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
INTRODUCTION Unfortunately these valuable texts remained unpublished on the shelves of the library. In his summary of Mongolian studies. Jiilg provides an evaluation of A. Pozdnejev's folksong collection, transcribed in a system based on the Cyrillic alphabet rendering the spoken forms of the language, as the first bulky database in this respect. If Bálint's collections had been published according to his plans, his material would have earned him the fame for being the first of its kind, and an example for further editions. The second volume of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna's unpublished fieldwork materials recorded among Mongolian ethnic groups includes the Kalmyk manuscript 1 entitled: Nyugati mongol (Kálmik) szövegek. (184 pages), Nr.: M. Nyelvtud. 4/109; [Western Mongolian (Kalmyk) texts] 2 preserved in the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences along with another two items of Bálint's Mongolian oeuvre, the Khalkha text-collection ' and the Grammar of East- and WestMongolian languages - recently reviewed and edited by me. 4 Although data concerning Bálint's fieldwork among the Kalmyks has been mentioned in the Introduction to the Grammar , the reiteration of this information is required to present the historical and methodical context for the introduction of the present Manuscript. However, details of Bálint's life, academic career, his much-criticised theoretical views on language affinity, his valuable scholarly activity in other languages (such as the Buryat, the Kazan Tatar and the Turkish) - discussed in detail in the Introduction to the Grammar - do not need to be repeated. The research journey among the Kalmyks, his allusions to different aspects of his Kalmyk material such as the methodology and conditions of recording, references to some texts, as well as Bálint's opinion about the Kalmyks and about particular genres, textgroups are cited again (with quotation from the Introduction of the Grammar). Whereas in other cases important facts in the Grammar are revisited and elaborated upon. Further, new data concerning Bálint's stay among the Kalmyks, not mentioned in the Grammar , are included in this edition as well. THE RESEARCH JOURNEY AMONG THE KALMYKS (SEPTEMBER 1871-12™ MAY 1872) According to Bálint's letters written to his main patron János Fogarasi, his Report (Bálint: Jelentése.) and his fragmentary diary, 5 the duration of his stay among the Kalmyks can be calculated with fair precision. 1 Further: Manuscript. 2 It must be mentioned here that Bálint used the ethnonym Kalmyk in various forms, as kálmik. kalmik, khalymik: in the quotations Bálints' actual spelling is referred to. 1 Bálint Gábor: Keleti mongol (khalkha) szövegek. (88 pages), Nr.: Msl379/2; [Bálint. Gábor: Eastern Mongolian (Khalkha) texts]. 4 Birtalan, Ágnes (edited and introduced): Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna, A Romanized Grammar of the East- and West-Mongolian Languages. With popular Chrestomathies of both Dialects. (Budapest Oriental Reprints: Series B 3) Budapest. Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences - Csorna de Körös Society 2009 (further: Grammar). 5 The sources on his stay among the Kalmyks are his letters, cf. Bibliography, his accounts: [Bálint, Gábor]: Jelentés az Akadémiához. In: Akadémiai Értesítő. V. (1871) pp. 244-245. [Report to the Academy. In: Proceedings of the Academy] (further: [Bálint:] Jelentés az Akadémiához): Bálint Gábor Jelentése Oroszország- és Ázsiában tett utazásáról és nyelvészeti tanulmányairól Melléklet öt khálymik dano hangjegye. In: Értekezések a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Nyelv- és Széptudományi Osztálya köréből. IV. (1875) pp. 1-19. [Gábor Bálint's report on his journey carried out in Russia and Asia and on his linguistic studies. With notes of five Kalmyk songs. In: Treatises from the Department of Linguistics and Aesthetics of the Hungarian Academy of the Sciences]; reedition: Kara, György (edited): Bálint Gábor keleti levelei. Jelentése Oroszország- és Ázsiában tett utazásáról Értekezése a mandsuk [sic!] szertartásos könyvéről. Budapest. Körösi Csorna Társaság 1973. [Gábor Bálint's eastern letters. His report on his travels in in Russia and Asia and on his linguistic studies. His treatise on the Ritual book of the Manchus] (further: Bálint: 8
