Names of Buddhist objects in Mongolian language

This article presents a comprehensive study of some names of Buddhist utensils in the Mongolian (Khalkha-Mongolian, Buryat, and Kalmyk) languages. The study of Buddhist vocabulary in Mongolian languages is relevant for understanding both the history of the spread of Buddhism and the development of the vocabulary of these languages. The names of Buddhist utensils are an interesting object for comparative study of the vocabulary of Mongolian languages. The novelty of this work lies in the fact that the authors, for the first time, identify and analyze the names of Buddhist utensils based on an extensive corpus of sources. These include bilingual and trilingual dictionaries, the Kalmyk heroic epic “Dzhangar”, various folklore texts of Mongolian peoples: fairy tales, riddles, proverbs and sayings, as well as ancient written monuments (such as the Rig Veda and Arshani nomin tuuji (“The Tale of the Nectar Teaching”)). The authors’ personal fieldwork (2010; 2025) collected in Kalmykia, Buryatia, and Mongolia served as an additional source for interpreting Buddhist terms. The aim of this article is to identify, systematize, and comprehensively study the names of Buddhist utensils in Mongolian languages (Khalkha-Mongolian, Buryat, and Kalmyk), taking into account their use in folklore texts. A comprehensive approach was employed in the study. A continuous sampling method was used for the systematic collection of lexical material. The identified lexical units were characterized using a descriptive method. Comparativetypological and comparative-contrastive methods made it possible to establish common and specific features in the vocabulary of Buddhist utensils in Mongolian languages. As a result, it was possible to identify both standardized and dialect-specific names. The authors conclude that the materials examined represent a valuable resource for studying the Buddhist vocabulary of Mongolian-speaking peoples. Information extracted from folklore texts significantly enriches and expands existing understanding of this lexical group. It has been established that the basis of the vocabulary under study is a common Mongolian lexical base, including early borrowings, particularly from Sanskrit. These borrowings passed through the Old Uyghur and Tibetan languages, undergoing preliminary phonomorphological assimilation and adaptation in accordance with the graphic and orthographic norms of the host languages. Prospects for further research include introducing the names of Buddhist utensils into scholarly circulation, which will expand our understanding of the Buddhist vocabulary of Mongolian languages. This, in turn, will serve as an additional source for a new understanding of this vocabulary and will facilitate more indepth comparative studies of Mongolian languages.

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