| Population |
174,000 Kalmyk in Russia (1993 UBS), 91% speak it as mother tongue. Population total all countries 518,000. |
| Region |
The Kalmyk are in Kalmykia, the steppes between the Don and Volga rivers, lower Volga region, now the Astrakhan Province. The capital is Elista. The Dorbot and Torgut live between the Volga and the Don, east of the Caspian and north of the Caucasus, in Kalmyk ASSR. Also spoken in China, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Taiwan, USA. |
| Alternate names |
KALMUK, KALMUCK, KALMACK, QALMAQ, KALMYTSKII JAZYK, KHAL:MAG, OIRAT, VOLGA OIRAT, EUROPEAN OIRAT, WESTERN MONGOLIAN |
| Dialects |
BUZAWA, OIRAT, TORGUT (TORGUUD, TORGHUD, TORGHOUD), DÖRBÖT (DÖRBÖD, DERBET), SART QALMAQ. |
| Classification |
Altaic, Mongolian, Eastern, Oirat-Khalkha, Oirat-Kalmyk-Darkhat. |
| Comments |
Their language has diverged from other Mongolian languages and they are called 'Kalmyk' in Russia; 'Oirat' in China and Mongolia. In USA Kalmyk has not been heavily influenced by Russian as it has been in Russia. Different from other varieties in China called Oirat, which are sometimes called 'Asiatic Oirat.' Tibetan is used as religious language. Russian is used as second language for other purposes. In 1628 the Oirat moved from Dzungaria, Eastern Turkistan (Xinjiang, China) to the Volga, north and west of the Caspian Sea. Cyrillic script used by the Dorbot and Torgut. Lamaist Buddhist. NT 1827-1894, out of print. |
| China |
| Language name |
KALMYK-OIRAT |
| Population |
139,000 Oirat in China (1989 Wurm et al.), including 106,000 Torgut, 33,000 Kok Nur. |
| Alternate names |
OIRAT, WEILATE, XINJIANG MONGOLIAN, WESTERN MONGOL |
| Dialects |
JAKHACHIN, BAYIT, MINGAT, OLOT (ÖÖLD, ELYUT, ELEUTH), KHOSHUT (KHOSHUUD). |
| Comments |
Dorbot dialect also reported to be in China. Other dialects are different from varieties of China Mongolian spoken by other Oirat peoples. Since 1982 schooling has been in Chahar Mongolian. People have high bilingualism in Chahar Mongolian in China. Officially under the Mongolian nationality in China. Official language. NT 1827-1894, out of print. See main entry under Russia. |
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| Mongolia |
| Language name |
KALMYK-OIRAT |
| Population |
205,500 in Mongolia, including 139,000 Oirat, 55,100 Dorbot, 11,400 Torgut. |
| Alternate names |
OIRAT, WESTERN MONGOL |
| Dialects |
JAKHACHIN, BAYIT, MINGAT, OLOT (ÖÖLD, ELYUT, ELEUTH), KHOSHUT (KHOSHUUD), URIANKHAI, KHOTON (HOTON). |
| Comments |
Khoton (Hoton) were originally of Turkic origin (G. Kara). They were once Muslim. Different from the Chinese-speaking Qotong (Hoton). NT 1827-1894, out of print. See main entry under Russia. |
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