The Clear Script is an alphabet created in 1648 by the Oirats Lama Zaya Pandita for the Oirat language.
History
The Clear Script is a Mongolian script, whose obvious closest forebear is vertical Mongolian. This Mongolian script was derived from the Uyghur alphabet. The Clear Script was developed as a better way to write Mongolian, specifically of the Western Mongolian groups of the Oirats and Kalmyks.
It resolved ambiguities in the written language by assigning symbols to vowels, and adding new symbols and
to show vowels and vowel lengths, and to distinguish between voiced and unvoiced consonants.
Symbols that were preserved from the traditional Mongolian script were assigned a fixed meaning.
There were even some marks enabling distinctions that were unimportant for words written in the Oirat language but were useful for the transcription of foreign words and names, such as between and .
Usage
The Clear Script was used by Oirat and neighboring Mongols, mostly in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
It was widely used by its creator and others to translate Buddhist works so that they might better spread the Buddhist religion throughout western Mongolia. Though the script was useful for translating works from other languages, especially Tibetan, it was also used more informally, as evidenced by some letters from the late 1690s.
Around the 19th and early 20th centuries, some Altai people in Russia were able to utilize the script to read and write texts due to contacts with Mongolian Buddhists.
The script was used by Kalmyks in Russia until 1924, when it was replaced by the Cyrillic script. In Xinjiang, Oirats still use it, although today Mongolian education takes place in Chakhar Mongolian all across China.
Writing in the Clear Script
This script is a vertical script, as was its 'vertical Mongolian' parent script. Letters and diacritics are written along a central axis. Portions of letters to the right of the axis generally slant up, and portions to the left of the axis generally slant down. The only signs that do not follow these rules are the horizontal signs for
, , and part of
.
Words are delineated by a space, as well as different letter forms. Though most letters only come in one shape, there are some letters that look different depending on where in the word they occur, whether they are initial, medial, or final.
Tables
There is an alphabetic order in the Clear Script, as in other related scripts, but the order for it is not the same as its Mongolian parent script. The Clear Script order is:
, ,
, ,
, ,
; ,
, ,
, ,
& ,
, ,
, ,
, ,
, ,
, ,
, ,
.
Vowels
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|
|
| All these form ligatures with a preceding bow-shaped consonant. |
| | | | ɑ, Silent letter | | Final example ligature: . This ligated form of final extends its tail to the left.
This letter's forms are shared with Mongolian script . |
| | | | e, ∅ | | Initial/medial/final example ligature: .
|
| | | | i, ∅ | | Final example ligature: . This ligated form of final differs from the one used elsewhere.
|
| | | | ɔ | | Initial/medial/final example ligature: . This ligated form of is fully round. The ligature is also identical in form to .
|
| | | | ʊ, ∅ | | Initial/medial/final example ligature: .
|
| | | | ø, ∅ | | Initial/medial/final example ligature: . This ligated form of is fully round.
|
| | | | y, ∅ | | Initial/medial/final example ligature: . The ligatures and are identical in form.
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| | | — | ɑː | | | Final example ligature: .
|
| | | | eː, æː | | | |
| | | — | iː | | | Diphthongs ending in are shaped and transliterated in the same manner.
|
| — | — | | |
| | | | ɔː | | | |
| | | | ʊː | | |
| | | | øː, æː | | | |
| | | | yː | | |
Consonants
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|
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| | | | n | |
This letter is shared with Hudum . |
| |
| | | | b | |
This letter's initial/medial form is shared with Hudum . |
| | | — | x | | Used before back vowels.
As in 'black'. |
| | | — | ɢ | | |
As in 'fire'. |
| | | — | ɡ | | As in 'ger'. |
| | | — | k | | Used before front vowels.
As in 'blue'. |
| — | | | ɡ | | Used syllable-finally,
As in 'time'. |
| | | | m | |
This letter's initial/medial form is shared with Hudum . |
| | | | l | |
This letter is shared with Hudum . |
| | | | r | |
This letter is shared with Hudum . |
| | | | d | | |
| | | — | t | | |
| | | — | j | | |
| | | — | z | , | | †. Ambiguous value ( , ) from the 18th century until post-war reform.
As in modern/older 'summer'. |
| | | | d͡ʒ | | — |
As in modern (older ) 'year'. |
| | | — | t͡s | , | | †. Ambiguous value ( , ) from the 18th century until post-war reform.
As in modern/older 'tea'. |
| | | | t͡ʃ | | — |
As in modern (older ) 'you'. |
| | | | s | |
This letter is shared with Hudum . |
| | | | ʃ | | |
This letter is shared with Hudum . |
| — | | | ŋ | | |
|
|
|
| | | — | p | — | | |
| | | — | | | |
| | | | | — | |
| | | — | k | , | | |
| | | — | | — | | |
| — | | — | | | |
| | | — | | | |
| | | | | — | |
| | | — | | | |
| | | | | — |
This letter is shared with Hudum . |
| | | | w | | | |
Ligatures
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| | | | | |
| | | | | Written the same as . |
| | | | | |
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| | | | | Written the same as . |
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| Other bow-shaped ligatures are formed in the same manner. |
See also
Notes
External links
