Mongolian is one of the languages, which Turkish has been in intensive mutual contact throughout the historical course. The interactive relation between Turkish and Mongolian has continued todate despite it has occasionally decreased and increased due to the migrations and cultural changes experienced by the speakers of these languages. Some areas in present-day People’s Republic of China are regions, where this interaction still remains intact. Turkish and Mongolian have lost ground or even are facing extinction in some (...) of these regions, which historically had been the living space of Turkish and Mongolian-speaking populations. However, Mongolian is still represented with at least ten varieties within the borders of People’s Republic of China. Some of these varieties are at the edge of extinction whereas others like Southern Mongol are enduring the pressure of the Chinese language as well as posing a threat to other Mongolian varieties together with Chinese and Tibetan. The Chinese language endangers the existence of Mongolian varieties like all other minority languages as a result of being the official language of the People’s Republic of China and the language of the vast majority. On the other hand Tibetan pressurizes Mongolian varieties mainly with religious reasons besides demographic ones. In spite of the pressure felt from Chinese, Tibetan and Southern Mongol, some minor Mongolian varieties are pressurizing some Turkic and Tungusic varieties. (shrink)

This article sheds light on the diversity of meanings and connotations that tend to be lost or hidden in translations between different conceptualizations of nature in East and South-East Asia. It reviews the idea of “nature” in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Tagalog, Cebuano, Lumad, Indonesian, Burmese, Nepali, Khmer, and Mongolian. It shows that the conceptual subtleties in the conceptualization of nature often hide wider and deeper cosmological mismatches. It concludes by suggesting that these diverse voices need to be represented (...) in global reports on sustainability, which can be fostered by the direct involvement of experts from diverse traditions of thought who have access and interpretative knowledge of sources in languages other than English. To take into consideration the diversity of conceptualizations of nature can lead to better decisions about sustainability and improve the acceptability and efficiency of environmental policies in each local context, as well as internationally. Solutions and policies on the ground must be designed based on the local conceptual and cultural frames. (shrink)

The ancient names of Assam were Kamrupa and Pragjyotisa, which had been inhabited by the Kirata or Mongoloid people before the Aryan culture could spread its influence over the North Eastern part of India. Before the advent of the Aryan civilization, the Austric-Mongolian and Dravidian culture was the prevalent culture of the people of this area. According to some scholar, the Aryans advent in North East India was occurrence of the pre-Buddhist period. The period of the Brahmins was followed (...) by the Buddhist period, so far as the cultural history of India is concerned. In comparatively, ancient inscriptions of Assam, we find that, the high caste Aryans like Brahmans, Shatriyas and Kalitas entered into Assam and began to settle here even during the Pre-Christian era. The mention of Kamrupa and Devoka in the Allahabad pillar inscription of the Gupta king Samudragupta has an important bearing on the Aryanisation of North East India. In the domain of political system, it is all probable that the ancient Assam populated by the non-Khmer group of the Austric and the Tibeto-Burman people was in tribal state of society. Narakasura and Bhagadutta, the legendary kings of Assam were probably the first monarchical rulers and they were in all probability the Aryanised or Hunduised Mongoloid persons. In other words, the tribal political system of Assam was changed into monarchical system by the influence of the Aryan culture. (shrink)