austraLasia 1143
Russian in our region!
ULAAN BAATAR: 23rd May 2005 -- It may come as a surprise to know that Russian is spoken in at least one part of the East Asia-Oceania Region. In Mongolia. And for twelve months or so now, there has also been a Salesian Bulletin produced in Russian...from Gatchina in Russia. Mongolia and Russia are neighbours.
With that knowledge, the Salesian Regional for EAO, Fr Klement, has asked Russian Salesians and Salesians working in Russia to consider supporting the Mongolian mission with Russian materials, especially educational, Salesian and biblical materials. Not that all Mongolians speak Russian, though probably most adults have at least a smattering of Russian. So why the request?
In 1944 the then Russian-dominated government decreed that the Cyrillic script be used instead of the ancient Mongolian script. The Khalkha dialect of Mongolian, which the majority speak, is not in itself so close to Russian, but rather closer to Turkish. A 1991 government decision to return to Mongolian script is more a decision on paper than in fact, partly because of the financial and educational implications of such decisions.
Hence it makes some sense for the Salesians in Mongolia, who need to provide materials in the language, to find the best way to translate the materials they need for education and evangelisation - and to do it from Russian is much easier than from English or Italian because of the script. Good thinking, probably from a Regional who has more than a smattering of Russian himself!
By the way, ever wondered why all those double 'a's in Mongolian names, like Ulaan and Baatar (sometimes written as one word)? Double letters in the romanised version indicate stress.
VOCABULARY
smattering: a little bit of, used mainly in reference to knowledge of language.
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