Birtalan Ágnes: Kalmyk Folklore and Folk Culture in the Mid-19th Century: Philological Studies on the Basis of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna’s Kalmyk Texts.

INTRODUCTION

"kins" of the Hungarian language.

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2 With relentless energy he attempted to master as many spoken tongues as possible during his field research and stay in Saint Petersburg.

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' Before setting out on his first journey, Bálint had already become acquainted with the written Mongolian language. The laconic note in his diary refers simply to the Mongolian language, but it is quite obvious that he could only have learnt the written form and not spoken tongues at this time. Indeed, it was the lack of possibility to study vernacular Mongolian in Hungary that stimulated his patron Fogarasi and Bálint himself to carry out fieldwork among Mongolian speaking groups. "1869/70. At the same place [i. e. in Budapest] I finished the third course of law, and became acquainted with justice János Fogarasi, the editor of the 'Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language' upon whose advice I started to learn Mongolian and Russian."

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4 Bálint had already started his Kalmyk studies in Kazan with the help of V. V. Mirotvorcev (called by Bálint as Mirotvorcov),

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5 a teacher of the Kalmyk Mongolian language. "... after finishing it [i. e. studying Kazan Tatar] I intend to go to Astrakhan in order to learn the tongue of the Mongols and Kalmyks living there and to record language material; as Mr. Mirotvorcov, the teacher of the Mongolian-Kalmyk language at the Spiritual Academy states in accordance with Bobrovnikov's grammar that the Mongolian and the Kalmyk spoken tongue are the same. But the Kalmyk writes as he speaks, the Mongol writes as he has done for [many] centuries past;

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6 Despite the generally accepted view that Mongolian studies in Kazan were terminated after the Mongolian department at the University in Kazan, established by J. Kowalewski, transferred to the University in Saint Petersburg, V. L. Uspenskij demonstrated that professors and scholars continued their teaching and research activities in the fields of Mongolistics at the Kazan Spiritual Academy It was this milieu that helped Bálint establish the linguistic grounding necessary for his later extensive Kalmyk studies.

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7 Even if the teaching of Kalmyk and Mongolian became limited during Bálint's stay in Kazan, the well-stocked library remained at his disposal and thus he could further enrich his knowledge not only with the help of Mirotvorcev, but also with the teaching material housed at the library.

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2 On Bálint's adventurous endeavours in finding language-contacts between Hungarian and other languages cf. Grammar, pp XI, XIX-XX. " Bálint humbly enumerates in his Report all the tongues he learnt in various ways during his first journey. Cf. Bálint: Jelentése: also Kara: Bálint Gábor keleti levelei. During his further journeys to Asia he learnt even more languages, but this is the topic of another study to be carried out, hopefully, by authentic scholars of Caucasian. Dravidian and other languages Bálint mastered and studied. 1

4 "1869/70. Ugyanott végeztem a jogi tanfolyam Ill-adik évét, s megismerkedtem Fogarasy [sic!] János törvényszéki biróval, 'A magyar nyelv nagy szótára' szerkesztőjével, akinek a tanácsára elkezdtem mongolul és oroszul tanulni." Cf. Zágoni. p. 34. On János Fogarasi and his dictionary cf. Grammar, p. XI. 1

5 [Bálint Gábor levele Fogarasi Jánoshoz 1871. szeptember 2.] In: Akadémiai Értesítő V. (1871) pp. 241-244. [Gábor Bálint's letter to János Fogarasi 2. September 1871. In: Proceedings of the Academy] p 242 (cf. Kara: Bálint Gábor keleti levelei ). Cf. Grammar. p. XII; [Bálint:] Jelentés a: Akadémiához, p. 242. 1

6 "... ezt végezve Astrachan vidékére menni az ottani mongolok s kalmikok nyelvét megtanulandó s nyelvanyagot gyűjtendő, annyival is inkább, mert a lelkész akadémiai mongolkalmik nyelv tanára Mirotvorczof ur állítása s Bobrovnikof nyelvtana szerint is a mongol és kalmik beszélgetési nyelv egy és ugyanaz; a kalmik ugy ir amint beszél a mongol, ez pedig úgy ir mint századokkal ezelőtt;" [Bálint:] Jelentés az Akadémiához, p. 242. 1

7 Uspenskij, V L : Mongolovedenije v Kazanskoj Duhovnoj Akademii. In: Mongolica. 111. Sankt-Peterburg, Sankt-Peterburgskij Filial Instituta Vostokovedenija RAN 1994. pp. 11-17. 1

8 Uspenskij: Mongolovedenije v Kazanskoj Duhovnoj Akademii p. 15. 10