Clear Script

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Writing system for the Oirat language

title: "Clear Script" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mongolian-writing-systems", "alphabets", "kalmyk-language"] description: "Writing system for the Oirat language" topic_path: "general/mongolian-writing-systems" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Script" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Writing system for the Oirat language ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Writing system"]

Field	Value
name	Clear Script
altname	Oirat alphabet
languages	Oirat
Sanskrit
Tibetic
type	Alphabet
fam1	Egyptian hieroglyphs
fam2	Proto-Sinaitic script
fam3	Phoenician alphabet
fam4	Aramaic alphabet
fam5	Syriac alphabet
fam6	Sogdian alphabet
fam7	Old Uyghur alphabet
fam8	Mongolian script
creator	Zaya Pandita
sisters	Manchu alphabet
Vagindra script
time	ca. 1648 – today
unicode	U+1800 – U+18AF
iso15924	Mong
sample	Smp kalmyk.gif
imagesize	250px
::

The Clear Script 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.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Prijutnoe1.jpg" caption="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. 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. Symbols that were preserved from the traditional Mongolian script were assigned a fixed meaning.

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 Mong and Mong.

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 to 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 Mong, Mong, and part of Mong. 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: Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong; Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong & Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong, Mong.

Vowels

::data[format=table]

Single vowels	Final	IPA	Notes
All these form ligatures with a preceding bow-shaped consonant.
	ɑ, ∅	Mong	Final example ligature: Mong. This ligated form of final Mong extends its tail to the left.
	e, ∅	Mong	Initial/medial/final example ligature: Mong.
	i, ∅	Mong	Final example ligature: Mong. This ligated form of final Mong differs from the one used elsewhere.
	ɔ	Mong	Initial/medial/final example ligature: Mong. This ligated form of Mong is fully round. The ligature Mong is also identical in form to Mong.
	ʊ, ∅	Mong	Initial/medial/final example ligature: Mong.
	ø, ∅	Mong	Initial/medial/final example ligature: Mong. This ligated form of Mong is fully round.
	y, ∅	Mong	Initial/medial/final example ligature: Mong. The ligatures Mong and Mong are identical in form.
::

::data[format=table]

Long vowels	Initial	Medial	Final	IPA	Notes	Dan.
		—	ɑː	Mong	Mong	Final example ligature: Mong.
			eː, æː	Mong	Mong
		—	iː	Mong	Mong	Diphthongs ending in Mong are shaped and transliterated in the same manner.
—	—		Mong
			ɔː	Mong	Mong
			ʊː	Mong
			øː, æː	Mong	Mong
			yː	Mong
::

Consonants

::data[format=table]

Native consonants	Initial	Medial	Final	IPA	Notes	Dan. & Kara	ALA-LC
			n	Mong

			b	Mong
		—	x	Mong	Used before back vowels.
		—	ɢ	Mong	Mong
[[File:Mongolian letter todo Ga (isolated form).svg	frameless	upright=0.12]]	[[File:Mongolian letter todo Ga (isolated form).svg	frameless	upright=0.12]]	—	ɡ
		—	k	Mong	Used before front vowels.
—			ɡ	Mong	Used syllable-finally, and irrespective of vowel harmony.
			m	Mong
			l	Mong
			r	Mong
			d	Mong
		—	t	Mong
		—	j	Mong
		—	z	Mong, Mong	Mong	†. Ambiguous value (Mong, Mong) from the 18th century until post-war reform.
			d͡ʒ	**	—
		—	t͡s	Mong, Mong	Mong	†. Ambiguous value (Mong, Mong) from the 18th century until post-war reform.
			t͡ʃ	**	—
			s	Mong
			ʃ	Mong	Mong
—			ŋ	Mong
::

::data[format=table]

Letters used in foreign words	Medial	Final	IPA	Translit.
	—	p	—	Mong
	—		Mong
			—
	—	k	Mong,	Mong
	—		—	Mong
—	—		Mong
	—		Mong
			—
	—
			—
		w	Mong	Mong
::

Ligatures

::data[format=table]

Ligatures	Final	Notes
	Mong
	Mong
	Mong
	Mong	Written the same as xal.
	Mong
	Mong
	Mong	Written the same as xal.
	Mong
	Mong
	Mong
	Mong
	Mong
	Mong
	Mong

	Mong
	Mong


	Mong
	Mong
Other bow-shaped ligatures are formed in the same manner.
::

Notes

References

(2006). "The Mongolian and Oirat Translations of the Sutra of Golden Light".
Kara, György. (2005). "Books of the Mongolian Nomads: More Than Eight Centuries of Writing Mongolian". Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies.
Daniels, Peter T.. (1996). "The World's Writing Systems". Oxford University Press.
Kos'min, V. K.. (2007). "Mongolian Buddhism's Influence on the Formation and Development of Burkhanism in Altai". Anthropology & Archeology of Eurasia.
n/a, Čoyiǰungǰab. (1998-05-10). "Oyirad ayalɣun-u üges". [[Inner Mongolia University]].
(2012). "Tod-Oirat-Old Kalmyk romanization table".
(2022-09-13). "The Unicode Standard, Version 15.0 – Core Specification Chapter 13: South and Central Asia-II, Other Modern Scripts".
"GOST 7.79-2000 (ISO 9-95; Sistema standartov po informatsii, bibliotechnomu i izdatelskomu delu. Pravila transliteratsii kirillovskogo pisma latinskim alfavitom)".
Smirnov, Parmen. (1857). "Kratkiy russko-kalmytskiy slovar".
"Bolor Dictionary".

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