ABSTRACT
The old Mongolian literary language is something of an enigma in that no known form of spoken Mongolian can be conclusively shown to be its basis. When it first appears in the thirteenth century AD, the language is already equipped with a sophisticated writing system and a literary identity, pointing to antecedent development in circumstances that can only be guessed at. The pre-Genghiz Khan Kereits and the Khitans have been seen as possible sources; both of these peoples were in contact with Nestorian Christianity and with Buddhism, and both were on a significantly higher cultural plane than the other Mongolian tribes.
