The paper provides a brief but complete overview of material (archaeological) and epigraphical sources on the history of Bengal  and Bihar in the 8th–12th centuries published primarily in India  during the last century and a half. The material sources were  discovered in the course of excavations conducted under the  supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India founded in 1861  and Department of Archaeology and Museums of Bangladesh which  became an autonomous organisation in 1972. The epigraphical  sources are grouped around the Pāla dynasty who ruled over the  region for about four centuries — the longest period in North Indian  history — as well as their neighbours, such as the Chandras, Senas,  etc. All the inscriptions under consideration are divided into three  large groups, namely: land grant letters carved on copper plates (59 items); inscriptions on large objects — stones, rocks, steles, walls, etc. (over 30 inscriptions of the Pāla period); and inscriptions on small objects (about 70 ones of the Pālas). It is difficult to define  the exact number of all inscriptions of the period. The publishing process of pieces of Bengal and Bihar epigraphy goes back to the late 18th century when Narayanapāla’s inscription of the Badal pillar  was fi rst published in vol. 1 (1788) of the Asiatic Researches. There  were odd publications of Bengal and Bihar inscriptions throughout  the 19th century in various special journals like the Journal of the  Asiatic Society of Bengal (issued since 1832), The Indian Antiquary (issued since 1872) and Epigraphia Indica (issued since 1882 as a quarterly supplement to The Indian Antiquary). Collections of early  medieval Bengal and Bihar Sanskrit inscriptions including those of  the Pālas and their neighbours be-gan to be published commencing  from the first decades of the 20th century. All the publications, even  those issued about one hundred and fifty years ago remain relevant  to this day, principally because a substantial part of the sources have been lost, obliterated and deformed. Besides, the evidence of those who saw and described the inscriptions for the first time ever is of  great value for further generations of scholars due to the  accompanying details. In the final reckoning, palaeographers always make references to the initial publications when discussing the  meaning of any signs, figures, letters or ligatures. At the moment it  is difficult to define the exact number of inscriptions related to the  Pālas and their neighbours. The list of Bengal and Bihar inscriptions  is being constantly extended. In recent 25 years there have appeared numerous publications of inscriptions of Bengal rulers, particularly those of the Pālas. The inscriptions are published in  different subject-oriented editions like journals, jubilee volumes, etc.

The article deals with an episode in the history of Tibetan-Kalmyk relations at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Galdan  Boshugtu Khan’s death and the 6th Dalai Lama’s formal assumption of political power in Tibet in 1697, arrival of Arabjur’s  mission in Lhasa in 1698 — all these events like links in a chain  caused the Tibetan-Kalmyk negotiations aimed to discuss the  possibility of the Kalmyks’ resettlement from the Volga to the  Kokonor (Qinghai) region for the protection of Tibet from Manchu  aggression. The available sources — though numerous enough — do  not clarify the reasons for the contacts and urgent endowment of the title of ‘Khan’ alongside with the corresponding signet to the Kalmyk  ruler. However, the circumstances and miserable consequences that  shaped the dramatic fate of the 6th Dalai Lama and that of Sangye  Gyatso clearly identify the vector of development of Tibetan-Kalmyk relations during the period under consideration. There is no doubt  that it was Desi Sangye Gyatso who conducted Tibet’s foreign policy  on behalf of the young 6th Dalai Lama and, thus, acted as the  initiator of the secret agreement. The endowment of the title ‘Khan’  to Ayuka (Ayushi) by the Buddhist clergy was supposed to contribute to the soonest implementation of the idea. As for Ayuka himself, this could open a prospect of becoming not only a “Dharma protector” but rather — the leader of a unifi ed Oirat state. The main obstacle  for implementing the idea was that the then Kalmyk community was  disintegrated enough which was aggravated by the centrifugal  processes, namely the mass resettlement of Kalmyks to the Don  River region. These very circumstances as well as the reluctance of  the Kalmyk elites to leave eastwards undermined Ayuka’s  determination to move beyond the Russian borders. The idea of  returning to the ancestral lands was fi nally supported by his eldest  sons, with Sanjab being the main inspirer. The 1701 confl ict was also caused by the struggle for power within the ruling family and  resembled an attempted “palace coup”. In its aftermath the  mutineers faced the resistance of that part of the Kalmyk elites who  strongly opposed to leaving eastwards. The lack of a clear action  plan, open siding with Ayuka of most infl uential taishas (noble  chieftains) and strenuous support for him from the Tsarist  government finally resulted in the defeat of the mutineers. A part of them headed by Chakdorjab reconciled with Ayuka while the others  headed by Sanjab chose to completely sever relations and left for Dzungaria. Still, the author concludes that their ultimate destination point was not Dzungaria but rather – the highlands of Tibet revered  and worshipped by the Buddhist believers.

The article deals with the annual reports of the Kalmyk Administration which are an umbrella type of record keeping  documentation for studies of the political, economic, social and  cultural development of Kalmyk Steppe of Astrakhan Governorate.  The paper aims to identify and establish the degree of their  preservation in Russia’s archival funds, as well as their numerical  composition, availability of accompanying documents and records.  The author came to the conclusion that none of the archives  contained the complete collection of the consolidated annual reports. It was revealed that the largest set of reports for the entire period is  stored in the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia, as well as  in the Russian State Historical Archive. Those consolidated annual  reports by the Kalmyk Administration can be compared to the most  loyal reports of governors. Since the bulk of the Kalmyk nomadic population inhabited the southernmost territories of the Lower Volga Region known since the 19th century as “Kalmyk Steppe” which was  an administrative-territorial unit of Astrakhan Governorate, the  reports of the Kalmyk Administration proved structural elements to  most loyal reports of the Astrakhan Governor. The analysis of  revealed clerical materials showed that copies are in better condition than corresponding preparatory notes for the reports. Despite the  absence of a number of reports from the National Archive of the  Republic of Kalmykia, its funds contain draft papers and applications  to the reports. The availability of this group of sources is of great  value. Their preliminary analysis gives an opportunity to explore the  origins of the report while preparatory materials and draft  documents with corrections introduced by officials are essential in  assessing the representativity of the data on the Kalmyk  Administration’s consolidated annual reports. The structure, contents and scope of the reports were infl uenced by the diverse factors,  such as changes in the form of reports, changes in the boundaries of the territorial-administrative units, etc. Thus, the identifi cation and  studies of complex clerical works are necessary for further analysis of the socio-political and socio-economic processes that had  been occurring in Kalmyk Steppe of Astrakhan Governorate in the context of the whole Russian Empire.

The article provides a historiographic review of Memorial Books and other published annotated lists of participants of the 1941–1945  Great Patriotic War that were conscripted from Kalmykia. The mentioned editions serve as the most important and key  element in the system of memorialization of our fellow countrymen’s  deeds of valour in the defense of Motherland since those personalize each of them. At the same time, the fi gures they  cover are considerable enough and sometimes amount to 100 %. The review allows to conclude that huge work on compiling and  publishing the diverse annotated lists of our fellow countrymen has  been conducted in the past decades but the post-Soviet editions are  not that comprehensive and, as a rule, specialize in some certain  aspect. E.g., there are separate annotated lists of our country fellowmen who were killed in action, died from wounds, missed in action, who were captured, deported to the Shirokovsky forced  labor camp or awarded, who survived to a certain date or came from a certain district (including those related to the neighboring regions nowadays) or settlement; warriors of ethnic military units.  According to population coverage, the editions can be roughly  divided into three groups as follows: regional (those covering the  whole population of the region), district (those covering the  population of a separate district) and village (those covering residents of a certain settlement) ones. So, a complete and comprehensive annotated (or unannotated) list of Kalmykia’s  residents — participants of the 1941–1945 Great Patriotic War has never been compiled and published. Unfortunately, the lists are  incomplete, contain duplicated data and signifi cant mistakes in the spelling of personal names. In view of the restricted access to  archival materials it was not always possible to introduce  corresponding corrections. A number of published lists had been  compiled without due account of the actual documents and contain lots of essential mistakes. Ever since ODB Memorial and Podvig  Naroda (‘People’s Deeds of Valor’) integrated online databases  (search engines) started working, it is possible to correct the  mistakes and create a new Memorial Book that would contain  consolidated, verifi ed and correct data about all the previously  described individuals. To achieve the goal it is necessary to perform  tremendous work on developing a consolidated database including information on all our fellow countrymen — participants of the Great Patriotic War, i.e. to compare and analyze data, eliminate repetitions, search for previously undiscovered archival materials and introduce  them into scientific discourse (to be later processed using computer  technologies). In view of the aforementioned, it can be concluded  that the task of memorialization of our fellow countrymen’s deeds of  valour in the battlefi elds of the Great Patriotic War has not been  fully completed yet.

The article deals with the history of the women's movement in modern Mongolia. In socialist Mongolia the women's movement  made a part of the state policies and was financed by the state  budget. It was the Committee of Mongolian Women that  implemented the main activities. Activities of women's organizations  in the socialist period were aimed at increasing the level of education of the female population of the country, improving the various  aspects of women's lives, stimulating their participation in the public  administration of the country. Special attention was paid to the  protection of maternity and infancy. The first independent women's  organizations appeared in Mongolia in 1992. The formation of the first women's organizations in 1992 was caused by a number of  interrelated reasons and factors. In view of the dramatic changes in the country, many educated middle-aged women found themselves in unfavorable working conditions. Women were underrepresented in economic and political realms, the key positions were traditionally  occupied by men. So, for some women non-governmental  organizations became the only opportunities for self-realization. It  should be noted that the women's movement in Mongolia — like  those in other Asian countries — developed in collaboration with  foreign organizations. The article aims to analyze the activities of the first women's NGOs of post-socialist Mongolia. The activities of women's NGOs in Mongolia strive for the solution of gender issues. Those also aim to help people adapt to the new social and economic  system and make use of its advantages. Among the main goals of  women's NGOs the following ones can be noted: assistance to  women in their cultural and social development, improvement of  living standards, promotion of women's participation in  decisionmaking issues, provision of social protection. The activities  and influence of women's non-governmental organizations have increased greatly in present-day Mongolia. They are getting actively involved in legislative undertakings, especially when it comes to  issues of unemployment, informatization and other problems on local and national levels. Their activities also include the fi ght against  violence towards women which is an obvious problem for the modern Mongolian society. Mongolian women's NGOs constitute a  decentralized, suffi ciently dense network of organizations. However,  the variety of interests and fields of activities allow women's NGOs to implement common projects with other organizations in different spheres.

The article analyzes the colour symbolism in the clothing of Oirats of Mongolia. The paper shows that the Oirat men’s costume was  characterized by combinations of white and black which stand for the key colour opposition in the culture of all Mongolian peoples. The Oirat women’s costume contained various colours and, in general,  when it came to colour preferences, specifi c ethnic priorities based  on certain symbolism could be traced. The article provides data confirming the facts of definite colour priorities within the traditional  women’s costume of Oirat peoples alongside with  corresponding field data according to which black in the Olot (mong. Ӧӧld)  women’s costume symbolically stands for the 18th century Oirat- Manchu confrontation. At the same time, presence of black ‘berz’ in  the Hobuksar Torghut women’s costume testifies that the symbolism of black is ancient enough and it was not perceived as a mourning colour. The same is the case for the traditional felt high boots of Torghuts residing in Mongolia and the PRC where black boots are  viewed as ceremonial while white ones are considered casual; folk  songs also relate that folk heroes used to wear black folded  garments. Clothing differences — and specifi cally the colour  symbolism — were paid much attention to, and the ‘Tsaajin Bichig’, a code of laws and regulations adopted by the Qing for their  subordinate Mongols, established that should there arrive new groups of Mongols designated as “border crossers” it was necessary  to identify and refer them to one of the four social categories as  confirmed by the laws and — provide them with certain garments.  The Oirat peoples have retained specifi c features of their traditional  culture which is due to a numbers of reasons, such as remoteness  from territories inhabited by Mongols as well as peculiarities of their  natural surroundings and economy. The article describes some  features of patterns and colour characteristics of various men’s and  women’s garments (‘devel’, ‘lavshig’, ‘terleg’, ‘tsegdeg’) in the traditions of the Dӧrbets, Torghuts, Bayids, Myangads and other  Oirats of Western Mongolia. It is concluded that the patterns of  women’s garments are most archaic though diverse types of fabric  started being applied; while the men’s costume that kept being made of traditional materials — sheep- or lambskins — with  black cloth used to face it generally resembles the Mongolian ‘deel’ and, thus, has supposedly experienced some changes.

The article considers the origins of the sub-ethnic group known as Üldchnr which is absent from any member lists of the Oirat ethno- political alliances that arrived in the Lower Volga Region in the 17th century, nor is it on the 18th century list of the “indigenous”  Kalmyk clans. Nowadays representatives of the Üldchnr identify their clan as a separate one, i.e. sharing no direct common ancestry with  the Buurl which it used to be assigned to according to the 19th  century sources. There are data indicating that the Üldchnr were  formed by individuals of Torghut ancestry primarily from Eretenevsky Ulus (‘District’) the population of which had been forcibly dispersed  among the other uluses of the Kalmyk Khanate in the late 18th  century. The ancestral legends about the origins of the group retain  a version according to which it was compiled from representatives of  diverse clans after the 1771 exodus of the Kalmyks, including those connected with such zayisangs (‘noblemen’) as Miitr Noyon  and Mazan-Baatr (Baghatur). The changes in the number of ayimags (‘settlements’) of the Üldchnr in less than half a century  were due to the reforms of the ulus-ayimag system among the  Kalmyks, constriction of pasturing lands and merging of ayimags  following the principle of kinship. The ethnic group of Üldchnr  comprises a considerable number of patronymies – arvans (Kalm. ‘ten’) – that are to be studied using a comprehensive  approach. According to the available legends, some of them are of alien ethnic origin. A number of present-day Üldchnr arvans originate from representatives of the  neighboring clans that had long shared common pasturing territories  with the former, e.g. Baγ Buurl, Daajakhn, Kelkyakhn.  The origins of the rest of Üldchnr arvans are still understudied. The  materials on the ethnic group can be used for further development of a Catalogue of Kalmyk Clans.

The article focuses on the studies of the language consciousness on the basis of free associative experiments. The associative method of  linguistic research aims to reveal the associative range of the average respondent; to construct and analyze the associative  relationships between words, to search for consistent patterns; to  form forward and reverse associative dictionary. The associative  experiment allows us to determine the consistency of content of the  image of the consciousness behind the word, in different cultures,  and consistency of all language awareness of different cultures,  conveying thereby the uniqueness and originality of the image of the world by every culture. Consequently, language awareness can serve as a means of understanding the foreign culture in its substantial  and mental forms and means of knowledge of their culture.  Experimental study of ethnospecifi c stereotypes of the Kalmyk and the Russian language consciousness is based on the free associative experiment, which involves the presentation of words-stimulus, defined intuitively by native speakers as typical stereotypical characteristics, values, priorities.

Dutch sociologist Abram de Swaan began to elaborate a model of the global language system in 1993, and in 2001 his book “Words of the  World: The Global Language System” was issued. In Swaan’s opinion, “the multilingual connections between language  groups do not occur haphazardly. But, on the contrary, they  constitute a surprisingly strong and effi cient network that ties  together — directly or indirectly — the six billion inhabitants of the  earth”. There are 1) peripheral, 2) central, 3) supercentral and 4)  hypercentral languages. Different language types have different  functions in the global language system. Central and supercentral  languages of the world are responsible for stability of the whole  system. The hypercentral English language combines the elements of the system in a single unit. Minority languages are a source of  diversity for the development of the system. And there is an  indicator of language learning and language spread — the Q-value,  which characterizes the communicative value of every language.  When the Q-value of some language is extremely low, it is quite hard to save such a language in the contemporary world environment. The present article shows the place of the modern  Buryat language in the Swaan’s system and seeks the way to protect the Buryat language and its dialects against the negative effect of  the globalization process. The paper discusses how the Old  Mongolian script could help fi nd a suitable solution. The number of  Buryat language speakers is rapidly declining. The broad discussion  on the Buryat language problems has been simmering on the  territory of ethnic Buryatia since the late 1980s — i.e. since the  beginning of the Buryat national and cultural revival movement. The  several key “recipes for salvation” of the Buryat language which have been offered by the participants of this discussion during the last five years (except for the “returning” to the Old Mongolian script) can  be identifi ed as follows: 1) re-creation of the language environment, in particular — in the media landscape; 2) restoration of the functions  of the Buryat language at the family level, particularly in urban  areas; 3) teaching of the Buryat literary language at schools; 4) learning of spoken Buryat in different sub-ethnic territories.

Western Yugur is a Turkic language which is nowadays on the verge of extinction and assimilation resulting from long-term interaction  with the Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese languages. It seems relevant to study the development of the common Turkic  language and identify the reasons for the disintegration of the  language with evidence from Western Yugur which acts here as a  “canned linguistic structure” that has been isolated from the Turkic  language environment of Central Asia since the 8th-9th cc. and,  thus, has experienced the diverse and prolonged infl uence of  ethnolinguistic and historical processes “inside the belly” of the  Chinese, Tangut, Tibetan and Mongolian languages. Despite the  impact of the mentioned languages, Western Yugur is considered one of the ancient Turkic languages that has retained the common Turkic  proto-forms and features of development of Turkic languages in their initial stages. Comparative historical studies of noun-forming affixes in the language of ancient Turkic written monuments, Western Yugur, Kazakh of the Kipchak branch and Turkish of the Oghuz  branch make it possible to identify the common word-building  formants characteristic of the languages of the period under  consideration as well as the trends of development (of affixes) after  the Old Turkic period and their formation in each of the languages. 
The study shows that common noun-forming suffi xes characteristic of the 6th–10th cc. Turkic languages used to function within Western Yugur, Kazakh and other Turkic languages but in 1400–1500 years of their historical development those experienced a number of sound changes while the meanings and functions of the affixes, their  morphological features in the language of written monuments have  some similarities to affixes of pronouns. However, the  synharmonism discovered in the noun-forming suffixes in the  ancient written language has been completely retained by the  Turkish language, partly by the Western Yugur language and is not to be found in the Kazakh one.

The article analyzes the current state of the phonetic system of the Nizhneudinsk dialect of the Buryat language in comparison with  corresponding data collected by other researchers more than forty  years ago. The Nizhneudinsk dialect is the most western Buryat  dialect and is isolated from the others, so its phonetics has a lot of  unique features. The materials were obtained during the 2016 expedition to Nizhneudinsky District of Irkutsk Oblast.  Nowadays the dialect can be designated as endangered, so its  recording and analysis are timely and relevant. The analysis of the  recorded materials revealed the peculiarities as follows. In vocalism:  the back vowels a, u, o become the front ones ä, ü, ö before the  vowel *i in the following syllable: bär’ika < bariqu ‘to hold’, kürigan  < quriγan ‘lamb’; both front and back diphthongs become front  monophthongs: sää < čai ‘tea’, öö < oi ‘wood’, tüümer < tuyimer ‘fire’, k’üüten < küyiten ‘cold’, t’iime < teyimü ‘this kind’, dülee <  dülei ‘deaf’; quite a number of words preserve the unbroken *i in the fi rst syllable: t’iree < kirüge ‘saw’, sh’inka < činaqu ‘to cook’. In  consonantism: the stop character of the sound k, developed from *q  and *k, instead of the fricative kh in other Buryat dialects: kur’im <  qurim ‘wedding’, daka < daqa ‘fur-coat’; transformation of *gi into  d’i, and *ki into t’i: erd’i < ergi ‘coast’, tart’i < tariki ‘brain’, art’i <  ariki ‘alcohol’; interchange of dorsal stop and fricative consonants: jir  naashaa ~ d’ir naashaa < ire naγasi ‘come here’; preservation of  affricates in some words: kün’d’il ~ kün’dzhil < könjil ‘blanket’,  nant’ika ~ nanchika < nančiqu ‘to beat’; the palatalized character of  the sound sh: sh’i < či ‘you’, kash’ar < qačar ‘cheek’, palatalization of a consonant in the position before front vowels: m’üükaa  ‘некрасивый’, or’öö ‘late’. Still, some deviations from the rules  occur: sometimes informants pronounce the fricativekh instead of  the stop k; in some cases diphthongs are preserved. These  deviations in the speech of the Nizhneudinsk Buryats appeared under  the influence of other Buryat dialects and are also  determined by the poor knowledge of the native Buryat dialect.

The article analyzes the non-equivalent vocabulary of the fairy tales recorded and translated into German by the Finnish scholar G. J.  Ramstedt. The choice of the genre is determined by the fact the  language of fairy tales most completely reflects ethnic culture and  traditions containing the largest bulk of culture specific lexis. The  paper classifi es and distributes the words designated as  nonequivalent among the 16 groups as follows: household utensils;  fauna; religious lexis; home; flora; kinship terms and those  denoting surroundings of a person; food and beverages; mythical  and fairy tale creatures; clothes; different social strata; administrative territorial division; landscape elements; occasional  lacunae; measures of length; addresses; natural phenomena. The  analysis of the vocabulary has shown that the largest groups of Kalmyk culture-specifi c lexis are constituted by words denoting household utensils (22 and 31); elements of fauna (18 and  21) and religion (13 and 25). All the mentioned indicators are  considered in the context of separate groups of non-equivalent  vocabulary. It is noteworthy that the wide range of synonyms  selected by G. J. Ramstedt in his German translation do not always  express the actual meanings of the source words. As for the  frequency of use of nonequivalent lexis, groups as follows can be identifi ed: kinship terms and those denoting surroundings of a  person (186); different social strata (172), and religious lexis (150). The total amount of non-equivalent words has been revealed  as well as the amount of nonequivalent words with due regard to  their synonyms and frequency of use. The paper also discusses the  means of translations of culture-specifi c vocabulary: approximate  and descriptive translation, transcription / transliteration and loan  translation. The non-equivalent vocabulary has been analyzed by types of translation in various groups which revealed the most frequently used types: loan, approximate and descriptive methods of translation amount to 85 % of the translated culture-specific lexis.

The article attempts to study the obsolete Buddhist vocabulary of the Kalmyk language with evidence from the “early” 18th-19th century  texts that have been introduced into the database of the Kalmyk  National Corpus. As is known, within any language one can  constantly witness two reciprocal processes: disappearance of some  lexemes that pass out of use — and appearance of new ones. In  terms of the historical approach to the studies of a word, the stages  as follows can be distinguished: appearance of a lexeme, loss of  novelty and movement into the realm of neutral lexis, appearance of obsolete features, passing out of use and designation as obsolete.  But the process can be both slow, continuous — and uneven like,  e.g., the case of religious lexis. Once shifted towards passive  positions, such vocabulary did not disappear altogether but kept existing in corresponding texts. However, at certain historic moments obsolete vocabulary can get re-actualized and start functioning  actively in speech; thus, re-emergence of a once obsolete word to  active use is always a new stage in the life-cycle of the word. So,  e.g., due to the social and political transformations that occurred in  the past 20 years, religious terms and notions that used to be  designated as obsolete are re-introduced into the active  vocabulary. Kalmyk written monuments contain a huge layer  of Buddhist lexis and expressions that passed out of active use and are difficult to understand (or cannot be understood at all) for contemporary Kalmyk speakers. Analyses of old written texts allow  to fill some gaps relating to the vocabulary of modern Kalmyk and  Mongolian languages in general. In view of the aforesaid, to enrich  the contemporary vocabulary certain archaisms and obsolete words  should be re-introduced – with due account of corresponding examples since the boundaries between the active and passive vocabulary (including mainly obsolete words) are not fixed. The considered examples testify that due to external reasons (both linguistic and extra-linguistic ones, i.e. those that resulted from  social and political transformations) there occurred substitution of notions, restriction of meanings of words and other processes in  modern Kalmyk which signifi cantly impoverish the vocabulary of the language. E.g., the word ӓӓldkhl expresses both the meanings of ‘report’ and ‘predestination’, bishilγkh stands only for ‘to  contemplate’. It is the social movement for restoration of once lost spiritual traditions, cultural values and realities that stimulates the reintroduction of rare and obsolete lexis. The value of most of the  words is indisputable since those constitute a huge layer of the culture and traditional national identity.

The Kalmyk Scientifi c Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducts work aimed at compiling a Defi nition Dictionary of the  Kalmyk Heroic Epic of Jangar which presents a lot of difficulties and  problems. One of the diffi culties is to find meanings of the words  that have not been automatically analyzed by the TextAnalyzer —  the morphological analyzer created within the project on the development of the Kalmyk National Corpus — and the  semantics of which is unclear since the words have gone out of use  and are nowadays part of the passive vocabulary. The paper  examines some of the words (khavshu ‘ravine, narrow gorge’,  khavtssn, khavtsn ‘saddletree’, khozu ‘itch’, khӧvlkh ‘resurge; turn  into, change, vary’, khüüvlγ ‘jar’) that have not been analyzed  automatically for a number of reasons. Another goal of the research study is to reveal the reasons of the failure of the analysis in case of  certain lexical items. The article attempted to describe the reasoning algorithm based on the analysis of the formal structure of the word,  its position within a sentence, the context and its lexical category,  with evidence from corresponding lexicographic sources which  allowed to make conclusions regarding the semantics of the lexical unit.

The article analyzes lexis denoting traditional foods and products of the Mongolian peoples – Khalkha-Mongols, Buryats and Kalmyks. Meat cooking methods include cooking in water (Kh.-Mong. chansan makh, Bur. shanaγan myakhan, Kalm. chansn makhn), frying (Kh.-Mong. sharsan makh, Bur. sharaγan myakhan, Kalm. sharsn makhn), sun-drying (Kh.-Mong. borts, Bur. borso, Kalm. borts ‘air-dried stripes of meat’), roasting (Kh.-Mong. boodog,  khoorkhog, Kalm. kür). In addition, the Mongolian peoples cook and  consume animal innards (organ meats), such as heart (Kh.-Mong.  zürkh, Bur. zürkhen, Kalm. zürkn), liver (Kh.-Mong. eleg, Bur. elgen,  Kalm. elkn), lungs (Kh.-Mong. uushgi, Bur. uushkha, Kalm. ooshk),  kidney (Kh.-Mong. bӧӧr, Bur. bӧӧre, Kalm. bӧӧr), etc. Flour  foods include steamed dumplings (Kh.-Mong. buuz, Bur. buuza; the distinct feature of a similar Kalmyk dish bӧrg is that dumplings are  boiled), fried hand-held pies (Kh.-Mong. khuushuur, Bur. sharbin), flour porridge (Bur. salamat / zӧӧkhei kaasha, Kalm. bulmg), oil- fried fl atbread (Kh.-Mong., Bur. boov, Kalm. boortsg), etc. Plant- based dishes containing vegetables, fruits and roots of wild plants  may vary and depend on surrounding conditions. The conducted  analysis allowed to identify both the common Mongolian terms that  exist in all the Mongolic languages and local ones characteristic of separate groups of Mongolic languages and corresponding peoples  that live in identical geographical and climatic conditions and follow similar ways of economic and cultural life, e.g. Khalkha- Mongols, Eastern and Southern Buryats. Furthermore, the paper  identifi es a number of specifi c denotations that exist in separate  Mongolic languages. Such terms can be found in the languages of all the three peoples considered (and their subdivisions) — Khalkha- Mongolian, Buryat (both the western and eastern dialects), Kalmyk.  The differences signify that the traditional ethnic diet of Mongolian peoples started taking shape quite a long time ago, i.e. during the  common Mongolian period when the ethnic groups co-existed, and  kept developing all the way through the subsequent centuries.

The article views the Oirat Clear Script (‘Todo bičiq’) developed by Zaya Pandita Nam-mkha’ rGya-mtsho (1599–1662) as one of the  Mongolian writing systems in terms of the theory of writing with due  use of the formal technique of the theory. The paper considers  historic characteristics of the most famous Mongolian writing  systems, namely the alphabet of the Mongolian written language and the Oirat Clear Script (‘Todo bičiq’) alphabet created on the basis of  the classical Mongolian alphabet in the 1640s — comparing those to one another and to other writing systems, such as the Uighur,  Sogdian and Arabic ones. The article provides an overview of case  studies on the history of Mongolian writing systems performed within the framework of studies on the general history and theory of  writing as a linguistic discipline from the early the 20th century to the present days. The author agrees with the opinion that it is the Old Uighur alphabet — based on the Sogdian (Palmyrene) alphabet  — that served as the basis for the Mongolian scripts. The article  attempts to show that the additional signs of Clear Script proposed  by Zaya Pandita — from the perspective of their sound meaning and  inscription as compared to the original meanings of the signs of the  Mongolian script preserved by Clear Script — only in one of their  several sound meanings can be viewed as evidence of the  peculiarities of the phonetic system of the 17th century Oirat language and its dialect which became the basis for the written language of the Oirats. According to the author, while developing  Clear Script Zaya Pandita made use of the Arabic alphabet with its  set of additional signs creating uniformity of reading of separate  spellings, and this is evidence of the repeated appeals of philologists  to Mid-Eastern writing systems as a source for the development of Central Asian alphabets.

The article discusses the role of lamrim texts in the curriculum of Buddhist monastic universities of the Gelug tradition. Texts of the  lamrim genre in a concise manner describe the stages of the  Buddhist path — development of one’s mind from the present  supposedly deluded state to the omniscience of a Buddha —  according to the canonic texts of the Mahayana tradition. Within such texts, the narration is typically based on the classifi cation of  spiritual aspirants into three categories — persons of modest, medium and high scope — depending on their motivation of  spiritual practices. Ever since the fi rst lamrim text “A Lamp for the  Path to Awakening” was introduced to Tibet by the 11th century  Indian pandita Jowo Atisha, lamrim texts have been extremely  popular among followers of the Tibetan Buddhism, particularly  among Gelug adherents. It is believed that the most famous and authoritative work of the genre, “Lamrim Chenmo” by Je Tsongkhapa, played a formative role in institutionalization of the  Gelug tradition; it is also considered to be an encyclopedia of the Buddhist doctrine and practice in the interpretation of the  Gelugpas. However, despite their popularity, none of the lamrim  texts are included in the offi cial curriculum of Gelug monasteries.  The author suggests an explanation that might help us have a closer  look at some certain characteristics of Buddhist monastic education and the role it plays in lives of Buddhist practitioners; it will also help us define the role of the lamrim genre in the Tibetan Buddhist  literature. The article provides a brief history of the development of  the genre in Tibet and lists the most significant lamrim texts in the  Gelug tradition. It is suggested that the importance of these texts is attributed not to the uniqueness of their contents or even its  presentation but rather to the authority and influence their authors had in the religious and political life of Tibet. The article gives an overview of the curriculum of the three largest monastic universities  of the Gelug tradition — Ganden, Drepung and Sera. It also  discusses the latest changes introduced into the study program  along with their reasons, as well as the prospects of including the lamrim texts in the study program at later stages.

The famous writer from the Mongolian People’s Republic Lodoidamba Ch. fi nished his novel Tungalag Tamir in 1971 and soon received a  government award. The novel accurately depicted the early 1930s  and actual situation, social conditions, relations with authorities and  even the outer world of the Mongols who lived by the river called  Tungalag Tamir. He begins the novel with the words: “One day in  early summer which is …”. This suggests that the narration starts  from 1914. In the end he writes: “In the autumn of 1932 …”. Thus,  those are experiences of this period that were described in the novel. The composition was affected by the theory of Socialist reality, so  the writing techniques make its characters look realistic enough. The novel Tungalag Tamir can be divided into several parts depending on  time periods. From 1914 through 1921, the Mongolian people were under the reign of the diverse political and military alliances, namely  the ‘black’ ones, ‘yellow’ feudal ones and those fi ghting for  democratic values. Between 1921 and 1932, the Mongolian people  chose to become independent from capitalists and established a  Socialist society. The writer describes the historical events and  creates approximately 130 characters — with defi nite distinguishing  features — which are independent personalities with their own  destinies; the proof of this can be found in the end of the very novel: “The images, thoughts and even destinies of the three generations were unfolded before the reader’s eyes”. During the lifetime of the first generation, people suffer from social bondages and rely on  Buddhism, they completely — and even irrationally — trust in  religion. They are convinced regarding their miserable fates and take sufferings for granted. Those characters include Doljin, Hishigt,  Nym, Galsan and others. Characters of the second generation see  their fight as a duty rather than retribution of an evil for evil,  perceive work as a means to attain happiness rather than a torment and are awaken from the old heresy and search for a totally new  way to live the life they long for; those are Janjin, Cuhbaatar and  Erdene, Xvyg, Dorj, Dolmaa, etc. The third generation is represented by those who inherited the revolutionary missions from their fathers  and advocate the methods of science that can and shall change the  old and laggard life of the community. Those are Bat, Jargal,  Colongo, etc. In view of the aforesaid, due to the novel we have an  opportunity to witness the experiences of those harsh times — the fight of the Mongolian people against the feudal forces – and  appreciate the infl uence of the October Revolution on the new destiny of Mongols. In terms of cultural exchange, the novel Tungalag Tamir had a signifi cant infl uence not only on the Inner  Mongolian people and literature but also on the ethnic Chinese of  Inner Mongolia. And the two editions (i. e. both Mongolian and  Chinese ones) of the novel contributed a lot to cultural  communication between Chinese and Mongolian individuals. In those days, the novel Tungalag Tamir revealed the Mongolian society, Mongolian traditional life style, even the very nomadic culture to all its numerous readers.

The paper presents new arguments that the Kalmyk epic of Jangar is an exceptional epic tale based on the people’s sacral values that are  of great importance for the global civilization as well. It should be  mentioned that the Jangar epic is far from being fully analyzed. A lot  of questions regarding the epic have yet to be dealt with by  research and including those of sacral values which constitute the  topic of the present paper. Based on their research, the authors of  the article come to the conclusion that the most important idea that  serves as the basis for the epic is sacral values that are of universal  signifi cance. One of the most important values proclaimed in the  epic is the land of Bumba which is a great and powerful empire, and  its essential ideal, its raison d’etre, is to provide peace and  happiness to the people. It is a land where people live in peace,  harmony and prosperity, it is a society where people are not murdered, do not get punished or humiliated. Bumba is a land where people live in social and material equality, where a person is  respected only for being a human being, a bearer of new ideas and  new values. Another value is the citizens of the land of Bumba who  live by the laws of social equality. Jangar Bogd-Khan (the ruler)  himself and his brave and victorious heroes (knights) defending the  land of Bumba and their people from attacks of external enemies also serve as another value. Thereby they also defend the ideas the  land of Bumba lives by. Those are ideas of peace and prosperity,  equality and happiness. The authors of the paper assert that these  ideas are based on certain sacral values. Moreover, as is evident  subsequent to the results of the conducted analysis of corresponding data from the epic, the high moral standards of the people of the  land also form a sacral value. The postulates of the author of the  epic are conceptual: the promoted moral values are based on what  the author of the epic regards as a realistic possibility to construct a  new happy society.

Since the genre of fairy tale is the most “permeable” realm of folklore, any national set of fairy tale plots is diverse enough and —  in addition to the authentic plots — contains a considerable number  of those borrowed from other peoples. However, it is not that easy to identify them for, as V. M. Zhirmunsky wrote, taletellers “tend to  transform them within the context of their cultural frameworks”. Still, the plot connections of Adyghe fairy tales to fairy tales of other  peoples is a historical question of great scientific interest. The paper discusses the issue of mutual relations between the plots of Adyghe  fairy tales and those of other Caucasian peoples — from the  perspective of historical interaction between the peoples that go back for centuries. Articulation of the issue as such is possible due to the Directory of Adyghe Fairy-Tale Plots compiled by the author  which provides parallels from fairy tales of other Caucasian peoples.  The largest number of fairy tale plots similar to those of Adyghe  folklore were discovered in the oral tradition of Dagestani peoples. It is noteworthy that in most cases those are fairy tales that resemble  parables or defi nitely contain some didactic components. The  common features of plot structures of the Adygheans and  Abkhazians that share the same linguistic and cultural ancestry are  also of defi nite scientifi c interest (plot types -921В****** “Wishful words for a newborn”; -922* “A witty fi sherman”; -1448* “Reeducating a wife”; -1600 “A fool – a murderer”; -1294А* “They  are carrying a girl to a cemetery: a hand stuck in a jar”). Type 1653  “Robbers under a tree” can be found not only among the Adygheans  and Abkhazians but also among their cognate people — the Abazins.  Moreover, in Adyghe and Karachay- Balkar folklore there are some  fairy tales with identical titles and names of characters; and it is in Balkar folklore that a plot parallel with the famous Adyghe fairy  tale AT 889 “A devoted shepherd” was determined by the author.  Summarizing the results of individual studies, the author concludes that contacts with other peoples of the Caucasus played a signifi cant role in the formation of the set of plots of Adyghe  household fairy tales. The creative interaction of the diverse peoples  resulted in the rich common Caucasian fund of folklore plots.

The article analyzes love songs in Dargin folklore, considers their ideological, aesthetic and compositional features as well as the  system of expressive means and methods, such as epi-thet, metaphor, comparison, conversion, symbols, artistic  parallelism, etc. The genres as follows are characteristic of Dargin  love poetry: quatrain songs (khabqub), dialoguesongs, addressing  songs (or monologue-songs); the prevailing motifs expressed by  their contents are those of the narrator’s emotional state, i.e. his/her actual feelings and emotional upheaval. Structurally each of the  genres has its peculiarities: quatrain songs are short poetic miniatures, mostly lyrical by nature; dialogue-songs take the form of dialogues which are a chain of questions and answers where a young man and a young woman take turns in the lead; addressing songs  are compiled of addresses or monologues which are is essence reflections and musings. Addressing songs create a special emotional mood that expresses some certain psychological state. Those often  contain addresses to natural phenomena, celestial bodies, poetic  images, sym-bols, etc. The number of themes of Dargin love songs  is vast and varied. Those are songs about ha-tred, one-sided  feelings, life and death, social disparity, confusion of the world, etc.  In terms of emotions, feelings and moods expressed, love songs are  most diverse and vary from merry and soulful ones to those full of sadness, depicting the narrator’s spirits. The system of expressive  means of love poetry includes epithets, poetic metaphors, comparisons, symbols of the natural world, artistic parallelisms,  contrasts and oppositions, appeals, monologues. Epithet is one of  the main means of creating an artistic image in many folk genres.  The main purpose of epithet in the Dargin love song is to help reveal  the narrator’s state of spirit and mind. Epithets increase  expressiveness, contribute to poetic richness. The epithets applied in love songs may take both simple and complex, i.e. extended, forms. 
In love poetry of the Dargin people, considerable attention is paid to natural phenomena. Pictures of nature help express the narrator’s  inner world, add to the brightness and expressive-ness of images and deepen their psychologism. In this context, a special role is played by com-parisons. The narrator’s mental state is compared  with natural phenomena which increases the emotionalism and  dramatics of the situation. The rich poetic world of love poetry is an integral part of the spiritual heritage of the Dargin people.

In modern science, the topic of social solidarity is certainly relevant and is evolving. A special factor in the development of the theme is  the active formation of social communities in not only the real world  but also in the virtual one. The article aims to examine the  methodological peculiarities of research of communicative solidarity  in social media. The phenomenon of solidarity provides explicit  opportunities for interpretation in the context of large-scale social  transformations that have been taking place in our country in the  past two decades. In a situation of deep and structural crises,  peculiarities of social interactions based on solidarity get manifested  most clearly. Synthesizing the defi nition of “solidarity” and  characteristics of communicative solidarity, we can assert that in the  broadest sense communicative solidarity arises in the course of  transmission and reception of information based on harmony and mutual trust given that it also serves as the basis for unity of social  actors pursuing a certain goal. Studies of communicative solidarity in social media should be based on the methodology of the network  analysis (SNA). The main distinct feature of the latter from other  approaches is that it focuses the researcher’s attention on the  interaction within the network rather than on separate attributes and characteristics of the object under consideration. At the  empirical level, application of the methodology of the network  analysis in studies of the phenomenon of communicative solidarity makes it possible to defi ne the basic structural components of  typical communicative practices in social media, to perform their  typology and classifi cation in the context of defi nite situations. Moreover, the network analysis has extensive capabilities  for analyzing textual information which is important enough for  studies of communicative solidarity in social media. The network  analysis of texts fi lls the structure of communicative solidarity with meaningful and essential characteristics. Such analysis helps identify new mechanisms of social interactions that affect the characteristics  of communicative solidarity. The methodology of the network  analysis can signifi cantly reduce research costs when it comes both  to studies of social solidarity in diverse virtual forms as well as those of communication practices typical of network communitie

The article deals with the problem of delineating the middle strata of Russian society in the context of the social and economic crisis and  assesses the correlation of the differences in social positions of  middle class representatives as a criterion for social stratifi cation in  general. Since the position of the middle strata within a system of  social inequality is vulnerable enough, the economic crisis has quite  a sizeable impact on the middle class and changes its structure. Over the past twentyfive years, Russia's middle class has undergone a  number of transformations caused by the new waves of social and  economic crises. So, in 1998 the Russian sovereign default resulted  in the fact that following the massive declining trends the middle classes have thinned out to a minimum. The subsequent economic  recovery accompanied by a social and political stabilization has led to an increase in the number of middle class members up until 2008 when another wave of the economic crisis had its dramatically significant impact on the middle strata. A comparison of survey data collected by the Public Opinion foundation in 2004 and 2014  leads to the conclusion that on the level of identity middle-class  population trends have been stable in the past decade, except for  the period of severe fl uctuations under the infl uence of the waves  of the 2014 economic crisis. It was also considered how the economic crisis that emerged in the fall of the national currency proved quite a painful impact on the social well-being of broad layers of Russian society. This fact indicates that in the context of a lasting  disorientation and supplemented by state of anomie in which a large  part of the population exists, the middle strata — the way western  scientists understand it, i.e. as the actor and regulator of social  processes — cannot perform the functions assigned to them. To the  present day, the dominating macro-trends erode the middle class  which is accompanied by a decrease in the welfare of this group. Finally, the paper concludes that there are signifi cant differences in the tools applied by Russian sociological services, first of all  concerning the criteria and indicators used for identifying the middle class.

The article deals with the problem of Islamic political organizations in the contemporary Russian Federation. Present-day social  development does not actually mean that religiosity is vanishing. It simply takes other forms. Moreover, in the early 21st century it is  religion that attracts those who tend to join protest movements. So  quite often it is Islam in particular that becomes a source of  inspiration for such individuals, where they find answers to the most pressing questions of their lives. And unlike traditional forms of  religion, Islamic global nets are more mobile, active, modern, and,  thus, more attractive to the youth which usually tend to be closer to  strong leaders, while the latter are usually formatted within protest  religious communities. The Russian state has usually chosen two  forms of combating such groups, namely: 1) banning of radical organizations, their literature and a subsequent criminal prosecution and 2) support for offi cial Islamic clergy represented by central and  local muftiyats and development of national Islamic educational  system. The paper provides certain recommendations on the  subject. It concludes the necessity of establishing social and civil  platforms where Islamic agenda could be openly discussed. It is as important to create opportunities for broader involvement of  Muslims into social life in such spheres as charity, social service and economics. Emphasis should be laid upon the universal aspects that would unite people irrespective of their beliefs and attitudes,  e.g. ecology, social order and welfare, morality, intellectual and  spiritual development, scientifi c progress with due account of  spiritual values. At the same time, it is important for the society to  be open in the sphere of religious debates, provide for broad  discussions on key topics, such as Khalifate, Jihad, Taqfi r, life of  Muslims in secular society, raise more possibilities for initial Islamic education development for those seeking answers in Islam, provide  special psychological training for religious leaders who should pay  more attention to ordinary Muslims and their daily concerns, relate  more information about lives of those who decided to turn from the  way of religious radicalism and, thus, apply their experience to  prevent further radicalization.

The article is based on the results of an empirical sociological survey conducted among university students in Russia. The research was  initiated by the Russian Society of Sociologists (RSS) and was independent. In other words, it had no ordering customer. The  creative team was joined by those regional researchers, RSS  members, who found this problem interesting and important. The  study focused on the attitudes of present-day students to issues of  social inequality and social injustice in the country. The independent  research task was to fi gure out to what extent the assessments  regarding the problems of social justice made by boys and girls –  match / mismatch. To answer this question, one was to first define  such concepts as “gender” and “justice”. The paper provides  corresponding defi nitions of the author. Gender can be described in terms of both statics and dynamics. Within a static picture of the  world, it implies a conscious value of gender characteristics, socio- cultural manifestation of the fact of being a man or a woman. But in  terms of the dynamics of the process, gender is continually  produced, reproduced and changes as a result of certain activities of  individuals that declare their identity. Modern society has its certain  requirements for role performances by men and women, insists that gender units be reconsidered. Women have to “try on” men's  social roles while men, at times, have to demonstrate features of femininity to succeed in society. The results of the applied research revealed no signifi cant differences in gender assessments regarding  the problems of social justice made by boys and girls. The results of  the study showed that in the opinion of the youth, a fair society is  the one where citizens observe laws even if those are incorrect.  Within this society the most required personal features are vitality,  proactivity, high qualification and readiness to accept responsibility.  Such people are stimulated by society for further activities with  decent wages. The order of priorities and ranked assessments of almost all the respondents coincide which could indicate both the proximity of social positions of both the groups within the community (in this case the boys and girls are primarily students) and the  reduction of differences in gender attitudes of modern society.  However, minor differences revealed in the opinions of both the boys and girls once again confi rm the fact that gender as a social phenomenon is formed under the conditions of everyday life of the society.

The article discusses the higher education system reforms in Russia which entail changes in attitudes towards knowledge and higher  education that are no longer perceived as something good and  valuable as such but rather — as services to be purchased. Higher  education is becoming a social norm which dramatically reduces its  value. Nowadays for many citizens of Russia a Diploma of Higher  Education merely acts as a guarantee of employment and it is “the  status (that) guarantees a certain material welfare”. Under the influence of the reforms and information delivered by the media  concerning corruption and other negative processes in the educational system, public opinions change as well. And just like
in the case of higher education in general, public opinions regarding the teaching staff of universities as the main performers whose work is more accessible and open to public criticism than that of administrative or branch departments — change and vary. In view of the aforesaid, the hypothesis of the present study is that in the minds of representatives of various social groups — the image of a  Russian university teacher is negative or close to it. The sampling  frame of the research included 160 respondents who graduated from institutions of higher education at different times. The selection of  respondents was based on quota sampling. The main indicator for sample selection was “the graduation year”: before 1991, 1992–2003, 2004–2008, 2009 — till present. Applying the method of  questionnaire surveys, the authors identifi ed the respondents’  opinions regarding the prestige of the profession of a teacher, its  complexity, assessments of their attitudes towards the professional  group of teachers and, thus, depicted the image of a teacher that  has emerged in modern Russian society. The survey study resulted in the conclusions (unifi ed opinions) as follows:
1. A university teacher is a specialist engaged in professional education of young people who also acts as mentor that provides  knowledge on the subject and shares experiences students might  benefit from in future.
2. The occupational prestige ranking of a university teacher is estimated as average, the degree of complexity being high.
3. In general, the respondents show positive attitudes towards the professional group of teachers.

The article analyzes the programs of social and economic development of Russia’s regions. It actually focuses on the main  directions for the development of domestic tourism in the Mari El  Republic. Ethno-tourism is a priority direction of tourism  development in the region. Special attention is paid to the forms of  the organization of rural tourism. The region under study has low  current socio-cultural indicators. The Mari El Republic is located on  an average level of modernization: low rates of economic  development, negative dynamics of demographic processes, low  level of incomes of the population, high level of poverty. At the same time, the social survey shows a low level of migratory moods,  a positive attitude of rural residents to the region, high rates of  social stability, protection from various social and political risks and  dangers. The values of well-being, work, and traditions are of great importance for the rural population. The traditionalism is based on a  high level of religiosity. The entrepreneurial potential of the rural  population is low enough and is limited both by the shortage of funds for initial investment and by low motivation. The employment of  people by state-owned organizations contributes to the fact that  people retain exploded attitudes and inclinations to the stability of  incomes. Currently, 7% of respondents are engaged in  entrepreneurial activity. 14% of the respondents expressed a desire  to “have a business of their own”. The study revealed no negative attitude towards entrepreneurs. The article presents the results of  the investigation of three case studies of rural tourism in the region.  The authors of the article conducted three informal interviews with  entrepreneurs that own small tourist businesses. The interviews  revealed some specifi c features of motivation of the entrepreneurs  and their interaction with the population. The informants had had  considerable experience in other business areas before they turned to rural tourism. And those were social motives that the entrepreneurs were guided by. This resulted in their positive  attitudes towards local communities. They are enthusiasts of local  tourism development. However, their efforts are not enough to form  a market for rural tourism services. It is necessary that the state  should support and establish target programs in order to create a supportive institutional environment.