Á. Birtalan (ed.).: Bálint of Szentkatolna, Gábor: A Romanized Grammar of the East- and West-Mongolian Languages (Budapest Oriental Reprints, Ser. B 3.)
Introduction - The Grammar
the already existing descriptive grammars of Written Mongolian and Written Oirat (Kalmyk): "And yet I think to have had some reason to write such a one, for I would write it in a manner different from that of the extant ones. I had the purpose in writing this Romanized Grammar of the two principal dialects 66 of the Mongolian language to show both dialects possibly so as they are on the lips of the respective people and make the knowledge of them accessible to all who wish to know the mentioned nation in her language and genuine literature". 6 Further, the Preface contains some details on his field work conditions and methods (cf. above, too), some data on his learning the spoken Manchu language. 68 A relatively large part of the Preface is devoted to the difference between the written and the spoken forms (explained in detail in the chapter Phonology of the Grammar) and he found it important to introduce some of his texts not added to the Chrestomathies of the Grammar (The Black book of Chingis Khan and the Text devoted to the Scapulimantic practice 6 9 of the Mongols are included in the Khalkha text collection). 7 0 THE GRAMMAR AND BÁLINT'S CONCEPT ABOUT THE HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE CONTACTS The second half of the 19 t h century is a highly intricate web of national movements, searches for a heroic past, efforts to trace and create a laudable prehistory. It is the time when the so called "UgrianTurkic war" 1 was being waged. The two parties tried to verify the origin of the Hungarian nation and the Hungarian language seeking contacts either among the Finno-Ugric or among the Turkic ethnic groups and languages. It is an unquestionable fact that Bálint mastered a good number of languages including several Turkic and Finno-Ugric languages as well. But he seemed to seek the Hungarian contacts not or not only on linguistic bases, but sometimes merely emotionally. True, the spirit of the age (Zeitgeist ) inspired people to hold extreme views and also lose control over their ideas. Throughout his Grammar Bálint quotes the Hungarian counterparts to Mongolian words he thinks may have some affinity. Most of his Hungarian-Mongolian equivalents were discussed by him in the Párhuzam a magyar és mongol nyelv terén [Hungarian-Mongolian language parallels]. In his letters written to his main patron, the academician János Fogarasi, Bálint treats the problem of the Hungarian language contacts rather carefully, similarly to what he does in his Grammar and confines himself to referring to the supposed parallels (mostly on lexemes, rarely on word derivational morphs). Some of 6 6 Bálint had the view that the Mongolian (in current literature also Mongolic) language has four main dialects according to the geographical division: the Eastern i. e. the Khalkha, the Western i. e. the Züngar or Oirat, Kalmyk (Bálint: Dzünghar, Oirat, Öiräd, Ölöt, Khalmik), the Northern i. e. the Buryat and the Southern i. e. the Chakhar (Bálint: Tshakhar). Cf. Preface to the Grammar, p. IX (p. 10). 6 1 Preface to the Grammar, p. I (p. 2). 6 8 These data coincide with the facts published in his Report , but in some respects also complete them (e. g. concerning the working conditions among the Khalkhas). 6 9 On the Scapulimancy among the Mongols, cf.: Birtalan, Ágnes: Scapulimancy and Purifying Ceremony (New Data on Darqad Shamanism on the Basis of Materials Collected in 1992). In: Proceedings of the 35"' PIAC. September 12-17, 1992 Taipei, China. Ed. Chieh-hsien Ch'en. Taipei, Taiwan, National Taiwan University and Center for Chinese Studies Materials 1993. pp. 1-10; Birtalan, Ágnes: A mongol lapockajóslás (történeti források és terepgyüjtés). In: Sors, áldozat, divináció. Ed. Éva Pócs. Budapest, Janus - Osiris 2001. pp. 58-84 [Scapulimancy among the Mongols. Historical sources and fieldwork material In: Fate, offering and divination]. 7 0 Preface to the Grammar, pp. IV-VIII (pp. 5-9). 7 1 Cf. Pusztay, János: Az "ugor-török háború" után. Budapest, Magvető Könyvkiadó 1977. [After the "Ugrian-Turkic war"]; Dobrovits, Mihály: Vámbéryval 2000-ben. In: 2000. Irodalmi és Társadalmi Havi Lap. (1999 Március) pp. 49-61. [With Vámbéry in 2000. In: 2000. Literary and Societal Monthly Journal] also Dobrovits, Mihály: Armin Vámbéry in 2000. In: The Budapest Review of Books. 4. (1999). pp. 145-152. XIX
