Mongolian language

Mongolian
Mongol khelCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text
Pronunciation[ˈmɔɴɢəɮ xiɮ]Category:Pages with Mongolian IPA
Native toMongolian Plateau
RegionMongolia, parts of Northeast China, Northwestern China, southern Siberia, and Issyk-Kul Region in Kyrgyzstan
EthnicityMongols, Buryats, Oirats
Native speakers
5 million (2020–2022)[1]
Mongolic
  • Central Mongolic
Early forms
Standard forms
Dialects
Official status
Official language in
Regulated by
  • Mongolia: State Language Council[2]
  • China: Council for Language and Literature Work[3]
Language codes
ISO 639-1mn
ISO 639-2mon
ISO 639-3mon – inclusive code
Individual codes:
khk – Khalkha Mongolian
mvf – Peripheral Mongolian (part)
Glottologmong1331
Linguasphereof 44-BAA-b part of 44-BAA-bCategory:Language articles with Linguasphere code
Area where Mongolian is spoken
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Category:Languages with ISO 639-2 codeCategory:Languages with ISO 639-1 codeCategory:ISO language articles citing sources other than Ethnologue

Mongolian[note 1] is the principal language of the Mongolic language family that originated in the Mongolian Plateau. It is spoken by ethnic Mongols and other closely related Mongolic peoples who are native to modern Mongolia and surrounding parts of East, Central and North Asia. Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia and a recognized language of Xinjiang and Qinghai.

The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5–6 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the ethnic Mongol residents of the Inner Mongolia of China.[1] In Mongolia, Khalkha Mongolian is predominant, and is currently written in both Cyrillic and the traditional Mongolian script. In Inner Mongolia, it is dialectally more diverse and written in the traditional Mongolian script. However, Mongols in both countries often use the Latin script for convenience on the Internet.[4]

In the discussion of grammar to follow, the variety of Mongolian treated is the standard written Khalkha formalized in the writing conventions and in grammar as taught in schools, but much of it is also valid for vernacular (spoken) Khalkha and other Mongolian dialects, especially Chakhar Mongolian.

Some classify several other Mongolic languages like Buryat and Oirat as varieties of Mongolian, but this classification is not in line with the current international standard.

Mongolian is a language with vowel harmony and a complex syllabic structure compared to other Mongolic languages, allowing clusters of up to three consonants syllable-finally. It is a typical agglutinative language that relies on suffix chains in the verbal and nominal domains. While there is a basic word order, subject–object–verb, ordering among noun phrases is relatively free, as grammatical roles are indicated by a system of about eight grammatical cases. There are five voices. Verbs are marked for voice, aspect, tense and epistemic modality/evidentiality. In sentence linking, a special role is played by converbs.

Modern Mongolian evolved from Middle Mongol, the language spoken in the Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries. In the transition, a major shift in the vowel-harmony paradigm occurred, long vowels developed, the case system changed slightly, and the verbal system was restructured. Mongolian is related to the extinct Khitan language. It was believed that Mongolian was related to Turkic, Tungusic, Korean and Japonic languages but this view is now seen as obsolete by a majority of comparative linguists. These languages have been grouped under the Altaic language family and contrasted with the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area. However, instead of a common genetic origin, Clauson, Doerfer, and Shcherbak proposed that Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic languages form a language Sprachbund, rather than common origin.[5] Mongolian literature is well attested in written form from the 13th century but has earlier Mongolic precursors in the literature of the Khitan and other Xianbei peoples. The Bugut inscription dated to 584 CE and the Inscription of Hüis Tolgoi dated to 604–620 CE appear to be the oldest substantial Mongolic or Para-Mongolic texts discovered.

Name

Writers such as Owen Lattimore referred to Mongolian as "the Mongol language".[6]

History

White page with black Phags-pa characters and two seals, one being in the middle of and one on the right sight of the text. All lines start at the top of the page
Edict of Kublai Khan (1289). Only the 'Phags-pa script retains the complete Middle Mongol vowel system.[7]

The earliest surviving Mongolian text may be the Stele of Yisüngge [ru], a report on sports composed in Mongolian script on stone, which is most often dated at 1224 or 1225.[8] The Mongolian-Armenian wordlist of 55 words compiled by Kirakos of Gandzak (13th century) is the first manuscript evidence of the language.[9] From the 13th to the 15th centuries, Mongolian language texts were written in four scripts (not counting some vocabulary written in Western scripts): Uyghur Mongolian (UM) script (an adaptation of the Uyghur alphabet ), 'Phags-pa script (Ph) (used in decrees), Chinese (SM) (The Secret History of the Mongols), and Arabic (AM) (used in dictionaries).[10] While they are the earliest texts available, these texts have come to be called "Middle Mongol" in scholarly practice.[11] The documents in UM script show some distinct linguistic characteristics and are therefore often distinguished by terming their language "Preclassical Mongolian".[12]

The Yuan dynasty referred to the Mongolian language in Chinese as "Guoyu" (Chinese: Category:Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text國語), which means "National language", a term also used by other non-Han dynasties to refer to their languages such as the Manchu language during the Qing dynasty, the Jurchen language during the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), the Khitan language during the Liao dynasty, and the Xianbei language during the Northern Wei period.

The next distinct period is Classical Mongolian, which is dated from the 17th to the 19th century. This is a written language with a high degree of standardization in orthography and syntax that sets it quite apart from the subsequent Modern Mongolian. The most notable documents in this language are the Mongolian Kangyur and Tengyur[13] as well as several chronicles.[14] In 1686, the Soyombo alphabet (Buddhist texts) was created, giving distinctive evidence on early classical Mongolian phonological peculiarities.[15]

Geographic distribution

Mongolian is the official national language of Mongolia, where it is spoken (but not always written) by nearly 3.6 million people (2014 estimate),[16] and the official provincial language (both spoken and written forms) of Inner Mongolia, where there are at least 4.1 million ethnic Mongols.[17] Across the whole of China, the language is spoken by roughly half of the country's 5.8 million ethnic Mongols (2005 estimate).[16] However, the exact number of Mongolian speakers in China is unknown, as there is no data available on the language proficiency of that country's citizens. The use of Mongolian in Inner Mongolia has witnessed periods of decline and revival over the last few hundred years. The language experienced a decline during the late Qing period, a revival between 1947 and 1965, a second decline between 1966 and 1976, a second revival between 1977 and 1992, and a third decline between 1995 and 2012.[18] However, in spite of the decline of the Mongolian language in some of Inner Mongolia's urban areas and educational spheres, the ethnic identity of the urbanized Chinese-speaking Mongols is most likely going to survive due to the presence of urban ethnic communities.[19] The multilingual situation in Inner Mongolia does not appear to obstruct efforts by ethnic Mongols to preserve their language.[20][21] Although an unknown number of Mongols in China, such as the Tumets, may have completely or partially lost the ability to speak their language, they are still registered as ethnic Mongols and continue to identify themselves as ethnic Mongols.[16][22] The children of inter-ethnic Mongol-Chinese marriages also claim to be and are registered as ethnic Mongols so they can benefit from the preferential policies for minorities in education, healthcare, family planning, school admissions, the hiring and promotion, the financing and taxation of businesses, and regional infrastructural support given to ethnic minorities in China.[16][23][24] In 2020, the Chinese government required three subjects—language and literature, politics, and history—to be taught in Mandarin in Mongolian-language primary and secondary schools in the Inner Mongolia since September, which caused widespread protests among ethnic Mongol communities.[25][26] These protests were quickly suppressed by the Chinese government.[27] Mandarin has been deemed the only language of instruction for all subjects as of September 2023.[28]

Classification and varieties

Modern Mongolian's place on the chronological tree of Mongolic languages

Mongolian belongs to the Mongolic languages. The delimitation of the Mongolian language within Mongolic is a much disputed theoretical problem, one whose resolution is impeded by the fact that existing data for the major varieties is not easily arrangeable according to a common set of linguistic criteria. Such data might account for the historical development of the Mongolian dialect continuum, as well as for its sociolinguistic qualities. Though phonological and lexical studies are comparatively well developed,[29] the basis has yet to be laid for a comparative morphosyntactic study, for example between such highly diverse varieties as Khalkha and Khorchin.[30][31]

In Juha Janhunen's book titled Mongolian, he groups the Mongolic language family into four distinct linguistic branches:[32]

The Common Mongolic branch is grouped in the following way:[32]

There is no disagreement that the Khalkha dialect of the Mongolian state is Mongolian.[33] However, the status of certain varieties in the Common Mongolic group—whether they are languages distinct from Mongolian or just dialects of it—is disputed. There are at least three such varieties: Oirat (including the Kalmyk variety) and Buryat, both of which are spoken in Russia, Mongolia, and China; and Ordos, spoken around Inner Mongolia's Ordos City.[34] The influential classification of Sanžeev (1953) proposed a "Mongolian language" consisting of just the three dialects Khalkha, Chakhar, and Ordos, with Buryat and Oirat judged to be independent languages.[35] On the other hand, Luvsanvandan (1959) proposed a much broader "Mongolian language" consisting of a Central dialect (Khalkha, Chakhar, Ordos), an Eastern dialect (Kharchin, Khorchin), a Western dialect (Oirat, Kalmyk), and a Northern dialect (consisting of two Buryat varieties).[36] Additionally, the Language Policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and Practice Since 1949, states that Mongolian can be classified into four dialects: the Khalkha dialect in the middle, the Horcin-Haracin dialect in the East, Oriat-Hilimag in the west, and Bargu–Buriyad in the north.[37]

Some Western scholars[38] propose that the relatively well researched Ordos variety is an independent language due to its conservative syllable structure and phoneme inventory. While the placement of a variety like Alasha,[39] which is under the cultural influence of Inner Mongolia but historically tied to Oirat, and of other border varieties like Darkhad would very likely remain problematic in any classification,[40] the central problem remains the question of how to classify Chakhar, Khalkha, and Khorchin in relation to each other and in relation to Buryat and Oirat.[41][42] The split of [tʃ]Category:Pages with plain IPA into [tʃ]Category:Pages with plain IPA before *i and [ts]Category:Pages with plain IPA before all other reconstructed vowels, which is found in Mongolia but not in Inner Mongolia, is often cited as a fundamental distinction,[43] for example Proto-Mongolic *tʃilCategory:Pages with plain IPA, Khalkha /tʃiɮ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, Chakhar /tʃil/Category:Pages with plain IPA 'year' versus Proto-Mongolic *tʃøhelenCategory:Pages with plain IPA, Khalkha /tsoːɮəŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, Chakhar /tʃoːləŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA 'few'.[44] On the other hand, the split between the past tense verbal suffixes -/sŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA in the Central varieties v. -/dʒɛː/Category:Pages with plain IPA in the Eastern varieties[45] is usually seen as a merely stochastic difference.[46]

In Inner Mongolia, official language policy divides the Mongolian language into three dialects: Standard Mongolian of Inner Mongolia, Oirat, and Barghu-Buryat. The Standard Mongolian of Inner Mongolia is said to consist of Chakhar, Ordos, Baarin, Khorchin, Kharchin, and Alasha. The authorities have synthesized a literary standard for Mongolian in whose grammar is said to be based on the Standard Mongolian of Inner Mongolia and whose pronunciation is based on the Chakhar dialect as spoken in the Plain Blue Banner.[47] Dialectologically, however, western Mongolian dialects in Inner Mongolia are closer to Khalkha than they are to eastern Mongolian dialects in Inner Mongolia: e.g. Chakhar is closer to Khalkha than to Khorchin.[48]

List of dialects

Juha Janhunen (2003: 179)[49] lists the following Mongol dialects, most of which are spoken in Inner Mongolia.

  • Tongliao group
    • Horchin
    • Jasagtu
    • Jarut
    • Jalait
    • Dörbet
    • Gorlos
  • Juu Uda group
    • Aru Horchin
    • Baarin
    • Ongniut
    • Naiman
    • Aohan
  • Josotu group
    • Harachin
    • Tümet
  • Ulan cab group
    • Cahar
    • Urat
    • Darhan
    • Muumingan
    • Dörben Küüket
    • Keshigten
  • Shilingol group
    • Üdzümüchin
    • Huuchit
    • Abaga
    • Abaganar
    • Sönit
  • Outer Mongolian group

Standard varieties

There are two standard varieties of Mongolian.

Mongolia

Standard Mongolian in the state of Mongolia is based on the northern Khalkha Mongolian dialects, which include the dialect of Ulaanbaatar, and is written in the Mongolian Cyrillic script.[50]

China

Standard Mongolian in Inner Mongolia is based on the Chakhar Mongolian of the Khalkha dialect group,[50] spoken in the Plain Blue Banner, Inner Mongolia,[51] and is written in the traditional Mongolian script.

The number of Mongolian speakers in China is still larger than in the state of Mongolia,[52] where the majority of Mongolians in China speak one of the Khorchin dialects, or rather more than two million of them speak the Khorchin dialect itself as their mother tongue, so that the Khorchin dialect group has about as many speakers as the Khalkha dialect group in the State of Mongolia. Nevertheless, the Chakhar dialect, which today has only about 100,000 native speakers and belongs to the Khalkha dialect group, serves as the basis for standard Mongolian in China.[53]

Differences

The characteristic differences in the pronunciation of the two standard varieties include the umlauts in Inner Mongolia and the palatalized consonants in Mongolia (see below) as well as the splitting of the Middle Mongol affricates *tʃCategory:Pages with plain IPA (ᠴ č) and *dʒCategory:Pages with plain IPA (ᠵ ǰ) into tsCategory:Pages with plain IPA (цCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text c) and dzCategory:Pages with plain IPA (зCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text z) versus tʃCategory:Pages with plain IPA (чCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text č) and dʒCategory:Pages with plain IPA (жCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text ž) in Mongolia:[54]

Middle MongolInner MongoliaMongoliaMeaning
*tʃisuCategory:Pages with plain IPA ᠴᠢᠰᠤ čisu[tʃʊsCategory:Pages with plain IPA] ᠴᠢᠰᠤ čisu[tsʊsCategory:Pages with plain IPA] цусCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text cusblood
*dʒɑmCategory:Pages with plain IPA ᠵᠠᠮ ǰam[dʒɑmCategory:Pages with plain IPA] ᠵᠠᠮ ǰam[dzɑmCategory:Pages with plain IPA] замCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text zamstreet
*otʃixuCategory:Pages with plain IPA ᠣᠴᠢᠬᠤ očiqu[ɔtʃɪxCategory:Pages with plain IPA] ᠣᠴᠢᠬᠤ očiqu[ɔtʃɪxCategory:Pages with plain IPA] очихCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text očixto go
*dʒimeCategory:Pages with plain IPA ᠵᠢᠮ ᠡ ǰim‑e[dʒimCategory:Pages with plain IPA] ᠵᠢᠮ ᠡ ǰim‑e[dʒimCategory:Pages with plain IPA] жимCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text žimpath

Aside from these differences in pronunciation, there are also differences in vocabulary and language use: in the state of Mongolia more loanwords from Russian are being used, while in Inner Mongolia more loanwords from Chinese have been adopted.[55]

Phonology

The following description is based primarily on the Khalkha dialect as spoken in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital. The phonologies of other varieties such as Ordos, Khorchin, and even Chakhar, differ considerably.[56]

Vowels

The standard language has seven monophthong vowel phonemes. They are aligned into three vowel harmony groups by a parameter called ATR (advanced tongue root); the groups are −ATR, +ATR, and neutral. This alignment seems to have superseded an alignment according to oral backness. However, some scholars still describe Mongolian as being characterized by a distinction between front vowels and back vowels, and the front vowel spellings 'ö' and 'ü' are still often used in the West to indicate two vowels which were historically front. The Mongolian vowel system also has rounding harmony.

Length is phonemic for vowels, and except short [e], which has merged into short [i],[57] at least in Ulaanbaatar dialect,[58] each of the other six phonemes occurs both short and long. Phonetically, short /o/Category:Pages with plain IPA has become centralised to the central vowel [ɵ]Category:Pages with plain IPA.

In the following table, the seven vowel phonemes, with their length variants, are arranged and described phonetically. The vowels in the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet are:

Mongolian Cyrillic IPA Romanization
а, аа [a, aː] a, aa
и, ий/ы [i, iː] i, ii
о, оо [ɔ, ɔː] o, oo
ө, өө [ɵ, oː] /o, oː/ ö, öö
у, уу [ʊ, ʊː] u, uu
ү, үү [u, uː] ü, üü
э, ээ [i, eː] e, ee
Front Central Back
Short Long Short Long Short Long
Close i iː u uː
Near-Close ʊ ʊː
Close-Mid eː ɵ oː
Open-mid ɔ ɔː
Open a aː

Khalkha also has four diphthongs: historically /ui, ʊi, ɔi, ai/Category:Pages with plain IPA but are pronounced more like [ʉe̯, ʊe̯, ɞe̯, æe̯]Category:Pages with plain IPA;[59] e.g. ойCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text in нохойCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (nokhoiCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) [nɜˈχɞe̯]Category:Pages with plain IPA 'dog', айCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text in далайCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (dalaiCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) [tɐˈɮæe̯]Category:Pages with plain IPA 'sea', уйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text in уйлахCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (uilakhCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) [ˈʊe̯ɮɐχ]Category:Pages with plain IPA 'to cry', and үйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text in үйлдвэрCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (üildverCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) [ˈʉe̯ɬtw̜ɘr]Category:Pages with plain IPA 'factory'. There are three additional rising diphthongs /ia/Category:Pages with plain IPA (иаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text), /ʊa/Category:Pages with plain IPA (уаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) /ei/Category:Pages with plain IPA (эйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text); e.g., иаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text in амиарааCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (amiaraaCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) [æmʲæˈra]Category:Pages with plain IPA 'individually', уаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text in хуаранCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (khuaranCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) [ˈχʷarɐɴ]Category:Pages with plain IPA 'barracks', and эйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text in хэрэгтэйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (kheregteiCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) [xirɪxˈtʰe]Category:Pages with plain IPA 'necessary'.[60]

Allophones

This table below lists vowel allophones (short vowels allophones in non-initial positions are used interchangeably with schwa):[61]

Short Initial positions [a]Category:Pages with plain IPA [e]Category:Pages with plain IPA [i]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ɔ]Category:Pages with plain IPA [o]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ʊ]Category:Pages with plain IPA [u]Category:Pages with plain IPA
Non-initial positions [ă]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ĕ]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ĭ]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ɔ̆]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ŏ]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ʊ̆]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ŭ]Category:Pages with plain IPA
[ə]Category:Pages with plain IPA
Long Initial positions [aː]Category:Pages with plain IPA [eː]Category:Pages with plain IPA [iː]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ɔː]Category:Pages with plain IPA [oː]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ʊː]Category:Pages with plain IPA [uː]Category:Pages with plain IPA
Non-initial positions [a]Category:Pages with plain IPA [e]Category:Pages with plain IPA [i]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ɔ]Category:Pages with plain IPA [o]Category:Pages with plain IPA [ʊ]Category:Pages with plain IPA [u]Category:Pages with plain IPA

ATR harmony

Vowel harmony in Mongolian

Mongolian divides vowels into three groups in a system of vowel harmony:

+ATR ("front") −ATR ("back") Neutral
IPA /e, u, o/Category:Pages with plain IPA /a, ʊ, ɔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA /i/Category:Pages with plain IPA
Cyrillic э, ү, ө а, у, о и, ы and й
Romanization e, ü, ö a, u, o i

For historical reasons, these have been traditionally labeled as "front" vowels and "back" vowels, as /o/ and /u/ developed from /ø/ and /y/, while /ɔ/ and /ʊ/ developed from /o/ and /u/ in Middle Mongolian. Indeed, in Mongolian romanizations, the vowels /o/Category:Pages with plain IPA and /u/Category:Pages with plain IPA are often conventionally rendered as ⟨ö⟩ and ⟨ü⟩, while the vowels /ɔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA and /ʊ/Category:Pages with plain IPA are expressed as ⟨o⟩ and ⟨u⟩. However, for modern Mongolian phonology, it is more appropriate to instead characterize the two vowel-harmony groups by the dimension of tongue root position. There is also one neutral vowel, /i/Category:Pages with plain IPA, not belonging to either group.

All the vowels in a noncompound word, including all its suffixes, must belong to the same group. If the first vowel is −ATR, then every vowel of the word must be either /i/Category:Pages with plain IPA or a −ATR vowel. Likewise, if the first vowel is a +ATR vowel, then every vowel of the word must be either /i/Category:Pages with plain IPA or a +ATR vowel. In the case of suffixes, which must change their vowels to conform to different words, two patterns predominate. Some suffixes contain an archiphoneme /A/Category:Pages with plain IPA that can be realized as /a, ɔ, e, o/Category:Pages with plain IPA; e.g.

Other suffixes can occur in /U/Category:Pages with plain IPA being realized as /ʊ, u/Category:Pages with plain IPA, in which case all −ATR vowels lead to /ʊ/Category:Pages with plain IPA and all +ATR vowels lead to /u/Category:Pages with plain IPA; e.g.

If the only vowel in the word stem is /i/Category:Pages with plain IPA, the suffixes will use the +ATR suffix forms.[62]

Rounding harmony

Mongolian also has rounding harmony, which does not apply to close vowels. If a stem contains /o/Category:Pages with plain IPA (or /ɔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA), a suffix that is specified for an open vowel will have [o]Category:Pages with plain IPA (or [ɔ]Category:Pages with plain IPA, respectively) as well. However, this process is blocked by the presence of /u/Category:Pages with plain IPA (or /ʊ/Category:Pages with plain IPA) and /ei/Category:Pages with plain IPA; e.g. /ɔr-ɮɔ/Category:Pages with plain IPA 'came in', but /ɔr-ʊɮ-ɮa/Category:Pages with plain IPA 'inserted'.[63]

Vowel length

The pronunciation of long and short vowels depends on the syllable's position in the word. In word-initial syllables, there is a phonemic contrast in vowel length. A long vowel has about 208% the length of a short vowel. In word-medial and word-final syllables, formerly long vowels are now only 127% as long as short vowels in initial syllables, but they are still distinct from initial-syllable short vowels. Short vowels in noninitial syllables differ from short vowels in initial syllables by being only 71% as long and by being centralized in articulation. As they are nonphonemic, their position is determined according to phonotactic requirements.[64]

Consonants

The following table lists the consonants of Khalkha Mongolian. The consonants enclosed in parentheses occur only in loanwords.[65] The occurrence of palatalized consonant phonemes, except /tʃ/Category:Pages with plain IPA /tʃʰ/Category:Pages with plain IPA /ʃ/Category:Pages with plain IPA /j/Category:Pages with plain IPA, is restricted to words with [−ATR] vowels.[66]

Labial Dental Velar Uvular
plainpal. plainpal. plainpal.
Nasal mmʲ nnʲ ŋ
Plosive unaspirated ppʲ ttʲ ɡɡʲ ɢ
aspirated (pʰ)(pʲʰ) tʰtʲʰ (kʰ)(kʲʰ)
Affricate unaspirated tstʃ
aspirated tsʰtʃʰ
Fricative median (f) sʃ xxʲ
lateral ɮɮʲ
Trill rrʲ
Approximant w̜w̜ʲ j

A rare feature among the world's languages, Mongolian has neither a voiced lateral approximant, such as [l]Category:Pages with plain IPA, nor the voiceless velar plosive [k]Category:Pages with plain IPA; instead, it has a voiced alveolar lateral fricative, /ɮ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, which is often realized as voiceless [ɬ]Category:Pages with plain IPA.[67] In word-final position, /n/Category:Pages with plain IPA (if not followed by a vowel in historical forms) is realized as [ŋ]Category:Pages with plain IPA. Aspirated consonants are preaspirated in medial and word-final contexts, devoicing preceding consonants and vowels. Devoiced short vowels are often deleted.[68]

Syllable structure and phonotactics

The maximal syllable is CVVCCC, where the last C is a word-final suffix. A single short vowel rarely appears in syllable-final position. If a word was monosyllabic historically, *CV has become CVV. In native words, the following consonants do not occur word-initially: /w̜/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /ɮ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /r/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /w̜ʲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /ɮʲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /rʲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /tʰʲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, and /tʲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA. [ŋ]Category:Pages with plain IPA is restricted to codas (else it becomes [n]Category:Pages with plain IPA), and /p/Category:Pages with plain IPA and /pʲ/Category:Pages with plain IPA do not occur in codas for historical reasons. For two-consonant clusters, the following restrictions obtain:

Clusters that do not conform to these restrictions will be broken up by an epenthetic nonphonemic vowel in a syllabification that takes place from right to left. For instance, hoyorCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'two', ajilCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'work', and saarmagCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'neutral' are, phonemically, /xɔjr/Category:Pages with plain IPA, /atʃɮ/Category:Pages with plain IPA, and /saːrmɡ/Category:Pages with plain IPA respectively. In such cases, an epenthetic vowel is inserted to prevent disallowed consonant clusters. Thus, in the examples given above, the words are phonetically [ˈxɔjɔ̆r]Category:Pages with plain IPA, [ˈatʃĭɮ]Category:Pages with plain IPA, and [ˈsaːrmăɢ]Category:Pages with plain IPA. The phonetic form of the epenthetic vowel follows from vowel harmony triggered by the vowel in the preceding syllable. Usually it is a centralized version of the same sound, with the following exceptions: preceding /u/Category:Pages with plain IPA produces [e]Category:Pages with plain IPA; /i/Category:Pages with plain IPA will be ignored if there is a nonneutral vowel earlier in the word; and a postalveolar or palatalized consonant will be followed by an epenthetic [i]Category:Pages with plain IPA, as in [ˈatʃĭɮ]Category:Pages with plain IPA.[69]

Stress

Stress in Mongolian is non-phonemic (does not distinguish different meanings) and is thus considered to depend entirely on syllable structure. But scholarly opinions on stress placement diverge sharply.[70] Most native linguists, regardless of which dialect they speak, claim that stress falls on the first syllable. Between 1941 and 1975, several Western scholars proposed that the leftmost heavy syllable gets the stress. Yet other positions were taken in works published between 1835 and 1915.

Walker (1997)[71] proposes that stress falls on the rightmost heavy syllable unless this syllable is word-final:

HˈHLLбайгуулагдахCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text[pæ.ˈɢʊ.ɮəɢ.təx]Category:Pages with plain IPA'to be organized'
LHˈHLхөндийрүүлэнCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text[xɵn.ti.ˈɾu.ɮəŋ]Category:Pages with plain IPA'separating' (adverbial)
LHHˈHLУлаанбаатрынханCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text[ʊ.ɮan.paːtʰ.ˈrin.xəŋ]Category:Pages with plain IPA'the residents of Ulaanbaatar'
HˈHHууртайгаарCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text[ʊːr.ˈtʰæ.ɢar]Category:Pages with plain IPA'angrily'
ˈHLHуйтгартайCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text[ˈʊɪtʰ.ɢər.tʰæ]Category:Pages with plain IPA'sad'

A "heavy syllable" is defined as one that is at least the length of a full vowel; short word-initial syllables are thereby excluded. If a word is bisyllabic and the only heavy syllable is word-final, it gets stressed anyway. In cases where there is only one phonemic short word-initial syllable, even this syllable can get the stress:[72]

LˈHгалууCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text[ɢa.ˈɮʊ]Category:Pages with plain IPA'goose'
ˈLLуншсанCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text[ˈʊnʃ.səɴ]Category:Pages with plain IPA'having read'

More recently, the most extensive collection of phonetic data so far in Mongolian studies has been applied to a partial account of stress placement in the closely related Chakhar dialect.[73][74] The conclusion is drawn that di- and trisyllabic words with a short first syllable are stressed on the second syllable. But if their first syllable is long, then the data for different acoustic parameters seems to support conflicting conclusions: intensity data often seems to indicate that the first syllable is stressed, while F0 seems to indicate that it is the second syllable that is stressed.[75]

Writing systems

Nova N 176 found in Kyrgyzstan. The manuscript (dating to the 12th century Western Liao) is written in the Mongolic Khitan language using cursive Khitan large script. It has 127 leaves and 15,000 characters.
Mongolian script and Mongolian Cyrillic on Sukhbaatar's statue in Ulaanbaatar

Mongolian has been written in a variety of alphabets, making it a language with one of the largest number of scripts used historically. The earliest stages of Mongolian (Xianbei, Wuhuan languages) may have used an indigenous runic script as indicated by Chinese sources. The Khitan large script adopted in 920 CE is an early Mongol (or according to some, para-Mongolic) script.

The traditional Mongolian script was first adopted by Genghis Khan in 1204, who recognized the need to represent his own people's language. It developed from the Uyghur script when several members of the Uyghur elite who were brought into the Mongol confederation early on shared their knowledge of their written language with the Mongol imperial clan. Among the Uyghurs sharing that knowledge were Tata-tonga (Chinese: Category:Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text塔塔統阿), Bilge Buqa (比俚伽普華), Kara Igach Buyruk (哈剌亦哈赤北魯), and Mengsus (孟速思).[76] From that time, the script underwent some minor disambiguations and supplementation.

Between 1930 and 1932, a short-lived attempt was made to introduce the Latin script in the Mongolian state. In 1941, the Latin alphabet was adopted, though it lasted only two months.[77]

The Mongolian Cyrillic script was the result of the spreading of Russian influence following the expansion of the Russian Empire. The establishment of the Soviet Union helped the influence continue, and the Cyrillic alphabet was slowly introduced with the effort by Russian/Soviet linguists in collaboration with their Mongolian counterparts. It was made mandatory by government decree in 1941. The introduction of the Cyrillic script, with its smaller discrepancy between written and spoken form, contributed to the success of the large-scale government literacy campaign, which increased the literacy rate from 17.3% to 73.5% between 1941 and 1950.[78] Earlier government campaigns to eradicate illiteracy, employing the traditional script, had only managed to raise literacy from 3.0% to 17.3% between 1921 and 1940.[78] From 1991 to 1994, an attempt at reintroducing the traditional alphabet failed in the face of popular resistance.[79] In informal contexts of electronic text production, the use of the Latin alphabet is common.[80]

In the People's Republic of China, Mandarin Chinese is the official language along with Mongolian in some regions, notably the entire Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The traditional alphabet has always been used there, although Cyrillic was considered briefly before the Sino-Soviet split.[81] There are two types of written Mongolian used in China: the traditional Mongolian script, which is official among Mongols nationwide, and the Clear Script, used predominantly among Oirats in Xinjiang.[82]

In March 2020, the Mongolian government announced plans to use both Cyrillic and the traditional Mongolian script in official documents by 2025.[83][84][85]

Grammar

The grammar in this article is also based primarily on Khalkha Mongolian. Unlike the phonology, most of what is said about morphology and syntax also holds true for Chakhar,[86] while Khorchin is somewhat more diverse.[87]

Morphology

Modern Mongolian is an agglutinative—almost exclusively suffixing—language, with the only exception being reduplication.[88] Mongolian also does not have gendered nouns, or definite articles like "the".[89] Most of the suffixes consist of a single morpheme. There are many derivational morphemes.[90] For example, the word baiguullagiinh consists of the root bai 'to be', an epenthetic ‑g‑, the causative ‑uul‑ (hence 'to cause to be', to found), the derivative suffix ‑laga that forms nouns created by the action (like -ation in organisation) and the complex suffix ‑iinkh denoting something that belongs to the modified word (‑iin would be genitive).

Nominal compounds are quite frequent. Some derivational verbal suffixes are rather productive, e.g. yarikh 'to speak', yarilc 'to speak with each other'. Formally, the independent words derived using verbal suffixes can roughly be divided into three classes: final verbs, which can only be used sentence-finally, i.e. ‑na (mainly future or generic statements) or ‑ö (second person imperative);[91] participles (often called "verbal nouns"), which can be used clause-finally or attributively, i.e. ‑san (perfect-past)[92] or ‑maar 'want to'; and converbs, which can link clauses or function adverbially, i.e. ‑j (qualifies for any adverbial function or neutrally connects two sentences) or ‑tal (the action of the main clause takes place until the action expressed by the suffixed verb begins).[93]

Nouns

Roughly speaking, Mongolian has between seven and nine cases: nominative (unmarked), genitive, dative-locative, accusative, ablative, instrumental, comitative, privative and directive, though the final two are not always considered part of the case paradigm.[94][32] If a direct object is definite, it must take the accusative, while it must take the nominative if it is indefinite.[95][96] In addition to case, a number of postpositions exist that usually govern the genitive, dative-locative, comitative and privative cases, including a marked form of the nominative (which can itself then take further case forms). There is also a possible attributive case (when a noun is used attributively), which is unmarked in most nouns but takes the suffix ‑нCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (‑n) when the stem has an unstable nasal.[97] Nouns can also take a reflexive-possessive suffix, indicating that the marked noun is possessed by the subject of the sentence: bi naiz-aa avar-san I friend-reflexive-possessive save-perfect 'I saved my friend'.[98] However, there are also somewhat noun-like adjectives to which case suffixes seemingly cannot be attached directly unless there is ellipsis.[99]

Mongolian noun cases[100]
CaseSuffixEnglish preposition Example (Cyrillic)TransliterationTranslation
nominative–– номnombook
accusative– номыгCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language textnomiigthe book (as object)
genitiveof номынCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language textnomiinof (a) book; book's
dative-locativeon, to, at, in номдCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language textnomdin (a) book
ablativefrom номоосCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language textnomoosfrom (a) book
instrumentalwith, using номоорCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language textnomoorwith (e.g. by means of a) book
comitativetogether with номтойCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language textnomtoiwith (e.g. alongside a) book
privativewithoutномгүйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language textnomgüiwithout (a) book
directivetowardsном рууCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language textnom ruutowards (a) book

The rules governing the morphology of Mongolian case endings are intricate, and so the rules given below are only indicative. In many situations, further (more general) rules must also be taken into account in order to produce the correct form: these include the presence of an unstable nasal or unstable velar, as well as the rules governing when a penultimate vowel should be deleted from the stem with certain case endings (e.g. цэрэгCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (tsereg) → цэргийнCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (tsergiin)). The additional morphological rules specific to loanwords are not covered.

Nominative case

The nominative case is used when a noun (or other part of speech acting as one) is the subject of the sentence, and the agent of whatever action (not just physically) takes place in the sentence. In Mongolian, the nominative case does not have an ending.

Accusative case

The accusative case is used when a noun acts as a direct object (or just "object"), and receives action from a transitive verb. It is formed by:

  1. ‑гCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (‑g) after stems ending in long vowels or diphthongs, or when a stem ending in нCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (n) has an unstable velar (unstable g).
  2. ‑ыгCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (‑iig) after back vowel stems ending in unpalatalized consonants (except гCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text and кCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text), short vowels (except иCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) or iotated vowels.
  3. ‑ийгCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (‑iig) after front vowel stems ending in consonants, short vowels or iotated vowels; and after all stems ending in the palatalized consonants жCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (j), чCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (ch) and шCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (sh), as well as гCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (g), кCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (k), иCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (i) or ьCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (i).
Note: If the stem ends in a short vowel or ьCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (i), it is replaced by the suffix.

Genitive case

The genitive case is used to show possession of something.[101]

Dative-locative case

The dative-locative case is used to show the location of something, or to specify that something is in something else.[102]

Plurals

Source:[103]

Plurality may be left unmarked, but there are overt plurality markers, some of which are restricted to humans. A noun that is modified by a numeral usually does not take any plural affix.[104] There are four ways of forming plurals in Mongolian:

  1. Some plurals are formed by adding -нуудCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -nuud or -нүүдCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -nüüd. If the last vowel of the previous word is a (a), o (y), or ɔ (o), then -нуудCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text is used; e.g. харxCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text kharkh 'rat' becomes xapхнуудCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text kharkhnuud 'rats'. If the last vowel of the previous word is e (э), ʊ (ө), ü (ү), or i (и) then нүүдCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text is used; e.g. нүдCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text nüd 'eye' becomes нүднүүдCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text nüdnüüd 'eyes'.
  2. In other plurals, just -уудCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -uud or -үүдCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -üüd is added without the "n"; e.g. хотCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text khot 'city' becomes хотуудCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text khotuud 'cities', and ээжCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text eej 'mother' becomes ээжүүдCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text eejüüd 'mothers'.
  3. Another way of forming plurals is by adding -нарCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -nar; e.g. багшCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text bagsh 'teacher' becomes багш нарCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text bagsh nar 'teachers'.
  4. The final way is an irregular form used: хүнCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text khün 'person' becomes хүмүүсCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text khümüüs 'people'.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns exist for the first and second person, while the old demonstrative pronouns have come to form third person (proximal and distal) pronouns. Other word (sub-)classes include interrogative pronouns, conjunctions (which take participles), spatials, and particles, the last being rather numerous.[105]

Personal Pronouns[106]
Nominative
(subject)		 Accusative
(object)		 Genitive
(possession)		 Oblique stem
(all other cases)
1st person singular

би

bi

би

bi

намайг

namaig

намайг

namaig

миний

minii

миний

minii

над-

nad-

над-

nad-

plural exclusive

бид

bid

бид

bid

биднийг

bidniig

биднийг

bidniig

бидний

bidnii

бидний

bidnii

бидн-

bidn-

бидн-

bidn-

inclusive

манай

manai

манай

manai

ман-

man-

ман-

man-

2nd person singular familiar

чи

chi

чи

chi

чамайг

chamaig

чамайг

chamaig

чиний

chinii

чиний

chinii

чам-

cham-

чам-

cham-

polite

та

ta

та

ta

таныг

taniig

таныг

taniig

таны

tanii

таны

tanii
plural

та

ta

нар

nar

та нар

ta nar

 –

танай/та

tanai/ta

нарын

nariin

танай/та нарын

tanai/ta nariin

тан-

tan-

тан-

tan-

3rd person singular

тэр

ter

тэр

ter

түүнийг

tüüniig

түүнийг

tüüniig

түүний

tüünii

түүний

tüünii

 –
plural

тэд

ted

тэд

ted

тэднийг

tedniig

тэднийг

tedniig

тэд

ted

нарын

nariin

тэд нарын

ted nariin

 –

Negation

Negation is mostly expressed by -güi (-гүйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) after participles and by the negation particle bish (бишCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text) after nouns and adjectives; negation particles preceding the verb (for example in converbal constructions) exist, but tend to be replaced by analytical constructions.[107]

Numbers

Pronunciation and writing of numbers in text
NText in MongolianNText in MongolianNText in Mongolian
0тэгCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text teg10аравCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arav20хорьCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text, khori
1нэгCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text neg11арван нэгCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan neg30гучCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text guch
2хоёрCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text khoyor12арван хоёрCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan khoyor40дөчCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text döch
3гуравCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text gurav13арван гуравCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan gurav50тавьCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text tavi
4дөрөвCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text döröv14арван дөрөвCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan döröv60жарCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text jar
5тавCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text tav15арван тавCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan tav70далCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text dal
6зургааCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text zurgaa16арван зургааCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan zurgaa80наяCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text naya
7долооCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text doloo17арван долооCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan doloo90ерCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text yer
8наймCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text naim18арван наймCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan naim100нэг зууCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text neg zuu
9есCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text yös19арван есCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text arvan yös200хоёр зууCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text khoyor zuu

Forming questions

When asking questions in Mongolian, a question marker is used to show a question is being asked. There are different question markers for yes/no questions and for information questions. For yes/no questions, ууCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text and үүCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text are used when the last word ends in a short vowel or a consonant, and their use depends on the vowel harmony of the previous word. When the last word ends in a long vowel or a diphthong, then юуCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text and юүCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text are used (again depending on vowel harmony). For information questions (questions asking for information with an interrogative word like who, what, when, where, why, etc.), the question particles are вэCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text and бэCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text, depending on the last sound in the previous word.

  1. Yes/No Question Particles -уу/үү/юу/юүCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (uu/üü/yuu/yuü)
  2. Open Ended Question Particles -бэ/вэCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (be/ve)

Basic interrogative pronouns -юуCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (yuu 'what'), -хаанаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (khaana 'where'), хэнCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (hen 'who'), яагаадCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (yaagaad 'why'), яажCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (yaaj 'how'), хэзээCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (khezee 'when'), ямарCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (yamar 'what kind')

Verbs

In Mongolian, verbs have a stem and an ending. For example, the stems бай-Category:Articles containing Mongolian-language text bai-, сур-Category:Articles containing Mongolian-language text sur-, and үзэ-Category:Articles containing Mongolian-language text üze- are suffixed with -хCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -kh, -ахCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -akh, and -хCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -kh respectively: байxCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text baikh, сурaxCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text surakh, and үзэxCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text üzekh. These are the infinitive or dictionary forms.[108] The present/future tense is formed by adding -наCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -na, -ноCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -no, -нэCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -ne, or -нөCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text -nö to the stem, for example сурнаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text surna 'I/you/he/she/we/they (will) study'. байнаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text baina is the present/future tense verb for 'to be'; likewise, уншинаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text unshina is 'to read', and үзнэCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text üzne is 'to see'. The final vowel is barely pronounced and is not pronounced at all if the word after begins with a vowel, so сайн байна ууCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text sain bain uu is pronounced [sæe̯m‿pæe̯n‿ʊː]Category:Pages with plain IPA 'hello, how are you?'.[108]

  1. Past Tense -сан/-сон/-сэн/-сөнCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-san/-son/-sen/-sön)
  2. Informed Past Tense (any point in past) -вCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-v)
  3. Informed Past Tense (not long ago) -лаа/-лоо/-лээ/-лөөCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-laa/-loo/-lee/-löö)
  4. Non-Informed Past Tense (generally a slightly to relatively more distant past) -жээ/-чээCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-jee/-chee)
  5. Present Perfect Tense -даг/-дог/-дэг/-дөгCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-dag/-dog/-deg/-dög)
  6. Present Progressive Tense -ж/-ч байнаCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-j/-ch baina)
  7. (Reflective) Present Progressive Tense -аа/-оо/-ээ/-өөCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-aa/-oo/-ee/-öö)
  8. Simple Present Tense -на/-но/-нэ/-нөCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-na/-no/-ne/-nö)
  9. Simple Future -х (болно)Category:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-h (bolno))
  10. Infinitive -хCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (-h)

Negation

There are several ways to form negatives in Mongolian.[102] For example:

  1. бишCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (bish) – the negative form of the verb 'to be' (байхCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text baikh) – бишCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text means 'is/are not'.
  2. -гүйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (güi). This suffix is added to verbs, so явахCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (yavakh 'go/will go') becomes явахгүйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (yavakhgüi 'do not go/will not go').
  3. үгүйCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (ügüi) is the word for 'no'.
  4. битгийCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (bitgii) is used for negative imperatives; e.g. битгий яваарайCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (bitgii yavaarai 'don't go')
  5. бүүCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (büü) is the formal version of битгийCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text.

Syntax

Differential case marking

Mongolian uses differential case marking, being a regular differential object marking (DOM) language. DOM emerges from a complicated interaction of factors such as referentiality, animacy and topicality.

Mongolian also exhibits a specific type of differential subject marking (DSM), in which the subjects of embedded clauses (including adverbial clauses) occur with accusative case.[109]

Phrase structure

The noun phrase has the order: demonstrative pronoun/numeral, adjective, noun.[110][96] Attributive sentences precede the whole NP. Titles or occupations of people, low numerals indicating groups, and focus clitics are put behind the head noun.[111] Possessive pronouns (in different forms) may either precede or follow the NP.[112] Examples:

bid-nii

we-GEN

uulz-san

meet-PRF

ter

that

saikhan

beautiful

zaluu-gaas

young.man-ABL

ch

FOC

bid-nii uulz-san ter saikhan zaluu-gaas ch

we-GEN meet-PRF that beautiful young.man-ABL FOC

'even from that beautiful young man that we have met'

Dorj

Dorj

bagsh

teacher

maan

our

Dorj bagsh maan

Dorj teacher our

'our teacher Dorj'

The verbal phrase consists of the predicate in the center, preceded by its complements and by the adverbials modifying it and followed (mainly if the predicate is sentence-final) by modal particles,[113] as in the following example with predicate bichsen:

ter

s/he

khel-ekh-güi-geer

without:saying

üün-iig

it-ACC

bich-sen

write-PRF

shüü

PTC

ter khel-ekh-güi-geer üün-iig bich-sen shüü

s/he without:saying it-ACC write-PRF PTC

's/he wrote it without saying [so] [i.e. without saying that s/he would do so, or that s/he had done so], I can assure you.'

In this clause the adverbial, khelekhgüigeer 'without saying [so]' must precede the predicate's complement, üüniig 'it-accusative' in order to avoid syntactic ambiguity, since khelekhgüigeer is itself derived from a verb and hence an üüniig preceding it could be construed as its complement. If the adverbial was an adjective such as khurdan 'fast', it could optionally immediately precede the predicate. There are also cases in which the adverb must immediately precede the predicate.[114]

For Khalkha, the most complete treatment of the verbal forms is by Luvsanvandan (ed.) (1987). However, the analysis of predication presented here, while valid for Khalkha, is adapted from the description of Khorchin.[115]

Most often, of course, the predicate consists of a verb. However, there are several types of nominal predicative constructions, with or without a copula.[116] Auxiliaries that express direction and aktionsart (among other meanings) can with the assistance of a linking converb occupy the immediate postverbal position; e.g.

uuj

drink-CVB

orkhison

leave-PERF

uuj orkhison

drink-CVB leave-PERF

'drank up'

The next position is filled by converb suffixes in connection with the auxiliary, baj- 'to be', e.g.

ter

s/he

güij

run-CVB

baina

be-NPAST

ter güij baina

s/he run-CVB be-NPAST

'she is running'

Suffixes occupying this position express grammatical aspect; e.g. progressive and resultative. In the next position, participles followed by baj- may follow, e.g.,

ter

s/he

irsen

come-PERF

baina

be-NPAST

ter irsen baina

s/he come-PERF be-NPAST

'he has come'

Here, an explicit perfect and habituality can be marked, which is aspectual in meaning as well. This position may be occupied by multiple suffixes in a single predication, and it can still be followed by a converbal Progressive. The last position is occupied by suffixes that express tense, evidentiality, modality, and aspect.

Clauses

Unmarked phrase order is subject–object–predicate.[117][96] While the predicate generally has to remain in clause-final position, the other phrases are free to change order or to wholly disappear.[118] The topic tends to be placed clause-initially, new information rather at the end of the clause.[119] Topic can be overtly marked with bol, which can also mark contrastive focus,[120] overt additive focus ('even, also') can be marked with the clitic ch,[121] and overt restrictive focus with the clitic l ('only').[122]

The inventory of voices in Mongolian consists of passive, causative, reciprocal, plurative, and cooperative. In a passive sentence, the verb takes the suffix -gd- and the agent takes either dative or instrumental case, the first of which is more common. In the causative, the verb takes the suffix -uul-, the causee (the person caused to do something) in a transitive action (e.g. 'raise') takes dative or instrumental case, and the causee in an intransitive action (e.g. 'rise') takes accusative case. Causative morphology is also used in some passive contexts:

Bi

I

tüün-d

that.one-DAT

khuurt-san

fool-CAUS-PRF

Bi tüün-d khuurt-san

I that.one-DAT fool-CAUS-PRF

'I was fooled by her/him'.

The semantic attribute of animacy is syntactically important: thus the sentence, 'the bread was eaten by me', which is acceptable in English, would not be acceptable in Mongolian. The reciprocal voice is marked by -ld-, the plurative by -cgaa-, and the cooperative by -lc-.[123]

Mongolian allows for adjectival depictives that relate to either the subject or the direct object, e.g. Liena nücgen untdag 'Lena sleeps naked', while adjectival resultatives are marginal.[124]

Complex sentences

One way to conjoin clauses is to have the first clause end in a converb, as in the following example using the converb -bol:

bid

we

üün-iig

it-ACC

ol-bol

find-COND.CVB

cham-d

you.FAM-DAT

ög-nö

give-FUT

bid üün-iig ol-bol cham-d ög-nö

we it-ACC find-COND.CVB you.FAM-DAT give-FUT

'if we find it we'll give it to you'

Some verbal nouns in the dative (or less often in the instrumental) function very similar to converbs:[125] e.g. replacing olbol in the preceding sentence with olohod find-imperfective-dative yields 'when we find it we'll give it to you'. Quite often, postpositions govern complete clauses. In contrast, conjunctions take verbal nouns without case:[126]

yadar-san

become.tired-PRF

uchraas

because

unt-laa

sleep-WIT.PAST

yadar-san uchraas unt-laa

become.tired-PRF because sleep-WIT.PAST

'I slept because I was tired'

Finally, there is a class of particles, usually clause-initial, that are distinct from conjunctions but that also relate clauses:

bi

I

olson,

find-PRF

kharin

but

chamd

you-DAT

ögökhgüi

give-IPFV-NEG

bi olson, kharin chamd ögökhgüi

I find-PRF but you-DAT give-IPFV-NEG

'I've found it, but I won't give it to you'.

Mongolian has a complementizer auxiliary verb ge- very similar to Japanese to iu. ge- literally means 'to say' and in converbal form gej precedes either a psych verb or a verb of saying. As a verbal noun like gedeg (with ni) it can form a subset of complement clauses. As gene it may function as an evidentialis marker.[127]

Mongolian clauses tend to be combined paratactically, which sometimes gives rise to sentence structures which are subordinative despite resembling coordinative structures in European languages:[128]

ter

that.one

ir-eed

come-CVB

namaig

I.ACC

üns-sen

kiss-PRF

ter ir-eed namaig üns-sen

that.one come-CVB I.ACC kiss-PRF

'S/he came and kissed me.'

In the subordinate clause the subject, if different from the subject of main clause, sometimes has to take accusative or genitive case.[129] There is marginal occurrence of subjects taking ablative case as well.[130] Subjects of attributive clauses in which the head has a function (as is the case for all English relative clauses) usually require that if the subject is not the head, then it take the genitive,[131] e.g. tüünii idsen hool that.one-genitive eat-perfect meal 'the meal that s/he had eaten'.

Loanwords and coined words

Mongolian first adopted loanwords from many languages including Old Turkic, Sanskrit (these often via Uyghur), Persian, Tibetan,[132] Tungusic, and Chinese.[133] However, more recent loanwords come from Russian, English,[134] and Mandarin Chinese (mainly in Inner Mongolia).[135] Language commissions of the Mongolian state continuously translate new terminology into Mongolian,[136] so as the Mongolian vocabulary now has yörönkhiilögchCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'president' ('generalizer') and shar airagCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'beer' ('yellow kumys'). There are several loan translations, e.g. galt teregCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'train' ('fire cart') from Chinese huǒchēCategory:Articles containing Chinese-language text (火车Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text 'fire cart') 'train'.[137] Other loan translations include mön chanarCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'essence' from Chinese shízhìCategory:Articles containing Chinese-language text (实质Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text 'true quality'), khün amCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'population' from Chinese rénkǒuCategory:Articles containing Chinese-language text (人口Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text 'person mouth'), erdene shishCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'corn, maize' from Chinese yùmǐCategory:Articles containing Chinese-language text (玉米Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text 'jade rice') and bügd nairamdakh ulsCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'republic' from Chinese gònghéguóCategory:Articles containing Chinese-language text (共和国Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text 'public collaboration nation').

In the 20th century, many Russian loanwords entered the Mongolian language, including doktorCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'doctor', shokoladCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'chocolate', vagonCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'train wagon', kalendarCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'calendar', sistemCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'system', podvoolkCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text (from futbolkaCategory:Articles containing Russian-language text 'T-shirt'), and mashinCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'car'.

In more recent times, due to socio-political reforms, Mongolian has loaned various words from English; some of which have gradually evolved as official terms: menejmentCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'management', komputerCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'computer', failCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'file', marketingCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'marketing', kreditCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'credit', onlainCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'online', and mesejCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'message'. Most of these are confined to the Mongolian state.Category:All articles with unsourced statementsCategory:Articles with unsourced statements from May 2022[citation needed]

In turn, other languages have borrowed words from Mongolian. Examples (Mongolian in brackets) include Persian کشيكچى kešikciCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text (from kheshigCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'royal guard'), قرقاولCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text qarqâvolCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text (from gurgaaCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'pheasant'), جیبهCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text jibeCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text (from jebsegCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'iron armour'), داروغهCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text dâruqeCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text (from dargaCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'chief of commandant'), قیچیCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text qeyciCategory:Articles containing Persian-language text (from khaichCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'scissors'); Uzbek orolCategory:Articles containing Uzbek-language text (from aralCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'island'); Chinese 衚衕 hutong (from gudumCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'passageway'), 站赤 zhanchi (from jamchiCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'courier/post station'); Middle Chinese 犢 duk (from tugulCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'calf'); Korean 수라Category:Articles containing Korean-language text suraCategory:Articles containing Korean-language text (from shüleCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'royal meal'), 악대Category:Articles containing Korean-language text akdaeCategory:Articles containing Korean-language text (from agtaCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'castrated animal'), 업진Category:Articles containing Korean-language text eobjinCategory:Articles containing Korean-language text (from ebchigünCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'chest of an animal'); Old English cocer (from khökhüürCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'container'); Old French quivre (from khökhüürCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'container'); Old High German Baldrian (from balchirgan-aCategory:Articles containing Mongolian-language text 'valerian plant'). Köküür and balchirgan-a are thought to have been brought to Europe by the Huns or Pannonian Avars.

Despite having a diverse range of loanwords, Mongolian dialects such as Khalkha and Khorchin, within a comparative vocabulary of 452 words of Common Mongolic vocabulary, retain as many as 95% of these native words, contrasting e.g. with Southern Mongolic languages at 39–77% retentions.[138]

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Mongolian, written in the Cyrillic alphabet:[139]

Хүн бүр төрж мэндлэхэд эрх чөлөөтэй, адилхан нэр төртэй, ижил эрхтэй байдаг. Оюун ухаан, нандин чанар заяасан хүн гэгч өөр хоорондоо ахан дүүгийн үзэл санаагаар харьцах учиртай.Category:Articles containing Mongolian-language text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Mongolian, written in the Latin alphabet:

Khün bür törj mendlekhed erkh chölöötei, adilkhan ner törtei, ijil erkhtei baidag. Oyuun ukhaan nandin chanar zayaasan khün gegch öör khoorondoo akhan düügiin üzel sanaagaar kharicakh uchirtai.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Mongolian, written in the Mongolian script:[140]

ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠨ ᠪᠦᠷᠢ ᠲᠥᠷᠥᠵᠦ ᠮᠡᠨᠳᠦᠯᠡᠬᠦ ᠡᠷᠬᠡ ᠴᠢᠯᠥᠭᠡ ᠲᠡᠢ᠂ ᠠᠳᠠᠯᠢᠬᠠᠨ ᠨᠡᠷ᠎ᠡ ᠲᠥᠷᠥ ᠲᠡᠢ᠂ ᠢᠵᠢᠯ ᠡᠷᠬᠡ ᠲᠡᠢ ᠪᠠᠶᠢᠳᠠᠭ᠃ ᠣᠶᠤᠨ ᠤᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ᠂ ᠨᠠᠨᠳᠢᠨ ᠴᠢᠨᠠᠷ ᠵᠠᠶᠠᠭᠠᠰᠠᠨ ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠨ ᠬᠡᠭᠴᠢ ᠥᠭᠡᠷ᠎ᠡ ᠬᠣᠭᠣᠷᠣᠨᠳᠣ᠎ᠪᠠᠨ ᠠᠬᠠᠨ ᠳᠡᠭᠦᠦ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠦᠵᠢᠯ ᠰᠠᠨᠠᠭᠠ ᠶᠢᠡᠷ ᠬᠠᠷᠢᠴᠠᠬᠤ ᠤᠴᠢᠷ ᠲᠠᠢ᠃

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Mongolian, transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet:

[xuɴ pur̥ tʰɵr̥t͡ɕ ˈmintɮɘ̆xɘt ir̥x t͡ɕʰɵˈɮɵtʰe ˈɛtɪɬχəɴ nir̥ ˈtʰɵr̥tʰe ˈit͡ɕɪɬ ir̥xˈtʰe ˈpɛtəq ‖ ɔˈjʊɴ ʊˈχaɴ ˈnantɪɴ ˈt͡ɕʰanər̥ t͡saˈjasəɴ xuɴ kixt͡ɕʰ ˈɵr̥ ˈχɔɾɜntɔ ˈaχəɴ ˈtuɣiɴ ˈut͡sɘɬ saˈnaʁar̥ ˈχɛr̥ʲt͡sʰəχ ʊt͡ɕʰɪr̥ˈtʰɛ ‖]Category:Pages with plain IPA

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:[141]

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Mongolian language at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025) Closed access iconCategory:Language articles citing Ethnologue 28
  2. ↑ "Törijn alban josny helnij tuhaj huul'". MongolianLaws.com. 2003-05-15. Archived from the original on 2009-08-22. Retrieved 2009-03-27. The decisions of the council have to be ratified by the government.
  3. ↑ "Mongγul kele bičig-ün aǰil-un ǰöblel". See Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 204.
  4. ↑ "Mongolian scripts and writing culture". MONGOLIANZ. 2017.
  5. ↑ Clauson, Gerard (1956). "The case against the Altaic theory" (PDF). Central Asiatic Journal. 2: 181–187. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03.
  6. ↑ Harris, Chauncy D.; Sanders, Alan J.K.; Lattimore, Owen; Ray, Michael; Pletcher, Kenneth; McKenna, Amy; Murray, Lorraine (2023-03-14). "Mongolia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  7. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 111.
  8. ↑ Garudi (2002): 7, but see Rachewiltz (1976)
  9. ↑ Djahukyan (1991): 2368
  10. ↑ Rybatzki (2003b): 58.
  11. ↑ See Rachewiltz 1999 for a critical review of the terminology used in periodizations of Mongolic; Svantesson et al. (2005): 98–99 attempt a revision of this terminology for the early period.
  12. ↑ Rybatzki (2003b): 57.
  13. ↑ Janhunen (2003a): 32.
  14. ↑ Okada (1984)
  15. ↑ Nadmid (1967): 98–102.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Janhunen 2012, p. 11.
  17. ↑ Tsung, Linda (October 27, 2014). "3". Language Power and Hierarchy: Multilingual Education in China. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 59.
  18. ↑ Tsung, Linda (October 27, 2014). "3". Language Power and Hierarchy: Multilingual Education in China. Bloomsbury Academic.
  19. ↑ Iredale, Robyn; Bilik, Naran; Fei, Guo (August 2, 2003). "4". China's Minorities on the Move: Selected Case Studies. p. 84.
  20. ↑ Janhunen 2012, p. 16.
  21. ↑ Otsuka, Hitomi (30 Nov 2012). "6". More Morphologies: Contributions to the Festival of Languages, Bremen, 17 Sep to 7 Oct, 2009. p. 99.
  22. ↑ Iredale, Robyn (August 2, 2003). "3". China's Minorities on the Move: Selected Case Studies. Routledge. pp. 56, 64–67.
  23. ↑ Iredale, Robyn; Bilik, Naran; Fei, Guo (August 2, 2003). "3". China's Minorities on the Move: Selected Case Studies. p. 61.
  24. ↑ Barry Sautman (December 24, 2007). "Preferential policies for ethnic minorities in China". Nationalism and Ethnic Politics. 4 (1–2): 86–118. doi:10.1080/13537119808428530. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  25. ↑ Shih, Gerry (August 31, 2020). "Chinese authorities face widespread anger in Inner Mongolia after requiring Mandarin-language classes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  26. ↑ Qin, Amy (August 31, 2020). "Curbs on Mongolian Language Teaching Prompt Large Protests in China". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  27. ↑ Feng, Emily (16 September 2020). "Parents Keep Children Home As China Limits Mongolian Language In The Classroom". NPR. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  28. ↑ Kashgar, Kasim (2023-09-13). "China Enforces Ban on Mongolian Language in Schools, Books". Voice of America. Archived from the original on June 29, 2024. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  29. ↑ See especially Rinčjen (1979), Amaržargal (1988), Coloo (1988) and for a general bibliography on Mongolic phonology Svantesson et al. (2005): 218–229.
  30. ↑ See Ashimura (2002) for a rare piece of research into dialect morphosyntax that shows significant differences between Khalkha and Khorchin.
  31. ↑ Janhunen (2003): 189.
  32. 1 2 3 Janhunen 2012, p. 3.
  33. ↑ For an exact delimitation of Khalkha, see Amaržargal (1988): 24–25.
  34. ↑ See Janhunen (ed.) (2003) and Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005) for two classificatory schemes.
  35. ↑ Sanžeev (1953): 27–61, especially 55.
  36. ↑ Quoted from Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 167–168.
  37. ↑ Zhou, Minglang; Sun, Hongkai (2006-04-11). Language Policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and Practice Since 1949. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4020-8039-5.
  38. ↑ Janhunen (2003)
  39. ↑ Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 265–266.
  40. ↑ Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 266 classify Alasha as a variety of Southern Mongolian according to morphological criteria, while Svantesson et al. (2005): 148 classify it as a variety of Oirat according to phonological criteria. For a discussion of opinions on the classification of Darkhad, see Sanžaa and Tujaa (2001): 33–34.
  41. ↑ Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 166–73, 184–195.
  42. ↑ Janhunen (2003): 180.
  43. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 143, Poppe (1955): 110–115.
  44. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2006): 159–160; the difference between the [l]s might just be due to the impossibility of reconstructing something as precise as [ɮ]Category:Pages with plain IPA for Proto-Mongolic and imprecision or convenience in notation for Chakhar, Dobu (1983).
  45. ↑ e.g. bi tegün-i taniǰei I him know.past 'I knew him' is accepted and ?Bi öčögedür iregsen rejected by Chuluu (1998): 140, 165; in Khalkha, by contrast, the first sentence would not appear with the meaning attributed to it, while the second is perfectly acceptable.
  46. ↑ See, for example, Činggeltei (1959). This split is blurred by the school grammar, which treats several dialectal varieties as one coherent grammatical system; e.g. Činggeltei (1979, 1999). This understanding is in turn reflected in the undecided treatment of -/sŋ/Category:Pages with plain IPA in research work like Bayančoγtu (2002): 306.
  47. ↑ Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 85. "Öbür mongγul ayalγu bol dumdadu ulus-un mongγul kelen-ü saγuri ayalγu bolqu büged dumdadu ulus-un mongγul kelen-ü barimǰiy-a abiy-a ni čaqar aman ayalγun-du saγurilaγsan bayidaγ."
  48. ↑ Janhunen 2003d.
  49. ↑ Janhunen, Juha (2003). The Mongolic Languages. p. 179. Routledge Language Family Series 5. London: Routledge.
  50. 1 2 Svantesson et al. (2005): 9-10
  51. ↑ Dàobù 1982, p. 2.
  52. ↑ Juha Janhunen (Hg.): The Mongolic Languages. London / New York: Routledge, 2003; ISBN 0-7007-1133-3; S. xviii.
  53. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 11-12
  54. ↑ Mongolian language. In: Christopher P. Atwood: Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts On File, 2004; ISBN 0-8160-4671-9; S. 373 und Владимирцов 1988 (1929) p. 390; examples harmonized to ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ
    ᠬᠢᠲᠠᠳ
    ᠲᠣᠯᠢ     / 《蒙汉词典》Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text 1999 and ᠭᠠᠯᠰᠠᠩᠫᠤᠩᠰᠣᠭ / Галсанпунцаг 2004.
  55. ↑ Atwood p. 374.
  56. ↑ Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 249–384.
  57. ↑ The phonology of Mongolian. The phonology of the world's languages. Oxford (GB): Oxford University press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-19-926017-1.
  58. ↑ Janhunen 2012, pp. 33–34.
  59. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 22
  60. ↑ Sanders, Alan J. K. (2015-08-14). Colloquial Mongolian : the complete course for beginners. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-317-30598-9. OCLC 919495714.
  61. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 1
  62. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 43–50.
  63. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 46–47, 50–51.
  64. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 1–7, 22–24, 73–75.
  65. ↑ Svantesson et al. 2005: 25–30.
  66. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 20–21, where it is actually stated that they are phonemic only in such words; in Svantesson's analysis, [−ATR] corresponds to "pharyngeal" and [+ATR]—to "nonpharyngeal".
  67. ↑ Karlsson (2005): 17
  68. ↑ Anastasia Mukhanova Karlsson. "Vowels in Mongolian speech: deletions and epenthesis". Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  69. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 62–72.
  70. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 95–97
  71. ↑ elaborating on Bosson (1964) and Poppe (1970).
  72. ↑ Walker's evidence is collected from one native informant, examples from Poppe (1970) and consultation with James Bosson. She defines stress in terms of pitch, duration and intensity. The analysis pertains to the Khalkha dialect. The phonemic analysis in the examples is adjusted to Svantesson et al. (2005).
  73. ↑ Harnud [Köke] (2003).
  74. ↑ Harnud (2003) was reviewed by J. Brown in Journal of the International Phonetic Association (December 2006). 36(2): 205–207.
  75. ↑ Harnud [Köke] (2003): 44–54, 94–100.
  76. ↑ Brose, Michael C. (2005). "Uyghur Technologists of Writing and Literacy in Mongol China". T'oung Pao. Second Series. 91 (4/5). Brill Publishers: 397, 406. doi:10.1163/156853205774910106. JSTOR 4529015.
  77. ↑ Saruul-Erdene, Myagmar (2021-03-04). "5. Official script changes in socialist Mongolia". Socialist and Post–Socialist Mongolia: Nation, Identity, and Culture. Routledge. pp. 79–83. ISBN 978-1-000-33715-0. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  78. 1 2 Batchuluun Yembuu, Khulan Munkh-Erdene (2005). Literacy country study: Mongolia Archived 2023-01-05 at the Wayback MachineCategory:Webarchive template wayback links. Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2006. Literacy for Life. P.7-8
  79. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 34, 40–41.
  80. ↑ Sühbaatar, B. "Mongol helnij kirill üsgijg latin üsgeer galiglah tuhaj". InfoCon. Archived from the original on 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  81. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 34, 40.
  82. ↑ Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 398.
  83. ↑ "Mongolia to promote usage of traditional script". China.org.cn (March 19, 2020).
  84. ↑ Official documents to be recorded in both scripts from 2025 Archived 2020-08-05 at the Wayback MachineCategory:Webarchive template wayback links, Montsame, 18 March 2020.
  85. ↑ Mongolian Language Law is effective from July 1st Archived 2022-04-09 at the Wayback MachineCategory:Webarchive template wayback links, Gogo, 1 July 2015. "Misinterpretation 1: Use of cyrillic is to be terminated and only Mongolian script to be used. There is no provision in the law that states the termination of use of cyrillic. It clearly states that Mongolian script is to be added to the current use of cyrillic. Mongolian script will be introduced in stages and state and local government is to conduct their correspondence in both cyrillic and Mongolian script. This provision is to be effective starting 1 January 2025. ID, birth certificate, marriage certificate and education certificates are to be both in Mongolian cyrillic and Mongolian script and currently Mongolian script is being used in official letters of President, Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament."
  86. ↑ Sečenbaγatur (2003)
  87. ↑ Bayančoγtu (2002)
  88. ↑ Svantesson et al. (2005): 58–59.
  89. ↑ "Grammar". www.linguamongolia.com. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  90. ↑ Sečen (2004).
  91. ↑ Luvsanvandan (ed.) (1987): 151–153, 161–163.
  92. ↑ Hashimoto (1993).
  93. ↑ Luvsanvandan (ed.) (1987): 103–104, 124–125, 130–131.
  94. ↑ Tsedendamba and Möömöö (1997): 222–232.
  95. ↑ Guntsetseg (2008): 61. The exact conditions of use for indefinite specific direct objects have not yet been specified in detail, but they appear to be related to animacy and textual context.
  96. 1 2 3 Guntsetseg, Dolgor (January 2008). "Differential object marking in Mongolian". Research Gate. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  97. ↑ Sečenbaγatur (2003): 32–46.
  98. ↑ Tsedendamba and Möömöö (1997): 234–241.
  99. ↑ For a pioneering approach to this problem, see Sajto (1999).
  100. ↑ "Mongolian". Languages Gulper. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  101. ↑ Gaunt, John. (2006). Modern Mongolian : a course-book. Routledge. pp. xxv (13 depending on ebook/physical book) / xxvi (14 depending on ebook/physical book). ISBN 0-7007-1305-0. OCLC 615102455.
  102. 1 2 Gaunt, John. (2006). Modern Mongolian : a course-book. Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-1305-0. OCLC 615102455.
  103. ↑ "Mongolian Grammar - Linguistics 35". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  104. ↑ Tsedendamba and Möömöö (1997): 210–219, Sečenbaγatur (2003): 23–29.
  105. ↑ This is a simplified treatment of word classes. For a more precise treatment within the descriptive framework common in Inner Mongolia, see Sečenbaγatur (2003).
  106. ↑ "Mongolian Grammar". Learn101.org. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  107. ↑ For the historic background of negation, see Yu (1991). For a phenomenology, see Bjambasan (2001).
  108. 1 2 Gaunt, John; Bayarmandakh, L.; Chuluunbaatar, L. (2004). Modern Mongolian: A Course-book. Psychology Press. pp. xv/13 (depending on ebook or physical / xvi/14. ISBN 978-0-7007-1305-9.
  109. ↑ Guntsetseg, Dolgor. "Differential Case Marking in Mongolian". Research Gate. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  110. ↑ Guntsetseg (2008): 55.
  111. ↑ Tserenpil and Kullmann (2005): 237, 347.
  112. ↑ Svantesson (2003): 164–165.
  113. ↑ Mönh-Amgalan (1998).
  114. ↑ Sečenbaγatur (2003): 167.
  115. ↑ Matsuoka (2007)
  116. ↑ Hashimoto (2004)
  117. ↑ Guntsetseg (2008): 54.
  118. ↑ Tserenpil and Kullmann (2005): 88, 363–364.
  119. ↑ Apatoczky (2005)
  120. ↑ Hammar (1983): 45–80.
  121. ↑ Kang (2000)
  122. ↑ Tserenpil and Kullmann (2005): 348–349.
  123. ↑ Sečenbaγatur (2003): 116–123.
  124. ↑ Brosig (2009)
  125. ↑ Svantesson (2003): 172.
  126. ↑ See Sečenbaγatur (2003): 176–182 (who uses the term "postposition" for both and the term "conjunction" for junctors).
  127. ↑ Sečenbaγatur (2003): 152–153.
  128. ↑ Johanson (1995)
  129. ↑ Mizuno (1995)
  130. ↑ Pürev-Očir (1997): 131.
  131. ↑ Sečenbaγatur (2003): 36.
  132. ↑ Temürčereng (2004): 86–99.
  133. ↑ Svantesson (2003): 127.
  134. ↑ Temürčereng (2004): 99–102.
  135. ↑ Öbür mongγul-un yeke surγaγuli (2005): 792–793.
  136. ↑ Baabar (2008-12-09), "Yum bolgon nertei", Ödriin sonin
  137. ↑ Öbür mongγul-un yeke surγaγuli (2005): 828.
  138. ↑ Rybatzki (2003a): 385–387
  139. ↑ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Mongolian, Halh (Cyrillic)". unicode.org. Archived from the original on 2023-06-05.
  140. ↑ "UDHR - Mongolian, Halh (Mongolian)". unicode.org. Archived from the original on 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  141. ↑ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". United Nations.

Sources

For some Mongolian authors, the Mongolian version of their name is also given in square brackets, e.g., "Harnud [Köke]". Köke is the author's native name. It is a practice common among Mongolian scholars, for purposes of publishing and being cited abroad, to adopt a surname based on one's patronymic, in this example "Harnud"; compare Mongolian name.
Some library catalogs write Chinese language titles with each syllable separate, even syllables belonging to a single word.

List of abbreviations used

TULIP is in official use by some librarians; the remainder have been contrived for this listing.

Journals
  • KULIP = Kyūshū daigaku gengogaku ronshū [Kyushu University linguistics papers]
  • MKDKH = Muroran kōgyō daigaku kenkyū hōkoku [Memoirs of the Muroran Institute of Technology]
  • TULIP = Tōkyō daigaku gengogaku ronshū [Tokyo University linguistics papers]
Publishers

Further reading

Traditional Mongolian script
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