Clear Script

The Clear ScriptTemplate:Notetag is an alphabet created in 1648 by the Oirat Lamaist monk Zaya Pandita for the Oirat language. It was developed on the basis of the Mongolian script with the goal of distinguishing all sounds in the spoken language, and to make it easier to transcribe Sanskrit and the Tibetic languages.

File:Prijutnoe1.jpg

A border sign in Clear Script (Priyutnensky District, Kalmykia)

History

The Clear Script is a Mongolian script, whose obvious closest forebear is vertical Mongolian. This Mongolian script was derived from the Uyghur alphabet. The Clear Script was developed as a better way to write Mongolian, specifically of the Western Mongolian groups of the Oirats and Kalmyks.Template:Rp It resolved ambiguities in the written language by assigning symbols to vowels, and adding new symbols and diacritics to show vowels and vowel lengths, and to distinguish between voiced and unvoiced consonants.Template:RpTemplate:Rp Symbols that were preserved from the traditional Mongolian script were assigned a fixed meaning.Template:Rp

There were even some marks enabling distinctions that were unimportant for words written in the Oirat language but were useful for the transcription of foreign words and names, such as between and .

Usage

The Clear Script was used by Oirat and neighboring Mongols, mostly in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It was widely used by its creator and others to translate Buddhist works so that they might better spread the Buddhist religion throughout western Mongolia. Though the script was useful for translating works from other languages, especially Tibetan, it was also used more informally, as evidenced by some letters from the late 1690s.

Around the 19th and early 20th centuries, some Altaians in Russia were able utilize the script to read and write texts due to contacts with Mongolian Buddhists.

The script was used by Kalmyks in Russia until 1924, when it was replaced by the Cyrillic script. In Xinjiang, Oirats still use it, although today Mongolian education takes place in Chakhar Mongolian all across China.

Writing in the Clear Script

This script is a vertical script, as was its 'vertical Mongolian' parent script. Letters and diacritics are written along a central axis. Portions of letters to the right of the axis generally slant up, and portions to the left of the axis generally slant down. The only signs that do not follow these rules are the horizontal signs for , , and part of . Words are delineated by a space, as well as different letter forms. Though most letters only come in one shape, there are some letters that look different depending on where in the word they occur, whether they are initial, medial, or final.

Tables

There is an alphabetic order in the Clear Script, as in other related scripts, but the order for it is not the same as its Mongolian parent script. The Clear Script order is: , , , , , , ; , , , , , & , , , , , , , , , , , , , .Template:Rp

Vowels

Single vowelsTemplate:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:Rp
Initial	Medial	Final	IPA	Template:ShyTemplate:WbrTemplate:NoteTag		NotesTemplate:NoteTagTemplate:WbrTemplate:NoteTag
				Dan.Template:WbrTemplate:NoteTag & Kara	[[ALA-LC romanization|ALA-Template:WbrLC]]
All these form ligatures with a preceding bow-shaped consonant.
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	ɑ, ∅			Final example ligature: Template:MongolUnicode . This ligated form of final extends its tail to the left. Confer Kalmyk Oirat and . This letter's forms are shared with Hudum script .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	e, ∅			Initial/medial/final example ligature: Template:MongolUnicode . Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	i, ∅			Final example ligature: Template:MongolUnicode . This ligated form of final differs from the one used elsewhere. Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	ɔ			Initial/medial/final example ligature: Template:MongolUnicode . This ligated form of is fully round. The ligature is also identical in form to . Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	ʊ, ∅			Initial/medial/final example ligature: Template:MongolUnicode . Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	ø, ∅			Initial/medial/final example ligature: Template:MongolUnicode . This ligated form of is fully round. Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	y, ∅			Initial/medial/final example ligature: Template:MongolUnicode . The ligatures and are identical in form. Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .

Long vowelsTemplate:RpTemplate:Rp
Initial	Medial	Final	IPA	Template:Shy		Notes
				Dan.	ALA-LC
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	ɑː			Final example ligature: Template:MongolUnicode . Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:AngbrTemplate:NoteTag	eː, æː			Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:AngbrTemplate:NoteTag	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:AngbrTemplate:NoteTag	—	iː			Diphthongs ending in are shaped and transliterated in the same manner. Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
—	—	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:AngbrTemplate:NoteTag	ɔː			Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	ʊː			Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:AngbrTemplate:NoteTag	øː, æː			Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	yː			Confer Kalmyk Oirat and .

Consonants

Native consonantsTemplate:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:Rp
Initial	Medial	Final	IPA	Template:Shy		Notes
				Dan. & Kara	ALA-LC
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	n			Confer Kalmyk Oirat . This letter is shared with Hudum .
	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	b			Confer Kalmyk Oirat . This letter's initial/medial form is shared with Hudum .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	x			Used before back vowels.Template:Rp As in Template:MongolUnicode 'black'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	ɢ			Used before vowels. As in Template:MongolUnicode 'fire'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
File:Mongolian letter todo Ga (isolated form).svg	File:Mongolian letter todo Ga (isolated form).svg	—	ɡ			As in Template:MongolUnicode 'ger'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	k			Used before front vowels.Template:Rp As in Template:MongolUnicode 'blue'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
—	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	ɡ			Used syllable-finally,Template:Rp and irrespective of vowel harmony.Template:Rp As in Template:MongolUnicode 'time'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	m			Confer Kalmyk Oirat . This letter's initial/medial form is shared with Hudum .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	l			Confer Kalmyk Oirat . This letter is shared with Hudum .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	r			Confer Kalmyk Oirat . This letter is shared with Hudum .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	d			Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	t			Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	j			Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	z	, †		†. Ambiguous value (, ) from the 18th century until post-war reform.Template:Rp As in modern/older Template:MongolUnicode 'summer'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	d͡ʒ		—	Introduced in the 1950s.Template:Rp As in modern Template:MongolUnicode ? (older Template:MongolUnicode ) 'year'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	t͡s	, †		†. Ambiguous value (, ) from the 18th century until post-war reform.Template:Rp As in modern/older Template:MongolUnicode 'tea'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	t͡ʃ		—	Introduced in the 1950s.Template:Rp As in modern Template:MongolUnicode ? (older Template:MongolUnicode ) 'you'.Template:RpTemplate:RpTemplate:NoteTag Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	s			Confer Kalmyk Oirat . This letter is shared with Hudum .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	ʃ			Confer Kalmyk Oirat . This letter is shared with Hudum .
—	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	ŋ			Confer Kalmyk Oirat .

Letters used in foreign wordsTemplate:RpTemplate:Rp
Initial	Medial	Final	IPA	Translit.		Notes
				Dan. & Kara	ALA-LC
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	p	—		Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—				Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode			—	Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—	k	,		Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—		—		Confer Kalmyk Oirat .
—	Template:MongolUnicode	—
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode			—
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	—
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode			—	Confer Kalmyk Oirat . This letter is shared with Hudum .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	w			Confer Kalmyk Oirat .

Ligatures

Ligatures
Initial	Medial	Final	Template:Shy		Notes
			Dan.	ALA-LC
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode			Written the same as .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode			Written the same as .
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr			Template:NoteTag
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr			Template:NoteTag
Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr	Template:MongolUnicodeTemplate:Angbr			Template:NoteTag
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode	Template:MongolUnicode
Other bow-shaped ligatures are formed in the same manner.

See also

• Mongolian writing systems
• Mongolian script
• Soyombo alphabet

External links

• Oirat Clear Script at Omniglot
• Traditional Mongolian Notepad (for Windows XP/Vista)