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

First Bálint explains the structure of a typical Mongolian sentence (the SOV - in fact SOP - type of sentence) with a number of examples, including also proverbs. He discusses compound sentences and pseudo-conjunctions (the majority of the so-called conjunctions are of adverbial derivations). The problem of definite and indefinite objects, the attributive word-groups, the case government and its difference from the case uses in Hungarian, and the rich adverbial system: adverbs of time, adverbs of place, adverbs of manner etc. are also examined in this chapter. The distinction between the Khalkha and Kalmyk forms is not consistent. While there is a clear distinction in the presentation of some phenomena, in the case of others the Oirat-Kalmyk forms are not distinguished. Lists of particles and interjections (including the interjections of calling and driving animals) are also added to this chapter. The subchapter devoted to word-formation is very comprehensive, though explanations on the meaning of particular morphs are not alw ays attached to the paragraphs. Although the examples are taken from his field work material and partly from Bobrovnikov's Kalmyk grammar, numerous phenomena are common also to other Mongolian languages and dialects. CHRESTOMATHY (PART I. EAST-MONGOLIAN, PART II. OIRAT-MONGOLIAN)

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6 Bálint collected two large sets of the spoken Kalmyk and Khalkha idioms (cf. above) and included some sample texts of his collections in the Grammar. His examples of the vernacular and particularly the fables, songs and other genres constitute the first attempt to introduce a Mongolian dialectal spoken idiom and a folklore material. Unfortunately these valuable texts remained on the shelves of library and were not published soon after their collection. In his summarising article on Mongolian studies Jtilg highly evaluates

8 A. Pozdneev's folksong collection, transcribed in a system based on the Cyrillic alphabet rendering the spoken forms of the language,

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8 as the first bulky database in this respect. If Bálint's collections had been published according to his plans (cf. his letter to the secretary of the Academy), his material would have earned him the fame for being the first of its kind, and an example for further editions. In presenting his folklore and vernacular material Bálint followed practical aspects to a certain extent in compiling the texts of the Chrestomathy (Bálint: pp. 125-200, in the present book: pp. 141— 221) attached to the Grammar. The sample texts occupy nearly half of the manuscript, which also testifies to its practical aim, i. e. to serve as a manual for students and readers interested in the Mongolian culture. The shorter poetic texts and the letters, dialogues precede the longer narratives, as Bálint indicated: "As the Mongolian poetical style is much simpler than that of the prose, I put the folk-songs before the prose pieces ,..".

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9 The "word-registers" attached to the oral poetic texts (songs, blessings) and to the letters serve the better understanding of the texts and help the reader to gather vocabulary in order to understand the longer prosaic narratives ("... every body [sic!] might control the translation and acquire some lexical store for the prose pieces.")

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0 Here I am not going into a detailed linguistic analysis of the sample texts. A comprehensive examination of their peculiar features will be carried out in the publication of both text collections. As 8

6 Chrestomathy of the Grammar, p 125 (p. 142). 8

7 "In conclusion, I must call special attention to the frequently quoted grand work of A. Pozdnjejew, who was the first to introduce us popular literature of the Mongols." Jtilg: Op. cit. p. 65, and also p. 53. 8

8 "The Russian transcription is especially valuable as giving us, for the first time, an exact notion on the deviation of the present pronunciation from the original alphabet as determined by the written characters." Jiilg: Op. cit. p. 65. 8

9 Chrestomathy p. 125 (p. 142). 9

0 Chrestomathy p. 125 (p. 142). XXIV