Kalmyk-Oirat

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Kalmyk-Oirat

ABOUT ME AND MY LANGUAGE

Your first name Elena

Your last name Indjieva

E-mail: eleinj@gmail.com

Preferred name(s) of your language Oirat, Kalmyk

Alternative names Kalmuch

Language classification Western Mongolian

Geographical areas where spoken Kalmyk Republic (Russia), Xinjiang region (China), Mongolia

Approximate number of monolingual speakers maybe about 5000 or less (based on my personal impression, not sure)

Approximate number of fluent speakers about 150, 000 (mostly in Xinjiang region).
This is my personal estimate.

Other languages spoken in area/country Mandarin Chinese, Uighur, Kazax, Russian, Khalkha

Official language(s) in your country Mandarin Chinese (in China); Russian (in Russia); Khalkha (in Mongolia)

Language(s) used at school as a child Mandarin Chinese (in China); Russian (in Russia); Khalkha (in Mongolia)

Language(s) used by teachers today Mandarin Chinese (in China); Russian (in Russia); Khalkha (in Mongolia)

Do the representatives of neighboring ethnic groups learn to speak your language In general, NO.

If the answer to the above question is yes, please specify But there are some remote villages in Bain Hol area of Xinjiang region (Xidjin, Bain Bulg), mainly inhabited by Oirats, where a few Uighur people learn Oirat. It's not common, very rare.

Does your language have a widely accepted writing system? Yes, but there are three writing systems:
Cyrilic is used in Kalmyk Republic (Russia);
Classical Written Mongolian (Hudum Bichig) and Todo Bichig are used in Xinjiang region (China). Todo Bichig was developed by Zaya Pandita in 1648 spesifically for the Oirat language. However, starting early 1980s, it's being replaced with CWM (Classical Written Mongolian), which is also known as Hudum Bichig.
Absence of one common writing system empedes the communication across the dialects.

If you answered yes, what materials are written? Dictionary, reference grammar, literature, newspapers.

NUMBERS

one negn

two xoir

three hurvn

four doervn

five tavn

six surhan

seven dolan

eight naeaemn

nine iisn

ten arvn

LDTC Home	About Me and My Language	My Language Use	Word List	Minimal Pairs	Morphology	Syntax	Text 2	Bird Story
Kalmyks	Oirat/Kalmyk History	Xinjiang region	Xinjiang Oirats	My PP presentation	Short Kalmyk Stories	Photos from Xinjiang	Oirat-English Dictionary

Your first name	Elena
Your last name	Indjieva
E-mail:	eleinj@gmail.com
Preferred name(s) of your language	Oirat, Kalmyk
Alternative names	Kalmuch
Language classification	Western Mongolian
Geographical areas where spoken	Kalmyk Republic (Russia), Xinjiang region (China), Mongolia
Approximate number of monolingual speakers	maybe about 5000 or less (based on my personal impression, not sure)
Approximate number of fluent speakers	about 150, 000 (mostly in Xinjiang region). This is my personal estimate.
Other languages spoken in area/country	Mandarin Chinese, Uighur, Kazax, Russian, Khalkha
Official language(s) in your country	Mandarin Chinese (in China); Russian (in Russia); Khalkha (in Mongolia)
Language(s) used at school as a child	Mandarin Chinese (in China); Russian (in Russia); Khalkha (in Mongolia)
Language(s) used by teachers today	Mandarin Chinese (in China); Russian (in Russia); Khalkha (in Mongolia)
Do the representatives of neighboring ethnic groups learn to speak your language	In general, NO.
If the answer to the above question is yes, please specify	But there are some remote villages in Bain Hol area of Xinjiang region (Xidjin, Bain Bulg), mainly inhabited by Oirats, where a few Uighur people learn Oirat. It's not common, very rare.
Does your language have a widely accepted writing system?	Yes, but there are three writing systems: Cyrilic is used in Kalmyk Republic (Russia); Classical Written Mongolian (Hudum Bichig) and Todo Bichig are used in Xinjiang region (China). Todo Bichig was developed by Zaya Pandita in 1648 spesifically for the Oirat language. However, starting early 1980s, it's being replaced with CWM (Classical Written Mongolian), which is also known as Hudum Bichig. Absence of one common writing system empedes the communication across the dialects.
If you answered yes, what materials are written?	Dictionary, reference grammar, literature, newspapers.

NUMBERS
one	negn
two	xoir
three	hurvn
four	doervn
five	tavn
six	surhan
seven	dolan
eight	naeaemn
nine	iisn
ten	arvn