Acta Orientalia 10. (1960)
1. szám - A. Róna-Tas: A Study on the Dariganga Phonology
A. RÔNA-TAS Mongolian group. Of the other dialects belonging to this group we have very scanty data.9 The comparative studies are rendered more difficult by the fact that among the Khalkha dialects only that of Ulan Bator (former Urga) has been thoroughly discussed, and we know very little about the other Khalkha dialects.10 In the comparative studies of the East Mongolian dialects an important role is played by those Khalkha dialects which seem to occupy an intermediate position between the central Khalkha and the south-east sub-group to which Ordos belongs. We got to know of the existence of these dialects from the statements of Vladimirtsov (Срав. грамм., pp. 9—18), and Poppe (Introduction, pp. 20—21, 103), and it was Professor Ligeti who called my attention to their importance in the relations among East Mongolian dialects. One aim of my study tour, made in 1958 in the Mongolian People’s Republic, was to collect material on the position of the South Khalkha dialects.11 During my tour I have visited the Dariganga territory. I left the Mongolian capital on the 15th of August. At first I went to Sajn Sand, the center of Dorno Gobi aymak, from there I travelled through Bajin Mönggü, Bajsingtu. Onggon, I passed by the Sedzin-nur, reached Bajingol and then the center of the Dariganga sumun. The first part of my time I spent there and in the neighbourhood, then, on the 22th of August I went — through Tsagan Bulak — to Asgat sumun, another sumun of the Dariganga territory. This was the native place of my friend and guide Siikhbatar, scientific co-worker of the Committee of Sciences and Higher Education, and at the same time lecturer of the University of Ulan Bator. Here in Asgat I have collected the major part of my linguistic and ethnographical material. Then I returned through Barun Urt, Khentei and Nalajkha back to Ulan Bator. The Darigangas are living on the so-called Dariganga Vulcanic Highland, in the south borders on the frontier of the Chinese People’s Republic. To the north-west it extends as far as the territory of Bajsingtu; in the east it reaches Jugodzir. According the local tradition the territory got its name from the 9 See Rudnev, op. cit. ; L. Ligeti, Rapport préliminaire d'un voyage d’exploration fait en Mongolie chinoise, Budapest 1933, Cinggeltei, Dumdadu ulus-taki Mongyol tôrül-ün kele-nügüd ha Mongyol kelen-ü ayalyu-nuyud-un yerüngkei hayidal, Mongyol kele bifig, 1957 : 12, pp. 25—48, 1958 : 1 pp. 44-48, 1958 : 2, pp. 41 — 57, 1958 : 3 pp. 32 — 39, 1958 : 7 pp. 26 — 32 ; etc. Masayosi Nomura, On Some Phonological Developments in the Kharchin Dialect, Studia Altaica, Wiesbaden 1955, pp. 132 —136, and the material in the comparative grammars of Vladimirtsov, Sanzeev, and Poppe cited above. 10 Concerning the Khalkha dialects some references can be found in the comparative grammars already cited ; furthermore see Sanzeev’s Дархатский говор и фольклор, Leningrad 1931. Some other new works will be mentioned below. 11 The other aim of my tour was to continue my work begun in 1957 and to study the ethnography of the nomadic way of life. The material collected on the Mongolian tent and other problems I wish to publish at a later time.