ID :
100381
Fri, 01/15/2010 - 17:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/100381
The shortlink copeid
WE WANT YOU TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MONGOLIA
TRADITION OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
Mongolia is a country with a legacy of official state documents. Chingis Khaan, unifier of the nation, based his power on a mandate from Tenger and headed all his declarations with the words "By the will of the Eternal Blue Heaven."
Old official documents consist of a title, main part, and confirmation. Documents sent from higher to lower authorities are headed 'order', 'official document--LEARN,' and 'the decree.' Official documents from subordinate authorities are headed 'the petition' and 'the submission.'
Mongolians followed the orthography strictly, by, for example, making an indentation with a raised name or title at the beginning of a line, not abbreviating, and not breaking up a long word. Writers and proofreaders were very strictly trained.
Documents were classified by purpose and address; from where, from whom, what for, when, to whom. There were many kinds of official document: 'folded-letter,' copy-register (in a banner office),' 'testament,' 'family clan names,' 'petition,' etc. Mongolians used to write 'Learn and keep' at the end of official documents, which is a reminder to obey the order.
Literate people were called wise, clever and sutra-scholar (historian). Wise Guush means a good translator.
MONGOLIAN SCRIPT
When Chingis Khaan built his empire, Mongolian became the imperial as well as the common language. Turks, Iranians, Chinese and Russians were among those who used it.
The need of a common script soon became obvious and the Uighur alphabet was chosen, formed in part by borrowings from Sogdian, whose roots are to be found in the Syriac script of the Nestorian missionaries. The ancient Mongolian script is also known as Uighur Mongolian and an Aramaic origin.
Mongolian script is read vertically, left to right. In 1946, Cyrillic was imposed as the official script, and the old Mongolian script was read by only a small minority. This was an attempt to deny most Mongolians access to their cultural heritage, most notably to the historical chronicles written in old Mongolian.
When reform came in the late 1980s, a group of intellectuals and publishers asked the Grand Khural (Ikh Khuraldai or parliament) to authorise the use of the old Mongolian script.
In 1995, the government decreed that all teaching would be done in this script in the lower grades, and it would be used for subjects such as history and social sciences in the higher grades.
Financial and organizational difficulties were not the only obstacles. There is also a difference between the classical written and spoken language. The script does, however, have one great advantage: it can be adapted easily to different Mongolian dialects because of its system of sound notation. It also has special signs that allow it to transcribe very easily languages such as Chinese, Sanskrit or Tibetan.
(to be continued)
Mongolia is a country with a legacy of official state documents. Chingis Khaan, unifier of the nation, based his power on a mandate from Tenger and headed all his declarations with the words "By the will of the Eternal Blue Heaven."
Old official documents consist of a title, main part, and confirmation. Documents sent from higher to lower authorities are headed 'order', 'official document--LEARN,' and 'the decree.' Official documents from subordinate authorities are headed 'the petition' and 'the submission.'
Mongolians followed the orthography strictly, by, for example, making an indentation with a raised name or title at the beginning of a line, not abbreviating, and not breaking up a long word. Writers and proofreaders were very strictly trained.
Documents were classified by purpose and address; from where, from whom, what for, when, to whom. There were many kinds of official document: 'folded-letter,' copy-register (in a banner office),' 'testament,' 'family clan names,' 'petition,' etc. Mongolians used to write 'Learn and keep' at the end of official documents, which is a reminder to obey the order.
Literate people were called wise, clever and sutra-scholar (historian). Wise Guush means a good translator.
MONGOLIAN SCRIPT
When Chingis Khaan built his empire, Mongolian became the imperial as well as the common language. Turks, Iranians, Chinese and Russians were among those who used it.
The need of a common script soon became obvious and the Uighur alphabet was chosen, formed in part by borrowings from Sogdian, whose roots are to be found in the Syriac script of the Nestorian missionaries. The ancient Mongolian script is also known as Uighur Mongolian and an Aramaic origin.
Mongolian script is read vertically, left to right. In 1946, Cyrillic was imposed as the official script, and the old Mongolian script was read by only a small minority. This was an attempt to deny most Mongolians access to their cultural heritage, most notably to the historical chronicles written in old Mongolian.
When reform came in the late 1980s, a group of intellectuals and publishers asked the Grand Khural (Ikh Khuraldai or parliament) to authorise the use of the old Mongolian script.
In 1995, the government decreed that all teaching would be done in this script in the lower grades, and it would be used for subjects such as history and social sciences in the higher grades.
Financial and organizational difficulties were not the only obstacles. There is also a difference between the classical written and spoken language. The script does, however, have one great advantage: it can be adapted easily to different Mongolian dialects because of its system of sound notation. It also has special signs that allow it to transcribe very easily languages such as Chinese, Sanskrit or Tibetan.
(to be continued)
