LANGUAGE. Al ongol ian is an agglutinative language, belonging to the Lral-Altaie family. It is closely allied to the Manchu. and in its grammatical procedures it greatly resembles Korean. Throughout Mongolia proper it is free from dialectal differences, but slight dif ferences exist in 'calmin: (as in Sungaria ) and among the Buriatie 1\longols of Siberia. It was reduced to writing in the time of Genghis Khan, the alphabet then introduced being bor rowed from that of the I'iglnu• Turks of Kash gar, who had at all earlier period borrowed theirs from the old Syriac which had been intro duced by the Nestorian missiona ries. it consists of seventeen consonants, seven vowels, and five diphthongs. These are grouped on the left of a vertical stein forming syllables which are ar ranged in columns read downward and from left to right. As in Korean, case is indicated by appended particles; the plural is formed by separable affixes; there is no grammatical gen tler; there are no relatives, and very few true conjunctions; the verb is very elaborate, the ad jective uninflected; prepositions become post-posi tions, the governed word precedes that which governs it ; and. as in China. the book language differs somewhat from the spoken. The litera ture is not. extensive. It comprises Buddhist scriptures and some translations from the Chi nese; some folk-lore and fairy tales, and the great history of the Eastern Mongols, written in the seventeenth century by Sanang Setsen. Both the Old and New Testaments were done into Mon golian by Stallybrass and Swan in 1830-46.
IhsTonv. Little is known of the origin and early history of the Mongols. They :Ire referred to in the history of the rang dynasty (seventh century), but they begin to find a place in world history only in the appearance of Temn-jin. later known as Genghis khan (q.v.), the leader of a. great wave of bloodshed and conquest which overspread Asia and struck terror into Europe.
Mongolia proper during this period has no 'his tory; its people were making history for them selves, but outside their own country. Driven
out of China in 1368 by the founder of the _Ming dynasty, the contemporary of Timur, the Khalkhas, who had established their rule there under 1:111ilai, retired to their former home north of the Gobi, still hoping for an opportunity to reconquer their lost territory. lint a great leader did not arise. hi 1643 a new dynasty came to the throne of China—the Manchus—with the help of certain of the Mongol tribes whose seats lay near the Manehurian frontier. In IGSS war broke out between the Eleutlis of Sting:ilia and the Klialkhas, and the latter. being defeated in 1690, sought the aid and protection of China, Both were cheerfully given; but it was not till seven years later that warlike operations, led by the Emperor E.7ang-hi in person, resulted in the utter defeat of the Eleuths, and the death of their leader, Gal Jan. Sungaria became a Chinese possession. and all the tribes of 'Mongolia hecanie vassals of the Emperor. Valuable presents from time to time. the softening influence of Buddhism. the spread of Alonachisin, and the personal influence of the Dalai Lama of Tibet have preserved peace (WIT since.
Prjevalsky, Mongo/ia, the Coll II I ry, 'Ind I he 401i1 nib S of by Delmar Morgan 1876 ; unirrrs' (l'ark. 188'2) ; Pumpelly, aco/ogica/ b'escarehcs in China, 1longolia, and (Washington, won r, .1 ntong lire .11migols ( New Vork, 188:1) more .1 howl the mony)/R ; ltoekhill. Thu Land of the Lainan (i1).,18:111 id., Miry of a ,1ourncy Through Mongolia and Tibet (Washington. I81111: Podzne1T„ Mongolia and ihr Mongols (Saint Petersburg, 18)16) ; and for the history, Intlisson. l/isioire de& Monnois (The Hague. 1834-35) ; your, ichte der (Breslau, 187'L1: History of Dir IIoWgol.s (London. 1876-78) ; Elias. History of ihr iloghuls of Oral Asia 1S9S); History of ('/ilea (iii., 1898).