ABSTRACT

Mongolic languages have historically been noted down in a number of writing systems, including, in particular, the Chinese, Arabic, Tibetan, vPhags.pa, Roman, and Cyrillic scripts. As a technical term, however, Written Mongol, or Literary Mongol (Muvgqhul Bicig uv Gala), refers to the tradition of writing Mongolic in the language-specific Mongol script, today also known as the ‘Old Script’ (Qaqhuciv Bicig), which itself is an adaptation of the Semitic script used by the Ancient Uighur. With a history of at least 800 years, and with its practical relevance continuing up to the present day, Written Mongol is by far the most important written form of Mongolic. Unfortunately, the concept of Written Mongol is inherently ambiguous, in that it is often used in reference to the Mongol script itself, or to its specific orthographical characteristics. In the strict sense, however, Written Mongol is best understood as a Mongolic language in its own right, used as the principal literary vehicle by the speakers of several historical and modern spoken languages.