An Introduction to Classical (Literary) Mongolian. Introduction, Grammar, Reader, Glossaryby Kaare Gro̵nbech; John R. KruegerReview by: Larry V. ClarkJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 98, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1978), p. 141Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/600954 .

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Reviews of Books Reviews of Books

'perception' or 'appearance' for Tib. snai pa, seems artificial, since the "fundamental sins" of self-notion and selfishness, of ignorance, greed, and hatred, of contaminat- ed (Tib. zag bcas) existence, are very prominent in Bud- dhist terminology. Similarly, it is hard to see how the choice of 'projection' "overcomes the distinction between the subjective and objective," as Dr. Fremantle claims, when it is so patently subjective a word. The neutral 'appearance,' which Dr. Fremantle gives as the "basic" meaning of Tib. snar ba, would seem to easily overcome the distinction. The rendering of Skt. samskara (Tib. 'du byed) as 'concept' is plain wrong, as the fourth aggregate (Skt. skandha) consists of activities and ener- gies, not of static intellectual contents such as concepts, some of which are even impersonal. And 'psychological component' for Skt. skandha, usually 'aggregate,' is wrong, as form/matter (Skt. rlpa) precisely designates the physical reality, the non-mental, hence can hardly be called a 'psychological component.'

In sum, this new rendering of the TBD will be useful for elementary students of Buddhism or Tibetan culture, as it does transmit the vividness and simplicity of the Tibetan better than the previous version. It is to be hoped that some of the small errors and commentarial distortions will be corrected in future editions.

ROBERT A. F. THURMAN AMHERST COLLEGE

An Introduction to Classical (Literary) Mongolian. Introduction, Grammar, Reader, Glossary. By KAARE GRONBECH t and JOHN R. KRUEGER. Second Edi- tion, Revised with a New Supplement. Pp. xii + 91. Wiesbaden: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ. 1976. DM 42.00.

Beginning students of Classical Mongol have for many years had at their disposal the excellent introduction of Kaare Gronbech (d. 1957) and his student at that time, John R. Krueger, which appeared in 1955. The present work represents a photographic reproduction of the largest part of that first edition, but the junior author has corrected and revised the original text and added several supplements, which has resulted in a new pagina- tion and a considerably improved second edition.

Among the sections dropped from the first edition are the bibliographical indications (pp. 16, 107-108), the reading selection X that reflected Non-Classical Written Mongol forms (pp. 64-68), the explanation of Mongol chronology (pp. 102-106), and the synopsis of Khalkha, or modern Mongol (pp. 73-79). These deletions are defensible, although I would have preferred the retention, even the expansion of the Khalkha synopsis, if only be- cause it offered a convenient guide to the main cor-

'perception' or 'appearance' for Tib. snai pa, seems artificial, since the "fundamental sins" of self-notion and selfishness, of ignorance, greed, and hatred, of contaminat- ed (Tib. zag bcas) existence, are very prominent in Bud- dhist terminology. Similarly, it is hard to see how the choice of 'projection' "overcomes the distinction between the subjective and objective," as Dr. Fremantle claims, when it is so patently subjective a word. The neutral 'appearance,' which Dr. Fremantle gives as the "basic" meaning of Tib. snar ba, would seem to easily overcome the distinction. The rendering of Skt. samskara (Tib. 'du byed) as 'concept' is plain wrong, as the fourth aggregate (Skt. skandha) consists of activities and ener- gies, not of static intellectual contents such as concepts, some of which are even impersonal. And 'psychological component' for Skt. skandha, usually 'aggregate,' is wrong, as form/matter (Skt. rlpa) precisely designates the physical reality, the non-mental, hence can hardly be called a 'psychological component.'

In sum, this new rendering of the TBD will be useful for elementary students of Buddhism or Tibetan culture, as it does transmit the vividness and simplicity of the Tibetan better than the previous version. It is to be hoped that some of the small errors and commentarial distortions will be corrected in future editions.

ROBERT A. F. THURMAN AMHERST COLLEGE

An Introduction to Classical (Literary) Mongolian. Introduction, Grammar, Reader, Glossary. By KAARE GRONBECH t and JOHN R. KRUEGER. Second Edi- tion, Revised with a New Supplement. Pp. xii + 91. Wiesbaden: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ. 1976. DM 42.00.

Beginning students of Classical Mongol have for many years had at their disposal the excellent introduction of Kaare Gronbech (d. 1957) and his student at that time, John R. Krueger, which appeared in 1955. The present work represents a photographic reproduction of the largest part of that first edition, but the junior author has corrected and revised the original text and added several supplements, which has resulted in a new pagina- tion and a considerably improved second edition.

Among the sections dropped from the first edition are the bibliographical indications (pp. 16, 107-108), the reading selection X that reflected Non-Classical Written Mongol forms (pp. 64-68), the explanation of Mongol chronology (pp. 102-106), and the synopsis of Khalkha, or modern Mongol (pp. 73-79). These deletions are defensible, although I would have preferred the retention, even the expansion of the Khalkha synopsis, if only be- cause it offered a convenient guide to the main cor-

respondences between Classical and Khalkha, not readily available elsewhere in English.

Certain changes were made in the text, where technical- ly possible. The most significant of these is the laudable decision to include a description of Mongol numerals in the section on Mongol script. Some corrections have been tacitly pasted into the reproduced text, such as p. 45, line 13 ukilan (first ed. giilen), p. 73 qoitu "future" (first ed. "past, following"), and others. Further cor- rections that could not be made in the text are listed in the back (p. 89). Only a few errors went unnoticed: p. 80 the preterite -bai/-bei ?25 should be ?27; p. 32, note 1 the instrumental case -bar, -gar should be -bar, -yar, and the latter form specified as archaic, as it is not mentioned otherwise (cf. p. 15, ?16).

Apart from this, Krueger provides two new supplements on the grammar and the vocabulary. Particularly helpful to the student are the notes (e.g., ??45, 54, 58) which aid in translation by suggesting English equivalents for Mongol constructions. A minor oversight in the grammatical supplement is the use of text abbreviations not otherwise identified, although obvious: SK is Siddhitii Kegiir (texts in Mongolia Society Special Papers 3 and 4, pp. 5- 16); UD = Cliger-iin Dalai (text in MSSP 4, pp. 18- 31); PT = Paicatantra (text in MSSP 2); SS = Sayang Secen (text in MSSP 4, pp. 33-37); Urga = Urga MS of SS (pub. E. Haenisch, Berlin 1955); Kh. Gr. = N. Poppe, Khalkha-Mongolische Grammatik (Wiesbaden 1951, p. 141, 5-6 ta od6 namaig bilgad aw has been "Classicized" by Krueger, p. 88 ta ediige namayi bayul- yayud ab). A few errors appear in the supplement: p. 85, ?21-a umdaya is written umduya in PT 71:3; p. 86, ?36 the example should be translated "First, when he himself came out ..." (cf. p. 25, ?31-c); p. 87. ?46 jiua should be Jiua.

This revised edition of the "Introduction" is, as the original, a reliable pedagogical tool for the beginning student. Used in conjunction with the "Supplementary Texts in Mongolia Script for First-Year Readings," also edited by Krueger (MSSP 4, Bloomington 1965), the student will receive a firm foundation for the reading of Classical Mongol texts. At that stage, he can avail himself of the reference grammar of N. Poppe, Grammar of Written Mongolian (Wiesbaden 1954, Second Printing 1964), and the dictionary of F. Lessing, Mongolian- English Dictionary (University of California Press 1960; reprinted by the Mongolia Society in 1973). Thus, Clas- sical Mongol is quite accessible in English, and we owe this accessibility in no small measure to Professor Krue- ger's activities with the Mongolia Society, and to the little work reviewed here.

LARRY V. CLARK

INDIANA UNIVERSITY

respondences between Classical and Khalkha, not readily available elsewhere in English.

Certain changes were made in the text, where technical- ly possible. The most significant of these is the laudable decision to include a description of Mongol numerals in the section on Mongol script. Some corrections have been tacitly pasted into the reproduced text, such as p. 45, line 13 ukilan (first ed. giilen), p. 73 qoitu "future" (first ed. "past, following"), and others. Further cor- rections that could not be made in the text are listed in the back (p. 89). Only a few errors went unnoticed: p. 80 the preterite -bai/-bei ?25 should be ?27; p. 32, note 1 the instrumental case -bar, -gar should be -bar, -yar, and the latter form specified as archaic, as it is not mentioned otherwise (cf. p. 15, ?16).

Apart from this, Krueger provides two new supplements on the grammar and the vocabulary. Particularly helpful to the student are the notes (e.g., ??45, 54, 58) which aid in translation by suggesting English equivalents for Mongol constructions. A minor oversight in the grammatical supplement is the use of text abbreviations not otherwise identified, although obvious: SK is Siddhitii Kegiir (texts in Mongolia Society Special Papers 3 and 4, pp. 5- 16); UD = Cliger-iin Dalai (text in MSSP 4, pp. 18- 31); PT = Paicatantra (text in MSSP 2); SS = Sayang Secen (text in MSSP 4, pp. 33-37); Urga = Urga MS of SS (pub. E. Haenisch, Berlin 1955); Kh. Gr. = N. Poppe, Khalkha-Mongolische Grammatik (Wiesbaden 1951, p. 141, 5-6 ta od6 namaig bilgad aw has been "Classicized" by Krueger, p. 88 ta ediige namayi bayul- yayud ab). A few errors appear in the supplement: p. 85, ?21-a umdaya is written umduya in PT 71:3; p. 86, ?36 the example should be translated "First, when he himself came out ..." (cf. p. 25, ?31-c); p. 87. ?46 jiua should be Jiua.

This revised edition of the "Introduction" is, as the original, a reliable pedagogical tool for the beginning student. Used in conjunction with the "Supplementary Texts in Mongolia Script for First-Year Readings," also edited by Krueger (MSSP 4, Bloomington 1965), the student will receive a firm foundation for the reading of Classical Mongol texts. At that stage, he can avail himself of the reference grammar of N. Poppe, Grammar of Written Mongolian (Wiesbaden 1954, Second Printing 1964), and the dictionary of F. Lessing, Mongolian- English Dictionary (University of California Press 1960; reprinted by the Mongolia Society in 1973). Thus, Clas- sical Mongol is quite accessible in English, and we owe this accessibility in no small measure to Professor Krue- ger's activities with the Mongolia Society, and to the little work reviewed here.

LARRY V. CLARK

INDIANA UNIVERSITY

141 141

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