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MICHAL SCHWARZ
in another meanings and for Mongolian deities. Similar development can also be
found in Tungusic languages.”
Ad B: In the second group and newer layer*° adopted in the time of spreading of
the Tibetan Buddhist canon there was a new foreign demon in Mongolian represented
by the name of Tibetan King Langdarma. It is interesting that although historical
Langdarma was not hard destroyer, still due to his bad mythological role he was
connected to the destruction of religion and sometimes connected as reincarnation
of Lenin or Choibalsan*! in the 20" century.” The “bad character” of Langdarma
is confirmed by another practice in contemporary languages, when his name might
be used as an euphemism instead of a taboo word for “wolf’.*? Besides Lenin /
Langdarma for the third stage there is also a marginal influence of Sinicized Indian
demon raksasa in Chinese loca secondarily connected with homophonous Sinicized
Tungusic ethnonym for Russians, thus Ewenki Luuta / Luuca designate “Russian;
monster” even if it is intentional contamination as confirmed by Menges,” and then
AHuKuH & Xenumexui.*> Probably via Tungusic this version of the Russian ethno¬
nym can also be found in Buryat.
Synthesis and Conclusion
Considering the initial /- as a typological criterion allows to sum up the data and
conclude that: in the oldest layer there are Chinese and Tibetan as main sources of
loanwords in Mongolian borrowed via Old Uighur and perhaps with some Tocharian
In Tungusic the word for "dragon" also developed specific meanings and was connected to a high so¬
cial status like in Nanai /ii ambani “Herr; Geist des Echos.” Cf. Doerfer, Gerhard: Mongolo-Tungusica.
Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1985, 141.
In this stage there are also local demons like Lobsogoi in Buryat version of the Epic Geser or probably
its variant in Kalmyk demon Luwsryv [lubsurga] “Teufel” in Jangar (133, 10), cf. Ramstedt, Gustaf
John: Kalmückisches Wörterbuch, 253.
Here I am indebted to Krisztina Teleki, who kindly offered this information from her interview with
Tsendiin Tserenpuntsag (1914-2012). It will be published in her future monograph about the inter¬
views with old monks.
#2 Bawden, Charles: The Modern History of Mongolia. Frederick A. Praeger, New York 1968, 265; Even,
Marie-Dominique: Spirituality versus Ritual? On Modern Tibetan Buddhism in Post-Communist
Mongolia, 2009, 2.
Gruntov, Ilya et al.: Mongolian Euphemism and Taboos. Animals and Hunting. Mongolica Pragensia
’16/1 (2016), 46.
According to Menges “The heterogenous homonym in Manchu foca “demon (who persecutes human
beings)” is the Chinese /o-é’a “demon” < Skr. raksas (TgWb, I, 506) where Skr. -ks- is rendered in
Chinese as -c’-, taken over into Manchu. (...) So far it cannot be stated whether the Manchu Loca
were a tribe, originally comprising Tungus (?) tribes of Russian territories or those under Russian rule
as in the Amur region or Transbaikalia, or whether it was a kind of nickname, just ’devil(s)’.” Taken
from Menges, Karl: On Some Names of Tungus Tribes and related Problems. In: Wiener Zeitschrift
fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Wien 1995, 220.
Anikin and Xelimskij write about contamination of both words when Manchu zova is translated as
“TIEMOH, npeciienyromimű sogeit” and Ewenki nyuu/zyca as “MOHCTp, 4y4eno, ypon" Cf. Anuxus, A.
E. — Xemumexnit, E. A.: Camoduücko-myn2yco-MAHdACYPCKUE NEKCUyecKue c6A3Uu. A3BIKU CHABAHCKOH
KyJIbTypbI, MockBa 2007, 132.
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