Buddhist temple Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni in Elista, Republic of Kalmykia, Russia
By rostovdriver - stock.adobe.com
Language Information:
Family: Mongolic ==> Central Mongolic ==> Oirat ==> Torgut and Dorbet ==> Kalmyk
Population of Speakers: 80,500 Native Speakers(Data: 2010)
Kalmyk is a member of the Kalmyk-Oirat subgroup of Mongolic languages. It is spoken in Kalmykia in the Russian Federation between the Volga and Don rivers, though only by a small minority group, as well as in Western China and in Western Mongolia. Kalmyk was first written with the Uyghur script in the 11th century. Then in 1648 a Kalmyk Buddhist monk called Zaya Pandita Oktorguin Dalai created the Kalmyk alphabet or Todo Bichig (Clear Script) by adapting the Classical Mongolian script. The Clear script is still used by Kalmyks in China (They are categorized as "ethnical Mongolians"), but Kalmyks in Russia adopted the Cyrillic alphabet.
According to UNESCO, the language is "Definitely endangered".
Kalmyk is not currently taught on the IU campus. Learn more about Kalmyk at Omniglot.
Recording Archive
C01 Kalmyk interview -Torgut princess (wife of Minjuur?) and daughter interpreting (part 1/2)
C01 Kalmyk interview -Torgut princess (wife of Minjuur?) and daughter interpreting (part 2/2)