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Encoding and Shaping of the Mongolian Script

Todo

The punctuation, digits, and other characters of this writing system that lie outside its cursive letters are treated in Non-joining characters.

Written units

IDVariantsLigated Variants
isolinitmedifinainitmedifina
A
Aa
B

B2
Ch
Cp
Dp
E
G

G2
Gp

Hb
Hp
Hr
Hx
Hx2
I
Ip
J
Jb
K

Kp

L
Lv
M
M2
N
N2
Ny
O
Ob
Op
Ot
Pp

R
S
Sh
Tp
U
Up
W
Wb
Yp
Zz
Zz2

Written unit Wb. Written unit Wb (used in Todo letter w) is similar to the written unit D (used in Hudum letter d), but since the form Wb comes from the bent W and thus from beth, and the form D from lamedh, the two are represented differently.

Phonetic letters

The variants in gray indicate the fabricated variants, i.e. variants borrowed from other joining positions. The variants in yellow indicate the variants that are unattested in the modern orthography of Traditional Mongolian.

LetterFVSVariants
isolinitmedifina
1820
ᠠ a		-
A
1
A		 
A A
Aa
2 
A A
A
3 
A A
1844
ᡄ e		- 
A E		 
A E
E
E
1 
A E
1845
ᡅ i		- 
A Ip		 
A Ip
Ip
1 
A I		 
A Ip
2
Ip
3
I
1846
ᡆ o		- 
A Ob		 
A Ob
Ob
Ob
1 
A Ob
1847
ᡇ u		- 
A Up		 
A Op
1 
A Op		 
A Op
U
2
O
Op
3
Op
Up
1848
ᡈ oe		- 
A Ot		 
A Ot
Ot
Ot
2 
A Ot
1849
ᡉ ue		- 
A U		 
A O
O
1 
A O		 
A O
O
2
U
1843
ᡃ lvs		-
→ medi
→ medi
Lv
Lv
1828
ᠨ n		-
→ init
N
1
N
2
→ init 2
N2
A
A
184A
ᡊ ng		- 
→ medi		 
→ medi		 
A G		 
A G2
184B
ᡋ b		-
→ init
B
B
B2
184C
ᡌ p		-
→ init
Pp
Pp
Pp
184D
ᡍ h		-
→ init 2
K
1
→ init 1
K
K
2
Hx2
Hx
184E
ᡎ g		-
→ init 2
Hp
1
→ init 1
G
Hp
2
Hb
G
3
Hb
184F
ᡏ m		-
→ init
M
M
M2
182F
ᠯ l		-
→ init
L
L
L
1830
ᠰ s		-
→ init
S
S
S
1831
ᠱ sh		-
→ init 2
Sh
2
Sh
Sh
1850
ᡐ t		-
→ init
Tp
Tp
Tp
1851
ᡑ d		-
→ init
Dp
Dp
Dp
1852
ᡒ ch		-
→ init
Jb
Jb
Jb
1853
ᡓ j		-
→ init
Cp
Cp
Cp
1834
ᠴ z		-
→ init
Ch
Ch
Ch
1854
ᡔ c		-
→ init
J
J
J
1855
ᡕ y		-
→ init
I
I
→ medi
1837
ᠷ r		-
→ init
R
R
R
1856
ᡖ w		-
→ init
Wb
Wb
Wb
1838
ᠸ f		-
→ init
W
W
W
1857
ᡗ kh		-
→ init
Kp
Kp
Kp
1858
ᡘ gh		-
→ init
Gp
Gp
→ medi
1859
ᡙ hh		- 
→ init		 
A Hr		 
A Hr		 
A Hr
185A
ᡚ jy		- 
→ init		 
B Yp		 
B Yp		 
→ medi
185B
ᡛ ny		-
→ init
Ny
Ny
→ medi
185C
ᡜ zr		-
→ init
Zz
Zz
Zz
1
→ init 1
Zz2
Zz2
Zz2
1840
ᡀ lh		- 
→ init		 
L Hr		 
L Hr		 
→ medi

Initial AI and medial I in letter i, medial O and final O in letter oe. These written units are introduced in GB/T 36649—2018, showing the cognition between Todo e and Hudum ee, Todo i and Hudum i, Todo oe and Hudum oe, Todo y and Hudum y. Since cognition is not considered a basis for establishing a written unit system, the letters in the running text are not analyzed for these forms with cognition associations, and therefore these written units are marked in gray.

Initial N2 in letter n. A written unit is used for particle –ni in Todo, and should be regarded as a stylistic variant of the written unit N. However, it is assigned FVS2 in the Chinese national standard.

Shaping process

Letter classes

ClassLetters
masculine vowel a, o, u
feminine vowel e, oe, ue
neuter vowel i
vowel a, e, i, o, u, oe, ue, lvs
long vowel

a, e, o, oe with lvs

consonant n, ng, b, p, h, g, m, l, s, sh, t, d, ch, j, z, c, y, r, w, f, kh, gh, hh, jy, ny, zr, lh
bowed written unit

B, Pp, G, K, Gp, Kp

Mongolian-specific phase

Shaping stepLettersConditionMapping type
2. Syllabicnif precedes a vowel or a long vowel:onset
else if precedes a consonant:devsger

h, g

if precedes a masculine vowel or a masculine long vowel:masculine_onset
else if precedes a feminine vowel or a neuter vowel or a feminine long vowel:feminine

else if g follows a vowel or a long vowel:

masculine_devsger
3. Particlenif is in the specific particle dictionary that follows an MVS:particle
4. Devsgeriif follows a vowel or a long vowel:vowel_devsger
u

if follows u:

vowel_devsger
5. Post-bowed

a, i, u, ue

if follows a bowed written unit:post_bowed

Conditional mapping

LetterMapping typeVariants
isolinitmedifina
1820
ᠠ a		default 
post_bowed
1844
ᡄ e		default 
1845
ᡅ i		default 
vowel_devsger
1846
ᡆ o		default 
1847
ᡇ u		default 
vowel_devsger
post_bowed
1848
ᡈ oe		default 
1849
ᡉ ue		default 
post_bowed
1843
ᡃ lvs		default
1828
ᠨ n		default
onset
devsger
particle
184A
ᡊ ng		default   
184B
ᡋ b		default
184C
ᡌ p		default
184D
ᡍ h		default
masculine_onset
feminine
184E
ᡎ g		default
masculine_onset
masculine_devsger
feminine
184F
ᡏ m		default
182F
ᠯ l		default
1830
ᠰ s		default
1831
ᠱ sh		default
1850
ᡐ t		default
1851
ᡑ d		default
1852
ᡒ ch		default
1853
ᡓ j		default
1834
ᠴ z		default
1854
ᡔ c		default
1855
ᡕ y		default
1837
ᠷ r		default
1856
ᡖ w		default
1838
ᠸ f		default
1857
ᡗ kh		default
1858
ᡘ gh		default
1859
ᡙ hh		default   
185A
ᡚ jy		default   
185B
ᡛ ny		default
185C
ᡜ zr		default
1840
ᡀ lh		default   

Function of the sign lvs. The sign lvs behaves as a base character in some cases, but its logic in the shaping process behaves as a combining mark. For this reason, the necessary preprocessing and postprocessing should be introduced: before the Mongolian-specific steps begin, lvs is shaped in mark class, modifying the joining type of the characters before and after lvs; after the Mongolian-specific steps finish, those signs lvs that need to be represented as marks are shaped to ligature with the neighboring letters. These extra steps are not included in the condition table shown above, but are completed in the specific implementation.

Particle mapping

When the nominal spelling of a particle in the table below occurs in text, its letters are reshaped using the particle mapping (step 3 in the shaping process above). In the written form, the written units shown in blue are those whose shape is determined by the particle condition. A particle prefixed with mvs is a standalone particle that follows a Mongolian vowel separator; the preceding MVS is then widened to set it off.

ParticleForm
mvs n i 

References

  • Information technology — Todo nominal characters, presentation characters and use rules of controlling characters. China national standard, GB/T 36649—2018.

  • Liang Jinbao. (2021). The Transferring rules of Todo nominal form to variant form. Research on Mongolian Encodings, version 0.1.0 (April 18, 2020).

  • Quejingzhabu. (2013). “Encoding of Todo”, in: 确精扎布蒙古文信息处理专辑. Hohhot: Inner Mongolian Education Press, pp. 295–309.

  • Quejingzhabu, Geriletu. (1998). 卫拉特方言词汇. Hohhot: Inner Mongolia University Press.

  • Eerdeni, Gerilema. (1988). 蒙古语常用词汇. Urumqi: Xinjiang People’s Press.

  • Wuenqi, Airencai. (2005). 四体卫拉特方言鉴. Urumqi: Xinjiang People’s Press.

  • Saierge. (2016). Research on the Todo script and its development of history. Doctoral dissertation, Inner Mongolia University.

  • Mingzai. (2018). Тод бичгийн баримжаа кодын тухай санууламж. L2/19-136.