролын үзэл санаа, ойлголт төлөвшинө. Монгол бичгийн эрдэм шинжилгээний арга хандлагын талаар системтэй мэдлэг бий болоход хувь нэмэр оруулна. Монгол бичиг үсгийн боловсролын талаарх судалгааны материалыг эрдэм шинжилгээний эргэлтэд оруулах боломж бүрдэнэ. Турших судалгааны явцад боловсруулсан хөтөлбөр, гарын авлага, сургалтын хэрэглэгдэхүүн, ашиглах арга аргачлалыг ашиглах боломжтой. Монгол бичгийн насанд хүрэгчдийн сургалтын нэгдсэн системчилсэн (хөтөлбөр, гарын авлага, сургагч багш, цахим болон цаасан хэрэглэгдэхүүн) багц туршигдаж бэлэн болсноор зорилтот бүлгүүд чадавхжиж хүний нөөц бий болно. Мэдээллийн сан, түвшинчилсэн сорилын сан, судалгааны өгөгдлийн сантай болно. Түлхүүр үг: монгол бичиг, түвшин, даалгавар, шинжилгээ, арга, хүчин зүйлс

On the Study of Mongolian Script Lexicography

In this article, the history of lexicography of Mongolian linguistics, including the lexicography of Mongolian writing, is discussed. Mongolian linguistics has a rich history of lexicography, including the study of dictionaries based on knowledge of the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet for Mongolian language learners since the 1990s. Although these dictionaries have different authors, they are essentially the same and differ in some ways. In this way, creating a dictionary of Mongolian script based on the Mongolian Cyrillic script seems to be convenient for students on the one hand, but on the other hand, it may be a hindrance. In the future, it is necessary to create a dictionary of Mongolian scripts in Classical Mongolian. Монгол бичгийн толь бичиг судлалын тухай асуудалд Хураангуй: Энэ өгүүлэлд монгол хэл шинжлэлийн түүхэн дэх монгол бичгийн толь бичгийн уламжлал, шинэчлэл, ялангуяа ерээд оноос хойш Монгол Улсад хэвлэгдсэн монгол бичгийн толь бичгүүдийн бүтэц, арга зүй, онцлогийн талаар судлан шинжилсэн тухай дурдах болно.Түлхүүр үг: монгол хэл шинжлэл, монгол толь бичиг, монгол бичиг, монгол хэлний зөв бичих дүрэм, толь бичгийн бүтэц, агуулга, хэрэглээ

Creative Biography of the First Russian Mongologist Scholar A.V. Igumnov: Historiography of the Theme

The article presents the Russian historiography of the creative biography and scientific heritage of the first Russian and Siberian Mongologist scholar A.V. Igumnov. The article presents a historiographical review of the works of Russian researchers devoted to the initial stage of Siberian Mongolian studies and the role of A.V. Igumnov in the compilation of the Mongolian-Russian dictionary and grammar of the Mongolian language, and the collection of monuments of the Mongolian script. A new evaluation of the dictionary by A.V. Igumnov in the history of Russian Mongolism is proposed. The article presents data on the dictionary and grammar of academician Ya. I. Schmidt, the dictionary of professor O.M. Kovalevsky, who used the materials of the unpublished dictionary of A.V. Igumnov. These facts seriously clarify the history of Russian Mongolian studies and prove the superiority of the Irkutsk translator. The idea of the priority of A.V. Igumnov's dictionary in Russian Mongolian studies is substantiated, and the assessments of Russian researchers on this issue are given. It is assumed that his dictionary was created, but not published and preserved in a manuscript at the Local History Museum of Kyachta.

The Problem of the Establishment of a Legitimate Language on the Example of the Introduction of Latin Graphics in the Mongolian People’s Republic during the 1930s

In this article, the adoption of a legitimate language by the Mongolian People’s Republic following the language reform of the 1930s, which involved the switch to the Latin script, is considered. The language policy pursued by the MPR in the early 20th century is investigated from the perspective of the legitimate language theory. By that period, the traditional Mongolian script had become outdated and needed to be reformed. Furthermore, the illiteracy rate among Mongolian people was very high, and the old Mongolian script was difficult to study. Another reason is that the language turned into the main tool for promoting the new cultural and ideological values of the USSR. Thus, the shift of Mongolia to the writing system based on the Latin alphabet was a political phenomenon and played a key role in broadcasting the cultural policy of the new state. In the early years of the MPR, the Latin-based writing solved several problems at once: it promoted literacy among Mongolian people, gave greater publicity to the policy of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party and the new culture, and became a platform to bring together Mongolia and the USSR. To substantiate the importance of the Latin graphics as the official state script, Pierre Bourdieu’s “Language and Symbolic Power” is analyzed, in which the author discusses the origin of the legitimate language and script, as well as their role in the process of nation building. Here, the documents in both Russian and Mongolian are also examined. The obtained results demonstrate that, despite various difficulties, the Latin script was adopted for a quite short period of time as legitimate in the MPR, which had a great influence on the development of the socialist culture and the Mongolian national identity.

Online Mongolian Handwriting Recognition Based on Encoder–Decoder Structure with Language Model

Mongolian online handwriting recognition is a complex task due to the script’s intricate characters and extensive vocabulary. This study proposes a novel approach by integrating a pre-trained language model into the sequence-to-sequence(Seq2Seq) + attention mechanisms(AM) model to enhance recognition accuracy. Three fusion models, including former, latter, and complete fusion, are introduced, showing substantial improvements over the baseline model. The complete fusion model, combined with synchronized language model parameters, achieved the best results, significantly reducing character and word error rates. This research presents a promising solution for accurate Mongolian online handwriting recognition, offering practical applications in preserving and utilizing the Mongolian script.

О сочинении Лувсан-Ринчена Номтоева «Рычание благозвучной речи»

Introduction. The article describes a treatise titled The Roar of Euphonious Speech by renown 19th-century Buryat Buddhist cleric and educator Ven. Lubsan-Rinchen Nomtoev. The text examined is a xylograph printed at the Atsagat Datsan. Goals. The article aims at analyzing and introducing results of a preliminary insight into the mentioned historical and grammatical work, which is concise enough though valuable in terms of its informativeness and textual harmony. Materials and methods. So, the paper investigates a xylograph headed Degedü šasin erdeni ber mongɣol oron-i tügegülügsen uɣ-i üjegülügsen iraɣu kelen-ü kürkirel neretü orusibai and housed at the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs (IMBT SB RAS, Mongolian Collection, file ID БМ-658). The source analysis proper is preceded by a brief historiographical introduction to studies that have dealt with the to be examined writing and some other treatises by L.-R. Nomtoev. Results. The work notes R. Nomtoev’s efforts were highly appreciated by A. Pozdneev, M. Bogdanov, B. Vladimirtsov, F. Kudryavtsev, P. Baldanzhapov, Ts.-A. Dugar-Nimaev, B. Bayartuev, Mongolian scholars T. Pagba, Ts. Damdinsüren, D. Tserensodnom, etc. The content analysis reveals the essay consists of two parts, namely: Part One describes the history of how Buddhist teaching was disseminated among Mongols and how Lama-donator relations were established, including the rise of the Gelugpa school to power; Mongolian-language Part Two discusses the history of Buddhism’s dissemination and the importance of delivering sermons in Mongolian. Conclusions. The study identifies Part One is the author’s revision of Chapter Four (‘How the [Holy] Teaching Was Spread in Mongolia’) of The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems by Thuken Losang Chökyi Nyima (Mong. Tugan-Gegen Luvsanchojinima, 1737–1802). The work determines main sources of the writing and emphasizes the latter is a historical and philological composition covering the history of Mongolian Buddhism and Mongolian script.

Fighting the Devil: On the Non-Obvious Function of One Folk Story of the Oirats of Xinjiang

The article deals with the folk story ulum-i itaɣaɣsan ni (How Argachi managed to burn the devil-girl) published in 1990 in Urumqi in the Old Mongolian script. The story was incorporated into the collection of satirical tales about Argachi, an Oirat folk hero reminiscent of Khoja Nasreddin. Of all the published tales, the story in question highlights the image of the antagonist. While usually an Oirat folklore trickster opposes a rich man, an aristocrat or an official, in this case he deceives a mythological charactera female demon. This narrative largely repeats the Khalkha-Mongol mythological tale included by Vladimir A. Kazakevich (18961937) in the report on his trip in 1925 to the region of the Khalkh-gol river. The researcher provided the narrative recorded in Khalkha with a voluminous commentary, which made it possible to completely reconstruct the context and pragmatic function of a stable narrative. The traditional strategy used to deceive a mythological character dangerous for a person, in case of an undesirable visit to the yurt, is revealed. The strategy is expressed by the world-famous folktale-type AT 1135 Eye Remedy.

Traditional Mongolian on Modern Devices

Computer operating systems have been slow to adopt the Traditional Mongolian script for the Mongolian language due to its vertical, left-to-right orientation. Prior research shows that Webkit-based browsers struggle to display the Traditional Mongolian script, while Blink-based browsers like Google Chrome are able to display Mongolian text to a certain extent. However, this research is outdated and fails to look at these issues with reference to the operating system being used to host each browser. This study will determine the accessibility of the Mongolian script on modern computer systems by examining the problems that major operating systems have with the Traditional script. Data was collected through a needs assessment, where quantitative analysis of the data was employed. Operating systems included Android 12, iOS 15, and Windows 10, in which Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Samsung Internet were hosted. Initial results showed that browsers ran in iOS contained a higher amount of text rendering problems compared to other variables, while browsers ran in Android and Windows had the most amount of support and were the most usable. Text rendering problems generally varied based on the operating system being used rather than the browser displaying the text, meaning that Mongolian support problems were moreso dependent on the operating systems. These findings indicate that Mongolian display problems lie more with the operating systems themselves, meaning that distributors like Apple, Android, and Windows should consider which aspects of localization support should be focused on when providing language options for the Traditional Mongolian script.

Отто Иванович Макстенек: завершение карьеры дипломата

The article studied the farewell letter of the Authorized People's Committee for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR in Mongolia, Otto Ivanovich Makstenek. The authors found out that Makstenek wrote a letter to the Mongolian revolutionaries when his official powers ended. The letter speaks of strong friendship with the “Mongolian seven” and the joint struggle, which made it possible to carry out the Mongolian revolution. The letter in the Old Mongolian script first published in a book by Khorlogiin Choibalsan and his party colleagues. The authors introduce into scientific circulation this document translated into Russian.

Research on the Modeling Features of Mongolian Characters

The study of Mongolian characters’ plastic arts is a new direction in the field of Mongolian characters. The Mongolian people have a history of 800 years using the Uighur Mongolian script, and they have produced a splendid and splendid writing art. Due to the reduction of the scope of modern Mongolian characters, the art of font modeling is declining day by day, and the research on the basic characteristics of characters is not in-depth enough. Therefore, analyzing the characteristics of Mongolian characters is beneficial to the protection and inheritance of characters. Therefore, analyzing the characteristics of Mongolian characters is beneficial to the protection and inheritance of characters. This article summarizes and analyzes the Mongolian characters used in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. According to the vertical writing style of Mongolian, the composition of Mongolian has made a detailed analysis. Summarizing the modeling characteristics of Mongolian characters, it is concluded that Mongolian characters are spelled vertically and continuously from top to bottom. The same letter has different variants in the upper, middle and lower positions of the word. The animal’s physical features are named. An in-depth analysis of Mongolian character modeling provides a theoretical basis for reference in the field of Mongolian font design.

Зөвлөлт, оросын монголч эрдэмтэн П. Балданжаповын монголын түүхийн сурвалж судлалд оруулсан хувь нэмэр (= О вкладе советского, российского ученого П. Б. Балданжапова в изучение монгольских исторических источников)

Introduction. In 1958, the Mongolian Academy of Sciences launched the “Monumenta Historica” series, which was to become the main venue of modern historical science in Mongolia for over fifty years of research in the field. Several factors were influential for the series reputation: i) leading Mongolian scholars, as well as scholars outside of Mongolia, worked hard in the country and abroad to collect a large amount of material on Mongolian sources; ii) the Mongolian-Soviet team of scholars published “History of Mongolia”, which contributed to the study of research methods of historical sources; and iii) a large number of sources and scholarly works were published by Russian and Soviet scholars at the time, including such authors as A. M. Pozdneev, Ts. Zh. Zhamtsarano, L. S. Puchkovsky, N. P. Shastina, S. D. Dylykov, etc. whose contribution to the development of the source studies was invaluable. Among these scholars, we would like to single out Purbo B. Baldanzhapov. The present article aims to describe Baldanzhapov’s contribution to the study of Mongolian historical sources. Materials and methods. The main research methods employed for the study were biographical, historical-problematic, and historical-descriptive. Baldanzhapov’s major publications in the field and a wide range of published sources on Mongolian history were the materials selected for the undertaken research. Results. The scholar’s studies were focused on the main sources on the history of Mongolia, such as Galdan’s “Erdeniin Erikhe” (Precious Rosary), “Tsagaan tukhe” (White History), “Altan Tobchi” (Golden History) by Mergen-gegen, etc. He had an excellent command of Mongolian script, perfectly understood the content of the original monuments, and was a master of the source analysis. Baldanzhapov made several visits to Mongolia and during his stays copied many sources, including “Tsagaan tukhe” from the collection in the library of the Gandantegchenlin monastery. Conclusions. Granted a close friendly relationship between Baldanzhapov and the first editor-in-chief of the “Monumenta Historica”, Sh. Natsagdorj, who knew each other since their postgraduate days in Moscow, it may be assumed that the latter’s knowledge of his friend’s research methodology, as well as of Baldanzhapov’s published works had an overall influence on the methodology of publications in the series. Baldanzhapov’s studies of Mongolian sources have not lost their relevance, his elaborate contributions to Mongolian history and written tradition studies have served as a methodological guide for young Mongolian scholars.

On the Printed Fragment in Classical Mongolian Script from the Collection of IOM, RAS

The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences possesses a xylographed fragment in classical Mongolian script with a handwritten text on the reverse side (call mark G 110 recto), which was obtained in 1909 during P. K. Kozlov’s expedition in Khara-Khoto. The printed text in classical Mongolian script with several interlinear glosses in Chinese and a page footer (of the transcription of the Chinese name of the chapter and the page number) was read by the Soviet Orientalist N. Ts. Munkuyev more than 50 years ago. Munkuyev dated it by the XIV century based on the paleographic peculiarities. Moreover, based on the official history Yuan shi, he supposed that the text might be a Mongolian translation of the legislative code Da Yuan tong-zhi and suggested two possible versions of original Chinese name of the chapter, out of which an incorrect one was unfortunately chosen. Since Da Yuan tong-zhi was not preserved in full and the major part of the written monument including the chapters of interest were lost, it was impossible to find the text in scope, and the mistake in the reconstruction of the chapter name also could not be detected. However, in 2002 in South Korea a part of Zhi-zheng tiao-ge code was found, which was promulgated in 1346 and was intended to replace the outdated Da Yuan tong-zhi. In one of his previous articles, the author has shown that both codes were built according to a general pattern elaborated as far back as the Tang epoch (618–907). This enabled reconstruction of the name of the chapter mentioned in the fragment. Fortunately, the surviving part of the Zhi-zheng tiao-ge code contains the required chapters, and the Chinese glosses in the fragment allowed us to find the original Chinese text, which turned out to be a document dated 1303 and, according to the date, was evidently included in both codes. The article also contains the Chinese text of the document and its annotated translation.

Государственная политика Монголии по отношению к монгольской письменности

Introduction. The Mongolian script is a prime example of the written culture of Mongols. Over the past 30 years, the Mongolian State and Government have been implementing step-by-step measures to restore and apply the Mongolian script. Goals. The survey study aims to provide an analysis on the content of each event thereto, scope of corresponding activities, and outcomes of those actions — and also identify at what level these orders and decrees are not being implemented, and what should be done to ensure that these measures be fully executed. Materials. The study analyzes decrees, orders and resolutions of the President and the Government of Mongolia. It largely focuses on the ‘National Program for Mongolian Script — I, II, III’ which was conducted by the Government since 1995. Results. The paper shows that the restoration of the national written language is one of the important tasks of the state system in Mongolia. The decree of the Small State Khural (1991) on the introduction of records management in Mongolian script in the country and the corresponding decree of the Great State Khural (1994) on the intensification of work for the implementation of this goal and the development of the National Program for Mongolian Script were of great importance for the restoration of the significance of Mongolian script. In subsequent years, the solution of the tasks was facilitated by decrees of the President of Mongolia on the celebration of the 800th anniversary of Mongolian script (2003) and on the expansion and acceleration of work on the use of Mongolian script (2018). The National Program developed in accordance with the decision of the supreme legislative body has been implemented since 1995 and contains tasks for the transition to the use of two scripts from 2025. But the measures that have been carried out since 1995 at various levels did not provide a sufficient basis for introduction of the two scripts (national Mongolian and Cyrillic ones) into the public life from 2025. However, in 2020, the practice of accelerated learning of the Mongolian script and its application began. At the moment, it is necessary to identify the difficulties that may arise when using two scripts in Mongolia since 2025. Thus, for a quarter of a century, the issue of restoring the status of the national writing system has been consistently resolved.

Монгол хүний бичиг үсгийн чадварын судалгаа (албан ёсны кирилл үсгийн жишээн дээр) (= Исследование письменной грамотности среди монголов (на примере официального кириллического письма))

Introduction. The aricle studies the Cyrillic literacy of Mongolians through the use of sociolinguistic methods. Mongolians had been using the Mongolian script from ancient times through 1921, and since then by the 1930s the traditional script was replaced because it was considered obsolete and feudal. In 1941, Mongolia officially switched to modified Latin alphabet which was used for some time. However, two months later this decision was cancelled, and three months thereafter Cyrillic alphabet was introduced — on March 25, 1941, the Mongolian People’s Republic officially adopted the Cyrillic writing system. Mongolian script has been taught at secondary schools since the mid-1980s and under the influence of democracy and transparency, the national idea of the public has revived, and their current desire is to use the national script officially. Mongolians also use the Latin script in the Internet and mobile telephony. The Law on Mongolian Language was approved in 2013 and is being implemented, and this law stipulates that from 2025 onwards official documents shall be written in Cyrillic and Classical Mongolian. Results. The work investigates how Mongolians use three writing systems — Cyrillic, Latin and Traditional Mongolian. However, the official script (and literacy to be assessed) is still Cyrillic. The paper uses methods of social linguistics to assess Cyrillic literacy among citizens aged 16–30, 31–40, and over 40. The Cyrillic literacy skills are as follows: 16–30 year olds — 47.5 %, 31–40 year olds — 78.4 %, 41 and older — 52.1 %. The average value of Cyrillic literacy skills across all the three age groups is 59.3 %. The influence of Latin alphabet on Cyrillic skills for 16–30 year olds proves a matter of concern.

Between Communist Doctrines and Nationalist Agendas: Writing Reforms in Inner Mongolia, 1954–1980

The writing reforms of the Mongolian language in Inner Mongolia from 1954 to 1980 are a notable case of Maoist China’s language planning projects. In those years, the Chinese government attempted to implement two consecutive reforms featuring Cyrillization and Latinization of the Mongolian writing system, but neither reform yielded any substantial result and the traditional Mongolian script remains in use today. This article explores the domestic and international dynamics behind these two closely related reform attempts and examines their origins, rationales, processes of implementation, and reasons for failure. Although the rationales of both reforms lay in the communist doctrine favoring easier, more regular, and more universal writing systems that could improve literacy and facilitate communication, hidden behind both reforms were nationalist agendas. The Cyrillization reform sought linguistic unity with the Mongolian People’s Republic, while the Latinization reform sought unity of writing systems among languages in China. In both cases, the hidden nationalist agendas undermined the original goals of the reforms, and the reforms lost momentum once contending agendas prevailed.