Mongolian script

Mongolian script
Mongolian script;
Script type	Alphabet
Time period	ca.1204 – today
Direction	Vertical left-to-right, left-to-right
Languages	Mongolian language; Evenki language
Related scripts
Parent systems	Proto-Canaanite alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Syriac alphabet Sogdian alphabet Old Uyghur alphabet Uyghurjin script Mongolian script; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Child systems	Manchu script; Clear script; Vaghintara script
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Mong (145), Mongolian
Unicode
Unicode alias	Mongolian
Unicode range	U+1800 – U+18AF
	This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Mongolian script (Template:Lang-mn), or Hudum Mongolian script (in comparison with Todo Mongolian script), was the first of many writing systems created for the Mongolian language and the most successful until the introduction of Cyrillic to Mongolia in 1946. With minor modification, the classic vertical script is used in Inner Mongolia to this day to write both Mongolian and the Evenki language.

History

File:Genghis stone.jpg

The Stele of Yisüngge, possibly the oldest surviving monument, in Uyghur-Mongolian script. Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The Mongolian vertical script was developed as an adaption of the Uyghur script to write the Mongolian language. It was introduced by the Uyghur scribe Tatar-Tonga, who had been captured by the Mongols during a war against the Naimans around 1204. There were no substantive changes to the Uyghur form for the first few centuries, so that, for example, initial yodh stood for both [dʒ] and [j], while medial tsadi stood for both [dʒ] and [tʃ], and there was no letter for [d] in initial position. Mongolian sources often distinguish the early forms by using the term Uyghurjin script (Chinese: 回鹘式蒙古文, Mongolian for Uyghur style script). Western sources tend to use this term as a synonym for all variations of the Mongolian script.

Eventually, minor concessions were made to the differences between the Uyghur and Mongol languages: In the 17th and 18th centuries, smoother and more angular versions of tsadi became associated with [dʒ] and [tʃ] respectively, and in the 19th century, the Manchu hooked yodh was adopted for initial [j]. Zain was dropped as it was redundant for [s]. Various schools of orthography, some using diacritics, were developed to avoid ambiguity.

Mongolian is written vertically. The Uyghur script and its descendants—Mongolian, Oirat Clear, Manchu, and Buryat—are the only vertical scripts written from left to right. This developed because the Uyghurs rotated their Sogdian-derived script, originally written right to left, 90 degrees counterclockwise to emulate Chinese writing, but without changing the relative orientation of the letters.^[1]

The characters

File:Gaykhatu coin with Khagan's name.jpg

Coin bears the legend "Struck by Rinchindorji Gaykhatu in the name of Khagan" in Mongolian script. (Minted in Iran.)

Characters take different shapes depending on their initial, medial, or final position within a word. In some cases, there are additional graphic variations which are selected for better visual harmony with the subsequent character.

The alphabet fails to make several vowel (o/u, ö/ü, final a/e) and consonant (t/d, k/g, sometimes ž/y) distinctions of Mongolian that were not required for Uyghur.^[1] The result is somewhat comparable to the situation of English, which must represent ten or more vowels with only five letters and uses the digraph th for two distinct sounds. Sometimes, ambiguity is avoided, because the requirements of vowel harmony and syllable sequence usually determine the right choice. Moreover, as there are few words with an exactly identical spelling, actual ambiguities are rare for a reader who knows the orthography.

Characters			Transliteration		Notes
initial	medial	final	Latin	Cyrillic	Notes
			a	А	Distinction usually by vowel harmony (see also q/γ and k/g below)
			e	Э
	^{[note 1]} ^{[note 2]}		i, yi	И,Й, Ы, Ь	At end of word today often absorbed into preceding syllable
		File:3mg ouöü final.png	o, u	О, У	Distinction depending on context.
File:Mg öü initial.png	File:2mg öü1 medial.pngFile:2mg öü2 medial.png	File:3mg ouöü final.png	ö, ü	Ө, Ү	Distinction depending on context.
	^{[note 3]} ^{[note 4]}		n	Н	Distinction from medial and final a/e by position in syllable sequence.
			ng	Н, НГ	Only at end of word (medial for composites). Transcribes Tibetan ང; Sanskrit ङ.
			b	Б, В
			p	П	Only at the beginning of Mongolian words. Transcribes Tibetan པ;
			q	Х	Only with back vowels
			γ	Г	Only with back vowels. Between vowels pronounced as a long vowel.^{[note 5]} The "final" version only appears when followed by an a written detached from the word.
			k	Х	Only with front vowels, but 'ki/gi' can occur in both front and back vowel words Word-finally only g, not k. g between vowels pronounced as long vowel.^{[note 6]}
			g	Г
			m	М
			l	Л
			s	С
			š	Ш
			t, d	Т, Д	Distinction depending on context.
			č	Ч, Ц	Distinction between /tʃ'/ and /ts'/ in Khalkha Mongolian.
			j	Ж, З	Distinction by context in Khalkha Mongolian.
			y	-Й, Е, Ё, Ю, Я
			r	Р	Not normally at the beginning of words.^{[note 7]}
			v	В	Used to transcribe foreign words (Originally used to transcribe Sanskrit व)
			f	Ф	Used to transcribe foreign words
			ḳ	К	Used to transcribe foreign words
			(c)	(ц)	Used to transcribe foreign words (Originally used to transcribe Tibetan /ts'/ ཚ; Sanskrit छ)
			(z)	(з)	Used to transcribe foreign words (Originally used to transcribe Tibetan /dz/ ཛ; Sanskrit ज)
			(h)	(г, х)	Used to transcribe foreign words (Originally used to transcribe Tibetan /h/ ཧ, ྷ; Sanskrit ह)
			(zh)	(-,-)	Transcribes Chinese 'zhi' - used in Inner Mongolia
			(ř)	(-,-)	Transcribes Chinese 'ri' - used in Inner Mongolia
			(chi)	(-,-)	Transcribes Chinese 'chi' - used in Inner Mongolia

Notes:

^ Following a consonant, Latin transliteration is i.
^ Following a vowel, Latin transliteration is yi, with rare exceptions like naim ("eight") or Naiman.
^ Character for front of syllable (n-<vowel>).
^ Character for back of syllable (<vowel>-n).
^ Examples: qa-γ-an (khan) is shortened to qaan. Some exceptions like tsa-g-aan ("white") exist.
^ Example: de-g-er is shortened to deer. Some exceptions like ügüi ("no") exist.
^ Transcribed foreign words usually get a vowel prepended. Example: Transcribing Русь (Russia) results in Oros.

Examples

Historical shapes

Modern print type

Transliterating first word:


	v
	i
	k
	i
	p
	e
	d
	i
	y
	a

transliteration: Vikipediya čilügetü nebterkei toli bičig bolai.
Cyrillic: Википедиа Чөлөөт Нэвтэрхий Толь Бичиг Болой.
Transcription: Vikipedia chölööt nevterkhii toli bichig boloi.
Gloss: Wikipedia free omni-profound mirror scripture is.
Translation: Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia.

Derived scripts

Galik script

In 1587, the translator and scholar Ayuush Güüsh (Аюуш гүүш) created the Galik script (Али-гали), inspired by the 3. Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso. It primarily added extra characters for transcribing Tibetan and Sanskrit terms when translating religious texts, and later also from Chinese. Some of those characters are still in use today for writing foreign names (compare table above).^[2]

Clear script

In 1648, the Oirat Buddhist monk Zaya-pandita Namkhaijamco created this variation with the goals of bringing the written language closer to the actual pronunciation and making it easier to transcribe Tibetan and Sanskrit. The script was used by Kalmyks of Russia until 1924, when it was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. In Xinjiang, China, the Oirat people still use it.

Manchu script

The Manchu script was developed from the Mongolian script in the early 17th century to write the Manchu language. A variant is still used to write the Xibe language.

Vaghintara script

Another variant was developed in 1905 by a Buryat monk named Agvan Dorjiev (1854–1938). It was also meant to reduce ambiguity, and to support the Russian language in addition to Mongolian. The most significant change however was the elimination of the positional shape variations. All characters were based on the medial variant of the original Mongol script. After a few years, Agvan-Dorjiev ran out of funds to promote his invention further, so that fewer than a dozen books were printed using it.

Mongolian in Unicode

The Unicode Mongolian block is U+1800 – U+18AF.^[3] It includes letters, digits and various punctuation marks for Mongolian, Todo script, Xibe, and Manchu, as well as extensions for transcribing Sanskrit and Tibetan.

1800 ᠀ Birga	1801 ᠁ Ellipsis	1802 ᠂ Comma	1803 ᠃ Full Stop	1804 ᠄ Colon	1805 ᠅ Four Dots	1806 ᠆ Todo Soft Hyphen	1807 ᠇ Sibe Syllable Boundary Marker	1808 ᠈ Manchu Comma	1809 ᠉ Manchu Full Stop	180A ᠊ Nirugu	180B ᠋ Free Variation Selector One	180C ᠌ Free Variation Selector Two	180D ᠍ Free Variation Selector Three	180E ᠎ Vowel Separator
1810 ᠐ Zero	1811 ᠑ One	1812 ᠒ Two	1813 ᠓ Three	1814 ᠔ Four	1815 ᠕ Five	1816 ᠖ Six	1817 ᠗ Seven	1818 ᠘ Eight	1819 ᠙ Nine
1820 ᠠ A	1821 ᠡ E	1822 ᠢ I	1823 ᠣ O	1824 ᠤ U	1825 ᠥ Oe	1826 ᠦ Ue	1827 ᠧ Ee	1828 ᠨ Na	1829 ᠩ Ang	182A ᠪ Ba	182B ᠫ Pa	182C ᠬ Qa	182D ᠭ Ga	182E ᠮ Ma	182F ᠯ La
1830 ᠰ Sa	1831 ᠱ Sha	1832 ᠲ Ta	1833 ᠳ Da	1834 ᠴ Cha	1835 ᠵ Ja	1836 ᠶ Ya	1837 ᠷ Ra	1838 ᠸ Wa	1839 ᠹ Fa	183A ᠺ Ka	183B ᠻ Kha	183C ᠼ Tsa	183D ᠽ Za	183E ᠾ Haa	183F ᠿ Zra
1840 ᡀ Lha	1841 ᡁ Zhi	1842 ᡂ Chi	1843 ᡃ Todo Long Vowel Sign	1844 ᡄ Todo E	1845 ᡅ Todo I	1846 ᡆ Todo O	1847 ᡇ Todo U	1848 ᡈ Todo Oe	1849 ᡉ Todo Ue	184A ᡊ Todo Ang	184B ᡋ Todo Ba	184C ᡌ Todo Pa	184D ᡍ Todo Qa	184E ᡎ Todo Ga	184F ᡏ Todo Ma
1850 ᡐ Todo Ta	1851 ᡑ Todo Da	1852 ᡒ Todo Cha	1853 ᡓ Todo Ja	1854 ᡔ Todo Tsa	1855 ᡕ Todo Ya	1856 ᡖ Todo Wa	1857 ᡗ Todo Ka	1858 ᡘ Todo Gaa	1859 ᡙ Todo Haa	185A ᡚ Todo Jia	185B ᡛ Todo Nia	185C ᡜ Todo Dza	185D ᡝ Sibe E	185E ᡞ Sibe I	185F ᡟ Sibe Iy
1860 ᡠ Sibe Ue	1861 ᡡ Sibe U	1862 ᡢ Sibe Ang	1863 ᡣ Sibe Ka	1864 ᡤ Sibe Ga	1865 ᡥ Sibe Ha	1866 ᡦ Sibe Pa	1867 ᡧ Sibe Sha	1868 ᡨ Sibe Ta	1869 ᡩ Sibe Da	186A ᡪ Sibe Ja	186B ᡫ Sibe Fa	186C ᡬ Sibe Gaa	186D ᡭ Sibe Haa	186E ᡮ Sibe Tsa	186F ᡯ Sibe Za
1870 ᡰ Sibe Raa	1871 ᡱ Sibe Cha	1872 ᡲ Sibe Zha	1873 ᡳ Manchu I	1874 ᡴ Manchu Ka	1875 ᡵ Manchu Ra	1876 ᡶ Manchu Fa	1877 ᡷ Manchu Zha
1880 ᢀ Ali Gali Anusvara One	1881 ᢁ Ali Gali Visarga One	1882 ᢂ Ali Gali Damaru	1883 ᢃ Ali Gali Ubadama	1884 ᢄ Ali Gali Inverted Ubadama	1885 ᢅ Ali Gali Baluda	1886 ᢆ Ali Gali Three Baluda	1887 ᢇ Ali Gali A	1888 ᢈ Ali Gali I	1889 ᢉ Ali Gali Ka	188A ᢊ Ali Gali Nga	188B ᢋ Ali Gali Ca	188C ᢌ Ali Gali Tta	188D ᢍ Ali Gali Ttha	188E ᢎ Ali Gali Dda	188F ᢏ Ali Gali Nna
1890 ᢐ Ali Gali Ta	1891 ᢑ Ali Gali Da	1892 ᢒ Ali Gali Pa	1893 ᢓ Ali Gali Pha	1894 ᢔ Ali Gali Ssa	1895 ᢕ Ali Gali Zha	1896 ᢖ Ali Gali Za	1897 ᢗ Ali Gali Ah	1898 ᢘ Todo Ali Gali Ta	1899 ᢙ Todo Ali Gali Zha	189A ᢚ Manchu Ali Gali Gha	189B ᢛ Manchu Ali Gali Nga	189C ᢜ Manchu Ali Gali Ca	189D ᢝ Manchu Ali Gali Jha	189E ᢞ Manchu Ali Gali Tta	189F ᢟ Manchu Ali Gali Ddha
18A0 ᢠ Manchu Ali Gali Ta	18A1 ᢡ Manchu Ali Gali Dha	18A2 ᢢ Manchu Ali Gali Ssa	18A3 ᢣ Manchu Ali Gali Cya	18A4 ᢤ Manchu Ali Gali Zha	18A5 ᢥ Manchu Ali Gali Za	18A6 ᢦ Ali Gali Half U	18A7 ᢧ Ali Gali Half Ya	18A8 ᢨ Manchu Ali Gali Bha	18A9 ᢩ Ali Gali Dagalga	18AA ᢪ Manchu Ali Gali Lha

Issues

Although the Mongolian script has been defined in Unicode since 1999, there was no support for Unicode Mongolian from the major vendors until the release of the Windows Vista operating system in 2007, and so Unicode Mongolian is not yet widely used. In China, legacy encodings such as the Private Use Area (PUA) Unicode mappings and GB18030 mappings of the Menksoft IMEs (espc. Menksoft Mongolian IME) are more commonly used than Unicode for writing web pages and electronic documents in Mongolian.

The inclusion of a Unicode Mongolian font and keyboard layout in Windows Vista has meant that Unicode Mongolian is now gradually becoming more popular, but the complexity of the Unicode Mongolian encoding model and the lack of a clear definition for the use variation selectors are still barriers to its widespread adoption.

However, there are bugs in Microsoft's Mongolian Baiti font.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b György Kara, "Aramaic Scripts for Altaic Languages", in Daniels & Bright The World's Writing Systems, 1994.
^ Otgonbayar Chuluunbaatar (2008). Einführung in die Mongolischen Schriften (in German). Buske. ISBN 978-3-87548-500-4.
^ Unicode block U+1800 – U+18AF; Mongolian.
^ Version 5.00 of the Mongolian Baiti font may be displayed incorrectly in Windows Vista

External links

Sample text of Uyghurjin script - printing ()
Sample text of Uyghurjin script - handwriting (cursive)
Omniglot: Mongolian Alphabet
The Silver Horde: Mongol Scripts
Lingua Mongolia: Mongolian Alphabet, including tutorial
Inkway Mongolian calligraphy

[2] Following a consonant, Latin transliteration is i.

[3] Following a vowel, Latin transliteration is yi, with rare exceptions like naim ("eight") or Naiman.

[4] Character for front of syllable (n-<vowel>).

[5] Character for back of syllable (<vowel>-n).

[6] Examples: qa-γ-an (khan) is shortened to qaan. Some exceptions like tsa-g-aan ("white") exist.

[7] Example: de-g-er is shortened to deer. Some exceptions like ügüi ("no") exist.

[8] Transcribed foreign words usually get a vowel prepended. Example: Transcribing Русь (Russia) results in Oros.

[Kara-1] György Kara, "Aramaic Scripts for Altaic Languages", in Daniels & Bright The World's Writing Systems, 1994.

[9] Otgonbayar Chuluunbaatar (2008). Einführung in die Mongolischen Schriften (in German). Buske. ISBN 978-3-87548-500-4.

[10] Unicode block U+1800 – U+18AF; Mongolian.

[11] Version 5.00 of the Mongolian Baiti font may be displayed incorrectly in Windows Vista

[1]

[note 1]

[note 2]

[note 3]

[note 4]

[note 5]

[note 6]

[note 7]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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