When the alphabet is not the problem
The Mongolian Script or Mongol Bichig has got an amazing history. As Hebrew, Arabic, Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, the classical Mongolian Script is a child system of the Phoenician alphabet. That set of symbols was born in the eastern Mediterranean coast about 3000 years ago. From there, it extended its use to the rest of the Middle East, Europe and North Africa, where it acquired different shapes, namely Greek with its variants: Latin and Cyrillic, and Aramaic with its variants: Hebrew, Arabic and Uyghur. Conquests and missions brought the modified letters to Central Asia. Finally, in 1204, Tatartonga introduced the Uyghur alphabet to write Mongolian.
Nowadays, it is possible to see some examples of this script on government buildings, folk paintings and a few other places in Ulaanbaatar. Despite the efforts of the different governments, the use of this ancient, beautiful and elegant script is dying out and nobody seems to be care much about it.
Actually, the lack of use of this system must not be a surprise. For many children (the Mongolians of the future) the Mongolian Script is a 'stupid alphabet' and they 'hate it' because 'it is difficult to learn.' Many Mongolians argue that it is useless because, in their words, nobody writes in Mongol Bichig any more.
Moreover, the Cyrillic alphabet used in Mongolia has 35 letters, and if we count the variants for upper and lower cases, handwritten and printed letters, we would have a set of a hundred and forty letters. All of them are taught in one year.
The other difficulty that some people point is the fact that what is written with Mongolian Script does not correspond to the sounds of modern Mongolian. Nevertheless, they forget that this is the same that happens with the Cyrillic alphabet. They write 'баярлалаа' (bayarlalaa) but pronounce 'bayarlaa', and they write 'яавах гэж байна' (yavakh gej baina) for something that is pronounced 'yawakhgjiin'. Here, the difference between writing and pronunciation does not seem to be a problem.
In conclusion, the supposed difficulty of the classic script compared to the Cyrillic alphabet may be reduced to just a case of prejudice.
The statement that Mongolian Script is not used any more is another myth. About 4 million Mongolians use the classic script in their everyday life (against the 3 million who use Cyrillic alphabet). One just has to tune the CCTV-Inner Mongolia to see how the old letters are not any obstacle to produce quality shows, films, and news.
Maybe the point is here: those who use the Mongolian Script live in the Mongolia, and those who use Cyrillic Script live in Outer Mongolia. Is that not a problem of lack of unity instead of usefulness of an alphabet? That lack of unity is not a political concept, but a cultural obstacle. As far as Outer Mongolians keep on considering their brothers of the South as 'Chinese' or just a mixture of Chinese and Mongolians – that is to say, non-genuine Mongolians –, there will be no unity. Right now, all that happens over the borderline of Erenhot is not even mentioned in Ulaanbaatar, as if Inner Mongolians were not as Mongolian as those of the Outer Mongolia.
Finally, a reflection for those who claim that the adoption of the Mongolian Script would close the doors of the world to Mongolia. Sincerely, what percentage of foreigners have learnt Mongolian after the adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet? And further, is the Cyrillic Script an obstacle for Mongolia to have good relationship and doing business with Europe and America (Latin alphabet), Japan and China (Chinese-Japanese scripts), Korea (Hangul), or Kuwait (Arabic)? Why should the Mongolian Script be a problem?
The adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet was not a question of making the language easier, to modernise the country or any other constructive idea. It responded to concrete political manoeuvres, namely the approaching of Mongolia to the Soviet Union. Nobody can objectively deny that the collaboration with the Soviet Union was somehow profitable to Mongolia. But nowadays, the differences of alphabets are not a real problem. Many Mongolians send sms, emails, and write their language using a Latin transcription, although it is not neither official nor normative.
To conclude, when people want to communicate, differences are not an obstacle, but a pleasurable challenge. But when people do not want to learn, all the challenges are just problems worthy of a excuse.
Nowadays, it is possible to see some examples of this script on government buildings, folk paintings and a few other places in Ulaanbaatar. Despite the efforts of the different governments, the use of this ancient, beautiful and elegant script is dying out and nobody seems to be care much about it.
Actually, the lack of use of this system must not be a surprise. For many children (the Mongolians of the future) the Mongolian Script is a 'stupid alphabet' and they 'hate it' because 'it is difficult to learn.' Many Mongolians argue that it is useless because, in their words, nobody writes in Mongol Bichig any more.
Finally, another group of people claims that its use would close Mongolia to the world. But are these affirmations really true?
The difficulty of the traditional script may be influenced by the fact that children are taught the whole alphabet in two or more years. Two years to learn a set of only thirty letters! One may say that there are more than thirty characters, since initial, middle and final letters are slightly different one from the other. Maybe, those who designed the syllabus for that subject had in mind the Chinese system in which children learn some new characters every year. But Mongolian Script is not Chinese. In Chinese there are more than 100,000 characters, and about 2,000 of them are needed for reading any magazine or newspaper. The difference between both systems is huge.
The difficulty of the traditional script may be influenced by the fact that children are taught the whole alphabet in two or more years. Two years to learn a set of only thirty letters! One may say that there are more than thirty characters, since initial, middle and final letters are slightly different one from the other. Maybe, those who designed the syllabus for that subject had in mind the Chinese system in which children learn some new characters every year. But Mongolian Script is not Chinese. In Chinese there are more than 100,000 characters, and about 2,000 of them are needed for reading any magazine or newspaper. The difference between both systems is huge.
Moreover, the Cyrillic alphabet used in Mongolia has 35 letters, and if we count the variants for upper and lower cases, handwritten and printed letters, we would have a set of a hundred and forty letters. All of them are taught in one year.
The other difficulty that some people point is the fact that what is written with Mongolian Script does not correspond to the sounds of modern Mongolian. Nevertheless, they forget that this is the same that happens with the Cyrillic alphabet. They write 'баярлалаа' (bayarlalaa) but pronounce 'bayarlaa', and they write 'яавах гэж байна' (yavakh gej baina) for something that is pronounced 'yawakhgjiin'. Here, the difference between writing and pronunciation does not seem to be a problem.
In conclusion, the supposed difficulty of the classic script compared to the Cyrillic alphabet may be reduced to just a case of prejudice.
The statement that Mongolian Script is not used any more is another myth. About 4 million Mongolians use the classic script in their everyday life (against the 3 million who use Cyrillic alphabet). One just has to tune the CCTV-Inner Mongolia to see how the old letters are not any obstacle to produce quality shows, films, and news.
Maybe the point is here: those who use the Mongolian Script live in the Mongolia, and those who use Cyrillic Script live in Outer Mongolia. Is that not a problem of lack of unity instead of usefulness of an alphabet? That lack of unity is not a political concept, but a cultural obstacle. As far as Outer Mongolians keep on considering their brothers of the South as 'Chinese' or just a mixture of Chinese and Mongolians – that is to say, non-genuine Mongolians –, there will be no unity. Right now, all that happens over the borderline of Erenhot is not even mentioned in Ulaanbaatar, as if Inner Mongolians were not as Mongolian as those of the Outer Mongolia.
Finally, a reflection for those who claim that the adoption of the Mongolian Script would close the doors of the world to Mongolia. Sincerely, what percentage of foreigners have learnt Mongolian after the adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet? And further, is the Cyrillic Script an obstacle for Mongolia to have good relationship and doing business with Europe and America (Latin alphabet), Japan and China (Chinese-Japanese scripts), Korea (Hangul), or Kuwait (Arabic)? Why should the Mongolian Script be a problem?
The adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet was not a question of making the language easier, to modernise the country or any other constructive idea. It responded to concrete political manoeuvres, namely the approaching of Mongolia to the Soviet Union. Nobody can objectively deny that the collaboration with the Soviet Union was somehow profitable to Mongolia. But nowadays, the differences of alphabets are not a real problem. Many Mongolians send sms, emails, and write their language using a Latin transcription, although it is not neither official nor normative.
To conclude, when people want to communicate, differences are not an obstacle, but a pleasurable challenge. But when people do not want to learn, all the challenges are just problems worthy of a excuse.
They can blame it even on the silent letters.
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