The Mongolian Scripts

Before we get started: This section is more about the reasons and the connections for the introduction or abolition respectively of each script than about giving detailled information. So here you will find a general over view of the Mongolian scripts and a short account of the current discussion in Mongolia about which script to use in the future.

If you want to find out more about a certain script, just click on the link of the respective script in the frame on the left. :-)

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In the last 1000 years or so the Mongolian people used six different scripts of which - except the currently used cyrillic script - only the first one is still used. all the other scripts fell into oblivion. only some scientists are interested in them because they testify the level of the Mongolian language at the point of their developement.But they are no longer used as everyday script. 

The introduction as well as the abolition of each script mirror the happenings of the time and especially the changing demands for a script resulting from it.

Around 1200 A.D. the first Mongolian script, the classical Mongolian script, was adopted from the Uigurs as the Mongolian tribes started to become an union. It was actively used when Cingis Khaan had mostly united the tribes and started building of the Mongolian Empire. The Mongolians were at a turning point between the nomadic life of the steppes and being an international power. To build such a huge empire and to maintain it, you need bureaucracy and therefore a script. Up to this point the Mongolian mostly used oral transmission or special arrows. But now the foresighted Cingis Khaan introduced the modified or better Mongolised Uigurian script to make the transmission of orders more effective and reliable.

The second Mongolian script, the square script, was introduced at the end of the 13th century after the Mongolian Empire had established itself and was now practically at the zenith of its power. At this time in Mongolian history the script had to fullfill more than just transmissionary duties. It had to enable to great khaan living in Beijing to communicate easily with all the different peoples in his empire. The square script met those demands and there had the same function as Latin had in the European middleages. With the downfall of the Yuan dynasty, the Mongolian rule in China, the script also became extinct. After they got thrownout of China in 1368 and went back to the steppes, the Mongolians no longer needed an international script. And as well as the square script worked in transcribing foreign languages, it failed to do the different Mongolian dialects justice. Therefore the mOngolians once again used the classical script.

When Altan khan caused the second wave of the spread of Lamaism, the Tibetan form of Buddhism, in Mongolia, the demands for a script once again changed. In the 17th century it was no longer about communicating with foreign subordinates, it was about having a script with which to translate religious texts from the Tibetan or the Indian into Mongolian. The clear as well as the soyombo script, the two scripts developed in this times, were perfectly fitted for this task in having special transcritption systems. Neither script could really spread though, because of the struggles between the Western and the Eastern Mongolians. Once again, it was the classical script who remained the most often used script.

In the 20th century a new super power appeared on the international stage beside the 'old' one, the Chinese and the Manjures - tsaristic Russia (later the Sowjetunion). The Vagindra script was perfectly adjusted to this new and rising power. Developed in 1905 this script made it possible to translate from Russian easier and better, therefore weakening the language barrier. Especially the punctuation marks until then unknown in Mongolian scripts prove how closely the Mongolians oriented themselves by the Russians.

A poltical peak in this orientation was reached with the adoption of socialism and the foundation of the  People's Republic of Mongolia in 1924. On the level of script this was mirrored by the introduction of the cyrillic script in 1941 which is still used as the official script in Mongolia.

In 1990 the Mongolians broke with socialism and now follow the guidance of the Western country in adopting capitalism. This developement is once again reflected in the current discussion about the official Mongolian script. Time and again certain people or groups demand that the cyrillic script be abolished. They instead want the Latin script. The most common arguments are that most computer programmes are written with Latin letters and that ht ecommunication with the Western countries would be easier. But you can easily write programmes in cyrillic letters and in communicating with the West, the Mongolians have to use English anyway. It are probably not that much practical arguments as it is the wish for an even closer connection with the Western countries that leads to this demand.

On the other hand there is a strong conciousness of the Mongolian identity with Cingis khaan as its major representive. People following this line of thought demand that the classical Mongolian script is re-introduced as official script. But the script reflects the Mongolian language as it was nearly a thousand years ago and would therefore needed to be fitted to modern Mongolian first. But since this script is considered as part of the cultural heritage, many Mongolians would consider it a kin dof sacrilege to try to reform the classical script.

The introduction of the classical script as the officially used script would be very hard to do anyway. The Mongolian school system is already struggling with the bad financial situation. Introducing a new script would most probably result in an incredibly high rate of analphabets. What is the practise today seems the right thing to do therefore: children learn the classical script in school beside the cyrillic one.