Mongolian language explained

Mongolian

Nativename:

Mongolian: Mongol

Pronunciation:

in Mongolian pronounced as /ˈmɔɴ.ɢəɮ xiɮ/

States:

Mongolian Plateau

Region:

All of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Buryatia, Kalmykia; parts of Irkutsk Oblast, Zabaykalsky Krai in Russia; parts of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, Gansu and Qinghai provinces in China; Issyk-Kul Region in Kyrgyzstan

Speakers:

million

Ethnicity:

Mongols, Buryats

Date:

1982–2020

Ref:

e26

Familycolor:

Altaic

Fam1:

Mongolic

Fam2:

Central Mongolic

Fam3:

Buryat–Mongolian

Ancestor:

Proto-Mongolic

Ancestor2:

Middle Mongolian

Ancestor3:

Classical Mongolian

Dia1:

Khalkha

Dia2:

Oirat

Dia3:

Peripheral

Stand1:

Khalkha (Mongolia)

Stand2:

Chakhar (China)

Script:

• Traditional Mongolian (in China and Mongolia)
• Mongolian Cyrillic (in Mongolia and Russia)
• Mongolian Braille
• ʼPhags-pa (historical, among others)

Nation:

• Inner Mongolia^[1]
• Xinjiang
  • Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture
  • Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture
  • Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County
• Qinghai
  • Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Agency:

| iso1 = mn| iso2 = mon| iso3 = mon| lc1 = khk| ld1 = Khalkha Mongolian| lc2 = mvf| ld2 = Peripheral Mongolian (part)| lingua = part of 44-BAA-b| image = | imagescale = | map = Idioma mongol.png| mapalt = Map of Mongolian Speakers in Asia.| mapcaption = Map of where Mongolian is spoken.| notice = IPA| glotto = mong1331| glottorefname = Mongolian}}

Mongolian 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 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 8.5–9 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the ethnic Mongol residents of the Inner Mongolia of China. 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.^[2]

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 (but not all) 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.^[3] 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".^[4]

History

The earliest surviving Mongolian text may be the, a report on sports composed in Mongolian script on stone, which is most often dated at 1224 or 1225.^[5] The Mongolian-Armenian wordlist of 55 words compiled by Kirakos of Gandzak (13th century) is the first written record of Mongolian words.^[6] 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).^[7] While they are the earliest texts available, these texts have come to be called "Middle Mongol" in scholarly practice.^[8] The documents in UM script show some distinct linguistic characteristics and are therefore often distinguished by terming their language "Preclassical Mongolian".^[9]

The Yuan dynasty referred to the Mongolian language in Chinese as "Guoyu", 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^[10] as well as several chronicles.^[11] In 1686, the Soyombo alphabet (Buddhist texts) was created, giving distinctive evidence on early classical Mongolian phonological peculiarities.^[12]

Geographic distribution

See also: Mongolian language in Inner Mongolia. Mongolian is the official national language of Mongolia, where it is spoken (but not always written) by nearly 3.6 million people (2014 estimate),^[13] and the official provincial language (both spoken and written forms) of Inner Mongolia, where there are at least 4.1 million ethnic Mongols.^[14] Across the whole of China, the language is spoken by roughly half of the country's 5.8 million ethnic Mongols (2005 estimate) 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.^[15] 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.^[16] The multilingual situation in Inner Mongolia does not appear to obstruct efforts by ethnic Mongols to preserve their language.^{[17] [18]} 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.^[19] 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.^{[20] [21]} 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.^{[22] [23]} These protests were quickly suppressed by the Chinese government.^[24] Mandarin has been deemed the only language of instruction for all subjects as of September 2023.^[25]

Classification and varieties

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,^[26] the basis has yet to be laid for a comparative morphosyntactic study, for example between such highly diverse varieties as Khalkha and Khorchin.^{[27] [28]}

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

• the Dagur branch, made up of just the Dagur language, which is spoken in the northeast area of Manchuria in China, specifically in Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner of Hulunbuir, and in Meilisi Daur District of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang;
• the Moghol branch, made up of just the Moghol language, spoken in Afghanistan, and is possibly extinct;
• the Shirongolic (or Southern Mongolic) branch, made up of roughly seven languages, which are spoken in the Amdo region of Tibet;
• the Common Mongolic (or Central Mongolic) branch, made up of roughly six language varieties, to which Mongolian proper belongs.

The Common Mongolic branch is grouped in the following way:^[29]

• Khalkha (Mongolian: Halh) is spoken in Mongolia, but some dialects (e.g. Cahar) are also spoken in the Inner Mongolia region of China.
• Khorchin (Mongolian: Horchin) is spoken to the east in eastern Inner Mongolia and Manchuria.
• Ordos is spoken to the south, in Ordos City in Inner Mongolia.
• Oirat, is spoken to the west, in Dzungaria.
• Khamnigan (Mongolian: Hamnigan) is spoken in northeast Mongolia and in northwest of Manchuria.
• Buryat (Mongolian: Buriad) is spoken to the north, in the Republic of Buryatia of Russia, as well as in the Barga region of Hulun Buir League in Inner Mongolia.

There is no disagreement that the Khalkha dialect of the Mongolian state is Mongolian.^[30] 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.^[31] 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.^[32] 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).^[33] 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.^[34]

Some Western scholars^[35] 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,^[36] 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,^[37] 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.^{[38] [39]} The split of pronounced as /[tʃ]/ into pronounced as /[tʃ]/ before *i and pronounced as /[ts]/ before all other reconstructed vowels, which is found in Mongolia but not in Inner Mongolia, is often cited as a fundamental distinction,^[40] for example Proto-Mongolic pronounced as /

• tʃil

/, Khalkha pronounced as //tʃiɮ//, Chakhar pronounced as //tʃil// 'year' versus Proto-Mongolic pronounced as /

• tʃøhelen

/, Khalkha pronounced as //tsoːɮəŋ//, Chakhar pronounced as //tʃoːləŋ// 'few'.^[41] On the other hand, the split between the past tense verbal suffixes -pronounced as //sŋ// in the Central varieties v. -pronounced as //dʒɛː// in the Eastern varieties^[42] is usually seen as a merely stochastic difference.^[43]

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.^[44] 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.^[45]

List of dialects

Juha Janhunen (2003: 179)^[46] 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
  • Halh
  • Hotogoit
  • Darhad
  • Congol
  • Sartul
  • Dariganga

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.^[47]

China

Standard Mongolian in Inner Mongolia is based on the Chakhar Mongolian of the Khalkha dialect group, spoken in the Shuluun Huh/Zhènglán Banner,^[48] and is written in the traditional Mongolian script.

The number of Mongolian speakers in China is still larger than in the state of Mongolia,^[49] 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, is the basis of standard Mongolian in China.^[50]

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 *pronounced as /ʧ/ () and *pronounced as /ʤ/ () into pronounced as /ʦ/ and pronounced as /ʣ/ versus pronounced as /ʧ/ and pronounced as /ʤ/ in Mongolia:^[51]

Middle Mongol	Inner Mongolia	Mongolia	Meaning
pronounced as /ʧisu/	[{{IPA|ʧʊs}}]	[{{IPA|ʦʊs}}]	blood
pronounced as /ʤam/	[{{IPA|ʤɑm}}]	[{{IPA|dzɑm}}]	street
pronounced as /oʧixu/	[{{IPA|ɔʧɪx}}]	[{{IPA|ɔʧɪx}}]	to go
pronounced as /ʤime/	[{{IPA|ʤim}}]	[{{IPA|ʤim}}]	path

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.^[52]

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.^[53] This section discusses the phonology of Khalkha Mongolian with subsections on Vowels, Consonants, Phonotactics and Stress.

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],^[54] each of the other six phonemes occurs both short and long. Phonetically, short pronounced as //o// has become centralised to the central vowel pronounced as /[ɵ]/.

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	[{{IPA link|a}}, {{IPA link|aː}}]	a, aa
и, ий/ы	[{{IPA link|i}}, {{IPA link|iː}}]	i, ii
о, оо	[{{IPA link|ɔ}}, {{IPA link|ɔː}}]	o, oo
ө, өө	[{{IPA link|ɵ}}, {{IPA link|oː}}] /pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link//	ö, öö
у, уу	[{{IPA link|ʊ}}, {{IPA link| ʊː}}]	u, uu
ү, үү	[{{IPA link|u}}, {{IPA link|uː}}]	ü, üü
э, ээ	[{{IPA link|i}}, {{IPA link|eː}}]	e, ee

	Front		Central		Back
	Short	Long	Short	Long	Short	Long
Close	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Near-Close					pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Close-Mid		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/
Open-mid					pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Open			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

Khalkha also has four diphthongs: historically pronounced as //ui, ʊi, ɔi, ai// but are pronounced more like pronounced as /[ʉe̯, ʊe̯, ɞe̯, æe̯]/;^[55] e.g. ой in Mongolian: нохой (Mongolian: nohoi) pronounced as /[nɔ̙ˈχɞe̯]/ 'dog', ай in Mongolian: далай (Mongolian: dalai) pronounced as /[taˈɮæe̯]/ sea', уй in Mongolian: уйлах (Mongolian: uilah) pronounced as /[ˈʊe̯ɮɐχ]/ 'to cry', үй in Mongolian: үйлдвэр (Mongolian: üildver) pronounced as /[ˈʉe̯ɮtw̜ɘr]/ 'factory', эй in Mongolian: хэрэгтэй (Mongolian: heregtei) pronounced as /[çiɾɪxˈtʰe]/ 'necessary'. There are three additional rising diphthongs pronounced as //ia// (иа), pronounced as //ʊa// (уа) pronounced as //ei// (эй); e.g. иа in Mongolian: амиараа (Mongolian: amiaraa) pronounced as /[aˈmʲæɾa]/ 'individually', уа in Mongolian: хуаран (Mongolian: huaran) pronounced as /[ˈχʷaɾɐɴ]/ 'barracks'.^[56]

Allophones

This table below lists vowel allophones (short vowels allophones in non-initial positions are used interchangeably with schwa):^[57]

Short	Initial positions	pronounced as /[a]/	pronounced as /[e]/	pronounced as /[i]/	pronounced as /[ɔ]/	pronounced as /[o]/	pronounced as /[ʊ]/	pronounced as /[u]/
	Non-initial positions	pronounced as /[ă]/	pronounced as /[ĕ]/	pronounced as /[ĭ]/	pronounced as /[ɔ̆]/	pronounced as /[ŏ]/	pronounced as /[ʊ̆]/	pronounced as /[ŭ]/
		pronounced as /[ə]/
Long	Initial positions	pronounced as /[aː]/	pronounced as /[eː]/	pronounced as /[iː]/	pronounced as /[ɔː]/	pronounced as /[oː]/	pronounced as /[ʊː]/	pronounced as /[uː]/
	Non-initial positions	pronounced as /[a]/	pronounced as /[e]/	pronounced as /[i]/	pronounced as /[ɔ]/	pronounced as /[o]/	pronounced as /[ʊ]/	pronounced as /[u]/

ATR harmony

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

	+ATR ("front")	−ATR ("back")	Neutral
IPA	pronounced as //e, u, o//	pronounced as //a, ʊ, ɔ//	pronounced as //i//
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 pronounced as //o// and pronounced as //u// are often conventionally rendered as and, while the vowels pronounced as //ɔ// and pronounced as //ʊ// are expressed as and . 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, pronounced as //i//, 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 pronounced as //i// or a −ATR vowel. Likewise, if the first vowel is a +ATR vowel, then every vowel of the word must be either pronounced as //i// 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 pronounced as //A// that can be realized as pronounced as //a, ɔ, e, o//; e.g.

• pronounced as //orx// 'household' + pronounced as /-Ar/ (instrumental) → pronounced as //orxor// 'by a household'
• pronounced as //xarʊɮ// 'sentry' + pronounced as /-Ar/ (instrumental) → pronounced as //xarʊɮar// 'by a sentry'

Other suffixes can occur in pronounced as //U// being realized as pronounced as //ʊ, u//, in which case all −ATR vowels lead to pronounced as //ʊ// and all +ATR vowels lead to pronounced as //u//; e.g.

• pronounced as //aw// 'to take"l' + pronounced as /-Uɮ/ (causative) → pronounced as //awʊɮ//

If the only vowel in the word stem is pronounced as //i//, the suffixes will use the +ATR suffix forms.^[58]

Rounding harmony

Mongolian also has rounding harmony, which does not apply to close vowels. If a stem contains pronounced as //o// (or pronounced as //ɔ//), a suffix that is specified for an open vowel will have pronounced as /[o]/ (or pronounced as /[ɔ]/, respectively) as well. However, this process is blocked by the presence of pronounced as //u// (or pronounced as //ʊ//) and pronounced as //ei//; e.g. pronounced as //ɔr-ɮɔ// 'came in', but pronounced as //ɔr-ʊɮ-ɮa// 'inserted'.^[59]

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.^[60]

Consonants

The following table lists the consonants of Khalkha Mongolian. The consonants enclosed in parentheses occur only in loanwords.^[61] The occurrence of palatalized consonant phonemes, except pronounced as //tʃ// pronounced as //tʃʰ// pronounced as //ʃ// pronounced as //j//, is restricted to words with [−ATR] vowels.^[62]

	Labial		Dental		Velar		Uvular
plain	pal.	plain	pal.	plain	pal.
Nasal		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Plosive	unaspirated	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	aspirated	(pronounced as /link/)	(pronounced as /link/)	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)	(pronounced as /link/)
Affricate	unaspirated			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	aspirated			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Fricative	central	(pronounced as /link/)		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	lateral			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Trill				pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Approximant		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/

A rare feature among the world's languages, Mongolian has neither a voiced lateral approximant, such as pronounced as /[l]/, nor the voiceless velar plosive pronounced as /[k]/; instead, it has a voiced alveolar lateral fricative, pronounced as //ɮ//, which is often realized as voiceless pronounced as /[ɬ]/.^[63] In word-final position, pronounced as //n// (if not followed by a vowel in historical forms) is realized as pronounced as /[ŋ]/. Aspirated consonants are preaspirated in medial and word-final contexts, devoicing preceding consonants and vowels. Devoiced short vowels are often deleted.^[64]

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: pronounced as //w̜//, pronounced as //ɮ//, pronounced as //r//, pronounced as //w̜ʲ//, pronounced as //ɮʲ//, pronounced as //rʲ//, pronounced as //tʰʲ//, and pronounced as //tʲ//. pronounced as /[ŋ]/ is restricted to codas (else it becomes pronounced as /[n]/), and pronounced as //p// and pronounced as //pʲ// do not occur in codas for historical reasons. For two-consonant clusters, the following restrictions obtain:

• a palatalized consonant can be preceded only by another palatalized consonant or sometimes by pronounced as //ɢ// and pronounced as //ʃ//
• pronounced as //ŋ// may precede only pronounced as //ʃ, x, ɡ, ɡʲ// and pronounced as //ɢ//
• pronounced as //j// does not seem to appear in second position
• pronounced as //p// and pronounced as //pʲ// do not occur as first consonant and as second consonant only if preceded by pronounced as //m// or pronounced as //ɮ// or their palatalized counterparts.

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, Mongolian: hoyor 'two', Mongolian: azhil 'work', and Mongolian: saarmag 'neutral' are, phonemically, pronounced as //xɔjr//, pronounced as //atʃɮ//, and pronounced as //saːrmɡ// respectively. In such cases, an epenthetic vowel is inserted to prevent disallowed consonant clusters. Thus, in the examples given above, the words are phonetically pronounced as /[ˈxɔjɔ̆r]/, pronounced as /[ˈatʃĭɮ]/, and pronounced as /[ˈsaːrmăɢ]/. 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 pronounced as //u// produces pronounced as /[e]/; pronounced as //i// 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 pronounced as /[i]/, as in pronounced as /[ˈatʃĭɮ]/.^[65]

Stress

Stress in Mongolian is nonphonemic (does not distinguish different meanings) and thus is considered to depend entirely on syllable structure. But scholarly opinions on stress placement diverge sharply.^[66] 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)^[67] proposes that stress falls on the rightmost heavy syllable unless this syllable is word-final:

HˈHLL	Mongolian: бай'''гуу'''лагдах	pronounced as /[pæ.ˈɢʊ.ɮəɢ.təx]/	'to be organized'
LHˈHL	Mongolian: хөндий'''рүү'''лэн	pronounced as /[xɵn.ti.ˈɾu.ɮəŋ]/	'separating' (adverbial)
LHHˈHL	Mongolian: Улаанбаат'''рын'''хан	pronounced as /[ʊ.ɮan.paːtʰ.ˈrin.xəŋ]/	'the residents of Ulaanbaatar'
HˈHH	Mongolian: уур'''тай'''гаар	pronounced as /[ʊːr.ˈtʰæ.ɢar]/	'angrily'
ˈHLH	Mongolian: '''уйт'''гартай	pronounced as /[ˈʊɪtʰ.ɢər.tʰæ]/	'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:^[68]

LˈH	Mongolian: га'''луу'''	pronounced as /[ɢa.ˈɮʊ]/	'goose'
ˈLL	Mongolian: '''унш'''сан	pronounced as /[ˈʊnʃ.səɴ]/	'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.^{[69] [70]} 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.^[71]

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,^[72] while Khorchin is somewhat more diverse.^[73]

Morphology

Modern Mongolian is an agglutinative—almost exclusively suffixing—language, with the only exception being reduplication.^[74] Mongolian also does not have gendered nouns, or definite articles like "the".^[75] Most of the suffixes consist of a single morpheme. There are many derivational morphemes.^[76] For example, the word consists of the root 'to be', an epenthetic ‑‑, the causative ‑‑ (hence 'to found'), the derivative suffix ‑ that forms nouns created by the action (like -ation in organisation) and the complex suffix ‑ denoting something that belongs to the modified word (‑ would be genitive).

Nominal compounds are quite frequent. Some derivational verbal suffixes are rather productive, e.g. 'to speak', '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. ‑ (mainly future or generic statements) or ‑ (second person imperative);^[77] participles (often called "verbal nouns"), which can be used clause-finally or attributively, i.e. ‑ (perfect-past)^[78] or ‑ 'want to'; and converbs, which can link clauses or function adverbially, i.e. ‑ (qualifies for any adverbial function or neutrally connects two sentences) or ‑ (the action of the main clause takes place until the action expressed by the suffixed verb begins).^[79]

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.^[80] If a direct object is definite, it must take the accusative, while it must take the nominative if it is indefinite.^{[81] [82]} 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 ‑ (‑) when the stem has an unstable nasal.^[83] Nouns can also take a reflexive-possessive suffix, indicating that the marked noun is possessed by the subject of the sentence: I friend- save- "I saved my friend".^[84] However, there are also somewhat noun-like adjectives to which case suffixes seemingly cannot be attached directly unless there is ellipsis.^[85]

+Mongolian noun cases^[86]
Case	Suffix	English preposition	Example (Cyrillic)	Transliteration	Translation
	–	–	ном		book
	‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑)	–			the book (as object)
	‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑)	of			of (a) book; book's
dative-locative	‑ (‑) ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑)	on, to, at, in			in (a) book
	‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑)	from			from (a) book
	‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑)	with, using			with (e.g. by means of a) book
	‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑)	together with			with (e.g. alongside a) book
	‑ (‑)	without			without (a) book
	,    ,	towards			towards (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.   →  ). 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. ‑ (‑) after stems ending in long vowels or diphthongs, or when a stem ending in   has an unstable velar (unstable g).
2. ‑ (‑) after back vowel stems ending in unpalatalized consonants (except and), short vowels (except) or iotated vowels.
3. ‑ (‑) after front vowel stems ending in consonants, short vowels or iotated vowels; and after all stems ending in the palatalized consonants  ,   and  , as well as  ,  ,   or  .

Note: If the stem ends in a short vowel or  , it is replaced by the suffix.

Genitive case

The genitive case is used to show possession of something.^[87]

• For regular stems, it is formed by:
  1. ‑Mongolian: н (‑) after stems ending in the diphthongs  ,  ,  ,  ,   or  , or the long vowel  .
  2. ‑Mongolian: ы (‑) after back vowel stems ending in  .
  3. ‑Mongolian: ий (‑) after front vowel stems ending in  .
  4. ‑ (‑) after back vowel stems ending in unpalatalized consonants (except, and), short vowels (except) or iotated vowels.
  5. ‑ (‑) after front vowel stems ending in consonants (other than), short vowels or iotated vowels; and after all stems ending in the palatalized consonants  ,   and  , as well as  ,  ,   or  .
  6. ‑Mongolian: гийн (‑) after stems ending in a long vowel (other than), or after the diphthongs  ,   or  .

Note: If the stem ends in a short vowel or  , it is replaced by the suffix.

• For stems with an unstable nasal (unstable n), it is formed by:
  1. ‑Mongolian: ны (‑) after back vowel stems (other than those ending in or).
  2. ‑Mongolian: ний (‑) after front vowel stems (other than those ending in or).
  3. ‑Mongolian: ины (‑) after back vowel stems ending in   or  .
  4. ‑Mongolian: иний (‑) after front vowel stems ending in   or  .

Note: If the stem ends in   or  , it is replaced by the suffix.

• For stems with an unstable velar (unstable g), it is formed by ‑Mongolian: гийн (‑).

Dative-locative case

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

• For regular stems or those with an unstable velar (unstable g), it is formed by:
  1. ‑ (‑) after stems ending in vowels or the vocalized consonants  ,   and  , and a small number of stems ending in   and  .
  2. ‑ (‑) after stems ending in   and  , most stems ending in   and  , and stems ending in   when it is preceded by a vowel.
  3. ‑ (‑) after stems ending in the palatalized consonants  ,   and  .
  4. ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) or ‑ (‑) after all other stems (depending on the vowel harmony of the stem).
• For stems with an unstable nasal (unstable n), it is formed by:
  1. ‑ (‑) after stems ending in vowels.
  2. ‑ (‑) after stems ending in the palatalized consonants  ,   and  .
  3. ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑), ‑ (‑) or ‑ (‑) after all other stems (depending on the vowel harmony of the stem).

Plurals

Source:^[88]

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.^[89] There are four ways of forming plurals in Mongolian:

1. Some plurals are formed by adding -Mongolian: нууд -nuud or -Mongolian: нүүд -nüüd. If the last vowel of the previous word is a (a), o (y), or ɔ (o), then -Mongolian: нууд is used; e.g. Mongolian: харx harh 'rat' becomes Mongolian: xapхнууд harhnuud 'rats'. If the last vowel of the previous word is e (э), ʊ (ө), ü (ү), or i (и) then Mongolian: нүүд is used; e.g. Mongolian: нүд nüd 'eye' becomes Mongolian: нүднүүд nüdnüüd 'eyes'.
2. In other plurals, just -Mongolian: ууд -uud or -Mongolian: үүд -üüd is added without the "n"; e.g. Mongolian: хот hot 'city' becomes Mongolian: хотууд hotuud 'cities', and Mongolian: ээж eezh 'mother' becomes Mongolian: ээжүүд eezhüüd 'mothers'.
3. Another way of forming plurals is by adding -Mongolian: нар -nar; e.g. Mongolian: багш bagsh 'teacher' becomes Mongolian: багш нар bagsh nar 'teachers'.
4. The final way is an irregular form used: Mongolian: хүн hün 'person' becomes Mongolian: хүмүүс hümüüs '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.^[90]

Personal Pronouns^[91]

			Nominative	Accusative	Genitive	Oblique stem
1st person	singular
	plural	exclusive
		inclusive
2nd person	singular	familiar
		polite
	plural			–
3rd person	singular					–
	plural					–

Negation

Negation is mostly expressed by -güi (-Mongolian: гүй) after participles and by the negation particle bish (Mongolian: биш) after nouns and adjectives; negation particles preceding the verb (for example in converbal constructions) exist, but tend to be replaced by analytical constructions.^[92]

Numbers

Pronunciation and writing of numbers in text

N	Text in Mongolian	N	Text in Mongolian	N	Text in Mongolian
0	Mongolian: тэг teg	10	Mongolian: арав arav	20	Mongolian: хорь, hori
1	Mongolian: нэг neg	11	Mongolian: арван нэг arvan neg	30	Mongolian: гуч guch
2	Mongolian: хоёр hoyor	12	Mongolian: арван хоёр arvan hoyor	40	Mongolian: дөч döch
3	Mongolian: гурав gurav	13	Mongolian: арван гурав arvan gurav	50	Mongolian: тавь tavi
4	Mongolian: дөрөв döröv	14	Mongolian: арван дөрөв arvan döröv	60	Mongolian: жар zhar
5	Mongolian: тав tav	15	Mongolian: арван тав arvan tav	70	Mongolian: дал dal
6	Mongolian: зургаа zurgaa	16	Mongolian: арван зургаа arvan zurgaa	80	Mongolian: ная naya
7	Mongolian: долоо doloo	17	Mongolian: арван долоо arvan doloo	90	Mongolian: ер yer
8	Mongolian: найм naim	18	Mongolian: арван найм arvan naim	100	Mongolian: нэг зуу neg zuu
9	Mongolian: ес yös	19	Mongolian: арван ес arvan yös	200	Mongolian: хоёр зуу hoyor 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, Mongolian: уу and Mongolian: үү 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 Mongolian: юу and Mongolian: юү 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 Mongolian: вэ and Mongolian: бэ, depending on the last sound in the previous word.

1. Yes/No Question Particles -Mongolian: уу/үү/юу/юү
2. Open Ended Question Particles -Mongolian: бэ/вэ

Basic interrogative pronouns -Mongolian: юу ('what'), -Mongolian: хаана ('where'), Mongolian: хэн ('who'), Mongolian: яагаад ('why'), Mongolian: яаж ('how'), Mongolian: хэзээ ('when'), Mongolian: ямар ('what kind')

Verbs

In Mongolian, verbs have a stem and an ending. For example, the stems Mongolian: бай-, Mongolian: сур-, and Mongolian: үзэ- are suffixed with Mongolian: -х, Mongolian: -ах, and Mongolian: -х respectively: Mongolian: байx, Mongolian: сурax, and Mongolian: үзэx . These are the infinitive or dictionary forms.^[93] The present/future tense is formed by adding Mongolian: -на, Mongolian: -но, Mongolian: -нэ, or Mongolian: -нө to the stem, for example Mongolian: сурна 'I/you/he/she/we/they (will) study'. Mongolian: байна is the present/future tense verb for 'to be'; likewise, Mongolian: уншина is 'to read', and Mongolian: үзнэ is 'to see'. The final vowel is barely pronounced and is not pronounced at all if the word after begins with a vowel, so Mongolian: сайн байна уу is pronounced pronounced as /[sæe̯m‿pæe̯n‿ʊː]/ 'hello, how are you?'.

1. Past Tense Mongolian: -сан/-сон/-сэн/-сөн
2. Informed Past Tense (any point in past) Mongolian: -в
3. Informed Past Tense (not long ago) Mongolian: -лаа/-лоо/-лээ/-лөө
4. Non-Informed Past Tense (generally a slightly to relatively more distant past) Mongolian: -жээ/-чээ
5. Present Perfect Tense Mongolian: -даг/-дог/-дэг/-дөг
6. Present Progressive Tense Mongolian: -ж/-ч байна
7. (Reflective) Present Progressive Tense Mongolian: -аа/-оо/-ээ/-өө
8. Simple Present Tense Mongolian: -на/-но/-нэ/-нө
9. Simple Future Mongolian: -х (болно)
10. Infinitive Mongolian: -х

Negation

There are several ways to form negatives in Mongolian.^[94] For example:

1. Mongolian: биш – the negative form of the verb 'to be' (Mongolian: байх) – Mongolian: биш means 'is/are not'.
2. -Mongolian: гүй . This suffix is added to verbs, so Mongolian: явах ('go/will go') becomes Mongolian: явахгүй ('do not go/will not go').
3. Mongolian: үгүй is the word for 'no'.
4. Mongolian: битгий is used for negative imperatives; e.g. Mongolian: битгий яваарай ('don't go')
5. Mongolian: бүү is the formal version of Mongolian: битгий.

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.^[95]

Phrase structure

The noun phrase has the order: demonstrative pronoun/numeral, adjective, noun.^[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.^[97] Possessive pronouns (in different forms) may either precede or follow the NP.^[98] Examples:

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,^[99] as in the following example with predicate bichsen:

In this clause the adverbial, helehgüigeer 'without saying [so]' must precede the predicate's complement, üüniig 'it-' in order to avoid syntactic ambiguity, since helehgüigeer 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 hurdan 'fast', it could optionally immediately precede the predicate. There are also cases in which the adverb must immediately precede the predicate.^[100]

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.^[101]

Most often, of course, the predicate consists of a verb. However, there are several types of nominal predicative constructions, with or without a copula.^[102] Auxiliaries that express direction and aktionsart (among other meanings) can with the assistance of a linking converb occupy the immediate postverbal position; e.g.

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

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

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.^[103] While the predicate generally has to remain in clause-final position, the other phrases are free to change order or to wholly disappear.^[104] The topic tends to be placed clause-initially, new information rather at the end of the clause.^[105] Topic can be overtly marked with bol, which can also mark contrastive focus,^[106] overt additive focus ('even, also') can be marked with the clitic ch,^[107] and overt restrictive focus with the clitic l ('only').^[108]

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:

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-.^[109]

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.^[110]

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:

Some verbal nouns in the dative (or less often in the instrumental) function very similar to converbs:^[111] e.g. replacing olbol in the preceding sentence with olohod find- 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:^[112]

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

Mongolian has a complementizer auxiliary verb ge- very similar to Japanese to iu. ge- literally means 'to say' and in converbal form gezh 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.^[113]

Mongolian clauses tend to be combined paratactically, which sometimes gives rise to sentence structures which are subordinative despite resembling coordinative structures in European languages:^[114]

In the subordinate clause the subject, if different from the subject of main clause, sometimes has to take accusative or genitive case.^[115] There is marginal occurrence of subjects taking ablative case as well.^[116] 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,^[117] e.g. tüünii idsen hool that.one- eat- 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, Arabic, Tibetan,^[118] Tungusic, and Chinese.^[119] However, more recent loanwords come from Russian, English,^[120] and Mandarin Chinese (mainly in Inner Mongolia).^[121] Language commissions of the Mongolian state continuously translate new terminology into Mongolian, so as the Mongolian vocabulary now has Mongolian: yerönhiilögch 'president' ('generalizer') and Mongolian: shar airah 'beer' ('yellow kumys'). There are several loan translations, e.g. Mongolian: galt tereg 'train' ('fire cart') from Chinese Chinese: huǒchē (Chinese: 火车 'fire cart') 'train'.^[122] Other loan translations include Mongolian: mön chanar 'essence' from Chinese Chinese: shízhì (Chinese: 实质 'true quality'), Mongolian: hün am 'population' from Chinese Chinese: rénkǒu (Chinese: 人口 'person mouth'), Mongolian: erdene shish 'corn, maize' from Chinese Chinese: yùmǐ (Chinese: 玉米 'jade rice') and Mongolian: bügd nairamdah uls 'republic' from Chinese Chinese: gònghéguó (Chinese: 共和国 'public collaboration nation').

• Sanskrit loanwords include Mongolian: shashin (Sanskrit: शशन Sanskrit: sasana 'religion'), Mongolian: sansar (Sanskrit: सँसार Sanskrit: sansāra 'space'), Mongolian: awiyas (Sanskrit: अभ्यास Sanskrit: abhyasa 'talent'), Mongolian: buyan (Sanskrit: पुण्य Sanskrit: punya 'good deeds'), Mongolian: agshin (Sanskrit: क्षण Sanskrit: kšana 'instant'), Mongolian: tiw (Sanskrit: द्वीप Sanskrit: dvipa 'continent'), Mongolian: garig (Sanskrit: ग्रह Sanskrit: graha 'planet'), Mongolian: cadig (Sanskrit: जातक Sanskrit: jātaka 'tales, stories'), Mongolian: shüleg (Sanskrit: श्लोक Sanskrit: šloka 'poems, verses'), Mongolian: badag (Sanskrit: पदक Sanskrit: padaka 'strophe'), Mongolian: arshan (Sanskrit: रसायन Sanskrit: rašayana 'mineral water, nectar'), Mongolian: shastir (Sanskrit: शास्त्र Sanskrit: shastra 'chronicle'), Mongolian: bud (Sanskrit: बुध Sanskrit: budh 'Mercury'), Mongolian: sugar (Sanskrit: शुक्र Sanskrit: shukra 'Venus'), Mongolian: barhasvadi (Sanskrit: वृहस्पति Sanskrit: vrihaspati 'Jupiter'), and Mongolian: sanchir (Sanskrit: शनि Sanskrit: shani 'Saturn').
• Persian loanwords include Mongolian: anar (Persian: anar 'amethyst'), Mongolian: arhi (Persian: araq 'brandy', ultimately from Arabic), Mongolian: baishin (Persian: pishivân 'building'), Mongolian: bars (Persian: fars 'tiger'), Mongolian: bers (Persian: farzin 'chess queen/female tiger'), Mongolian: bold (Persian: pulâd 'steel'), Mongolian: bolor (Persian: bolur 'crystal'), Mongolian: gunzhid (Persian: konjod 'sesame'), Mongolian: gindan (Persian: zendân 'prison'), Mongolian: dari (Persian: dâru 'powder/gunpowder, medicine'), Mongolian: duran (Persian: dur 'telescope'), Mongolian: duranbai (Persian: durbin 'telescope/microscope'), Mongolian: dewter (Persian: daftar 'notebook'), Mongolian: hurmast (Persian: [[Ahura Mazda|Ohrmazd]] 'high God'), Mongolian: sawan (Persian: sâbun 'soap'), Mongolian: sandal (Persian: sandali 'stool'), and Mongolian: com (Persian: jâm 'cup').
• Chinese loanwords include Mongolian: banz (Chinese: 板子 bǎnzi 'board'), Mongolian: laa (Chinese: 蜡 là 'candle'), Mongolian: luuwan (Chinese: 萝卜 lúobo 'radish'), Mongolian: huluu (Chinese: 葫芦 húlu 'gourd'), Mongolian: denlüü (Chinese: 灯路 dēnglù 'lamp'), Mongolian: chiiden (Chinese: 汽灯 qìdēng 'electric lamp'), Mongolian: biir (Chinese: 笔儿 bǐr 'paintbrush'), Mongolian: gambanz (Chinese: 斩板子 zhǎnbǎnzi 'cutting board'), Mongolian: chinzhuu (Chinese: 青椒 qīngjiāo 'pepper'), Mongolian: zhuucai (Chinese: 韭菜 jiǔcài 'leek'), Mongolian: moog (Chinese: 蘑菇 mógu 'mushroom'), Mongolian: cuu (Chinese: 醋 cù 'vinegar, soy sauce'), Mongolian: baicaa (Chinese: 白菜 báicài 'cabbage'), Mongolian: mantuu (Chinese: 馒头 mántou 'steamed bun'), Mongolian: naimaa/maimaa (Chinese: 买卖 mǎimài 'trade'), Mongolian: goimon (Chinese: 挂面 gùamiàn 'noodles'), Mongolian: dan (Chinese: 单 dān 'single'), Mongolian: gan (Chinese: 钢 gāng 'steel'), Mongolian: lantuu (Chinese: 榔头 lángtou 'sledgehammer'), Mongolian: conh (Chinese: 窗户 chūanghu 'window'), Mongolian: buuz (Chinese: 包子 bāozi 'dumplings'), Mongolian: huushuur (Chinese: 火烧儿 hǔoshāor 'fried dumpling'), Mongolian: zutan (Chinese: 乳脂汤 rǔzhītāng 'cream soup'), Mongolian: bantan (Chinese: 粉汤 fěntāng 'flour soup'), Mongolian: zhan (Chinese: 酱 jiàng 'soy'), Mongolian: wan (Chinese: 王 wáng 'king'), Mongolian: günzh (Chinese: 公主 gōngzhǔ 'princess'), Mongolian: gün (Chinese: 公 gōng 'duke'), Mongolian: zhanzhin (Chinese: 将军 jiāngjūn 'general'), Mongolian: taigan (Chinese: 太监 tàijiàn 'eunuch'), Mongolian: pyanz (Chinese: 片子 piànzi 'recorded disc'), Mongolian: guanz (Chinese: 馆子 guǎnzi 'restaurant'), Mongolian: lianhua (Chinese: 莲花 liánhuā 'lotus'), Mongolian: huar (Chinese: 花儿 huār 'flower'), Mongolian: toor (Chinese: 桃儿 táor 'peach'), Mongolian: intoor (Chinese: 樱桃儿 yīngtáor 'cherry'), Mongolian: zeel (Chinese: 借 jiè 'borrow, lend'), Mongolian: wandui (Chinese: 豌豆 wāndòu 'pea'), Mongolian: yanz (Chinese: 样子 yàngzi 'manner, appearance'), Mongolian: shinzh (Chinese: 性质 xìngzhì 'characteristic'), Mongolian: liir (Chinese: 梨儿 lír 'pear'), Mongolian: bai (Chinese: 牌 páizi 'target'), Mongolian: zhin(g) (Chinese: 斤 jīn 'weight'), Mongolian: bin(g) (Chinese: 饼 bǐng 'pancake'), Mongolian: huanli (Chinese: 皇历 huángli 'calendar'), Mongolian: shaazan (Chinese: 烧瓷 shāocí 'porcelain'), Mongolian: hantaaz (Chinese: 砍兜肚 kǎndōudu 'sleeveless vest'), Mongolian: püntüüz (Chinese: 粉条子 fěntiáozi 'potato noodles'), and Mongolian: cai (Chinese: 茶 chá 'tea').

In the 20th century, many Russian loanwords entered the Mongolian language, including Mongolian: doktor 'doctor', Mongolian: shokolad 'chocolate', Mongolian: wagon 'train wagon', Mongolian: kalendar 'calendar', Mongolian: sistem 'system', Mongolian: podwoolk (from Russian: futbolka 'T-shirt'), and Mongolian: mashin '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: Mongolian: menezhment 'management', Mongolian: komputer 'computer', Mongolian: fail 'file', Mongolian: marketing 'marketing', Mongolian: kredit 'credit', Mongolian: onlain 'online', and Mongolian: mesezh 'message'. Most of these are confined to the Mongolian state.

Other languages have borrowed words from Mongolian. Examples (Mongolian in brackets) include Persian کشيكچى Persian: kešikci (from Mongolian: heshig 'royal guard'), Persian: قرقاول Persian: qarqâvol (from Mongolian: girgawl 'pheasant'), Persian: جیبه Persian: jibe (from Mongolian: zhebseg 'iron armour'), Persian: داروغه Persian: dâruqe (from Mongolian: darga 'chief of commandant'), Persian: قیچی Persian: qeyci (from Mongolian: kayichi 'scissors'); Uzbek Uzbek: orol (from Mongolian: aral 'island'); Chinese 衚衕 hutong (from Mongolian: gudum 'passageway'), 站赤 zhanchi (from Mongolian: zhamchi 'courier/post station'); Middle Chinese 犢 duk (from Mongolian: tugul 'calf'); Korean Korean: 수라 Korean: sura (from Mongolian: shüle 'royal meal'), Korean: 악대 Korean: akdae (from Mongolian: agta 'castrated animal'), Korean: 업진 Korean: eobjin (from Mongolian: ebchigün 'chest of an animal'); Old English cocer (from Mongolian: köküür 'container'); Old French quivre (from Mongolian: köküür 'container'); Old High German Baldrian (from Mongolian: balchirgan-a '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.^[123]

Writing systems

See main article: Mongolian writing systems.

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 Temüjin 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: t=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).^[124] 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.^[125]

The Mongolian Cyrillic script was the result of the spreading of Russian influence following the expansion of the Russian Empire. The establishment of 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. It has been argued that 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.^[126] 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. From 1991 to 1994, an attempt at reintroducing the traditional alphabet failed in the face of popular resistance.^[127] In informal contexts of electronic text production, the use of the Latin alphabet is common.^[128]

In the People's Republic of China, Mongolian is the official language along with Mandarin Chinese 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.^[129] 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.^[130]

In March 2020, the Mongolian government announced plans to use both Cyrillic and the traditional Mongolian script in official documents by 2025.^{[131] [132] [133]}

Example text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Mongolian, written in the Cyrillic alphabet:^[134]

Mongolian: 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.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Mongolian transliteration:

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Mongolian, written in the Mongolian script:^[135]

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:^[136]

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

• Mongolian writing systems
  • Mongolian script
    • Galik alphabet
    • Todo alphabet
  • ʼPhags-pa script
    • Horizontal square script
  • Soyombo script
  • Mongolian Latin alphabet
    • SASM/GNC romanization § Mongolian
  • Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
  • Mongolian transliteration of Chinese characters
    • • • Mongolian Braille
• Mongolian Sign Language
• Mongolian name

References

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 usedTULIP 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

• ÖMAKQ = Öbür mongγul-un arad-un keblel-ün qoriy-a

• ÖMSKKQ = Öbür mongγul-un surγan kümüǰil-ün keblel-ün qoriy-a

• ÖMYSKQ = Öbür mongγul-un yeke surγaγuli-yin keblel-ün qoriy-a

• ŠUA = [Mongol Ulsyn] Šinžleh Uhaany Akademi

• Amaržargal, B. 1988. BNMAU dah' Mongol helnij nutgijn ajalguuny tol' bichig: halh ajalguu. Ulaanbaatar: ŠUA.
• Apatóczky, Ákos Bertalan. 2005. On the problem of the subject markers of the Mongolian language. In Wú Xīnyīng, Chén Gānglóng (eds.), Miànxiàng xīn shìjìde ménggǔxué [The Mongolian studies in the new century : review and prospect]. Běijīng: Mínzú Chūbǎnshè. 334–343. .
• Ashimura, Takashi. 2002. Mongorugo jarōto gengo no pronounced as /-lɛː/ no yōhō ni tsuite. TULIP, 21: 147–200.
• Bajansan, Ž. and Š. Odontör. 1995. Hel šinžlelijn ner tom"joony züjlčilsen tajlbar toli. Ulaanbaatar.
• Bayančoγtu. 2002. Qorčin aman ayalγun-u sudulul. Kökeqota: ÖMYSKQ. .
• Bjambasan, P. 2001. Mongol helnij ügüjsgeh har'caa ilerhijleh hereglüürüüd. Mongol hel, sojolijn surguul: Erdem šinžilgeenij bičig, 18: 9–20.
• Bosson, James E. 1964. Modern Mongolian; a primer and reader. Uralic and Altaic series; 38. Bloomington: Indiana University.
• Brosig, Benjamin. 2009. Depictives and resultatives in Modern Khalkh Mongolian. Hokkaidō gengo bunka kenkyū, 7: 71–101.
• Chuluu, Ujiyediin. 1998. Studies on Mongolian verb morphology . Dissertation, University of Toronto.
• Činggeltei. 1999. Odu üj-e-jin mongγul kelen-ü ǰüi. Kökeqota: ÖMAKQ. .
• Coloo, Ž. 1988. BNMAU dah' mongol helnij nutgijn ajalguuny tol' bichig: ojrd ajalguu. Ulaanbaatar: ŠUA.
• Djahukyan, Gevork. (1991). Armenian Lexicography. In Franz Josef Hausmann (Ed.), An International Encyclopedia of Lexicography (pp. 2367–2371). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
• [Dobu] Dàobù. 1983. Ménggǔyǔ jiǎnzhì. Běijīng: Mínzú.
• Garudi. 2002. Dumdadu üy-e-yin mongγul kelen-ü bütüče-yin kelberi-yin sudulul. Kökeqota: ÖMAKQ.
• Georg, Stefan, Peter A. Michalove, Alexis Manaster Ramer, Paul J. Sidwell. 1999. Telling general linguists about Altaic. Journal of Linguistics, 35: 65–98.
• Guntsetseg, D. 2008. Differential Object Marking in Mongolian. Working Papers of the SFB 732 Incremental Specification in Context, 1: 53–69.
• Hammar, Lucia B. 1983. Syntactic and pragmatic options in Mongolian – a study of bol and n'. Ph.D. Thesis. Bloomington: Indiana University.
• [Köke] Harnud, Huhe. 2003. A Basic Study of Mongolian Prosody. Helsinki: Publications of the Department of Phonetics, University of Helsinki. Series A; 45. Dissertation. .
• Hashimoto, Kunihiko. 1993. <-san> no imiron. MKDKH, 43: 49–94. Sapporo: Dō daigaku.
• Hashimoto, Kunihiko. 2004. Mongorugo no kopyura kōbun no imi no ruikei. Muroran kōdai kiyō, 54: 91–100.
• Janhunen, Juha (ed.). 2003. The Mongolic languages. London: Routledge.
• Janhunen, Juha. 2003a. Written Mongol. In Janhunen 2003: 30–56.
• Janhunen, Juha. 2003b. Para-Mongolic. In Janhunen 2003: 391–402.
• Janhunen, Juha. 2003c. Proto-Mongolic. In Janhunen 2003: 1–29.
• Janhunen, Juha. 2003d. Mongol dialects. In Janhunen 2003: 177–191.
• Janhunen, Juha. 2006. Mongolic languages. In K. Brown (ed.), The encyclopedia of language & linguistics. Amsterdam: Elsevier: 231–234.
• Johanson, Lars. 1995. On Turkic Converb Clauses. In Martin Haspelmath and Ekkehard König (eds.), Converbs in cross-linguistic perspective. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter: 313–347. .
• Kang, Sin Hyen. 2000. Tay.mong.kol.e chem.sa č-uy uy.mi.wa ki.nung. Monggolhak [Mongolian Studies], 10: 1–23. Seoul: Hanʼguk Monggol Hakhoe [Korean Association for Mongolian Studies].
• Karlsson, Anastasia Mukhanova. 2005. Rhythm and intonation in Halh Mongolian. Ph.D. Thesis. Lund: Lund University. Series: Travaux de l'Institut de Linguistique de Lund; 46. Lund: Lund University. .
• Ko, Seongyeon. 2011. Vowel Contrast and Vowel Harmony Shift in the Mongolic Languages. Language Research, 47.1: 23–43.
• Luvsanvandan, Š. 1959. Mongol hel ajalguuny učir. Studia Mongolica [Mongolyn sudlal], 1.
• Luvsanvandan, Š. (ed.). 1987. (Authors: P. Bjambasan, C. Önörbajan, B. Pürev-Očir, Ž. Sanžaa, C. Žančivdorž) Orčin cagijn mongol helnij ügzüjn bajguulalt. Ulaanbaatar: Ardyn bolovsrolyn jaamny surah bičig, setgüülijn negdsen rjedakcijn gazar.
• Matsuoka, Yūta. 2007. Gendai mongorugo no asupekuto to dōshi no genkaisei. KULIP, 28: 39–68.
• Mizuno, Masanori. 1995. Gendai mongorugo no jūzokusetsushugo ni okeru kakusentaku. TULIP, 14: 667–680.
• Mönh-Amgalan, J. 1998. Orčin tsagijn mongol helnij bajmžijn aj. Ulaanbaatar: Moncame. .
• Nadmid, Ž. 1967. Mongol hel, tüünij bičgijn tüühen högžlijn tovč tojm. Ulaanbaatar: ŠUA.
• Norčin et al. (eds.) 1999. Mongγol kelen-ü toli. Kökeqota: ÖMAKQ. .
• Okada, Hidehiro. 1984. Mongol chronicles and Chinggisid genealogies . Journal of Asian and African studies, 27: 147–154.
• Öbür mongγul-un yeke surγaγuli. 2005 [1964]. Odu üy-e-yin mongγul kele. Kökeqota: ÖMAKQ. .
• Poppe, Nicholas. 1955. Introduction to Mongolian comparative studies. Helsinki: Finno-Ugrian Society.
• Poppe, Nicholas. 1970. Mongolian language handbook. Washington D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.
• Pürev-Očir, B. 1997. Orčin cagijn mongol helnij ögüülberzüj. Ulaanbaatar: n.a.
• Rachewiltz, Igor de. 1976. Some Remarks on the Stele of Yisuüngge. In Walter Heissig et al., Tractata Altaica – Denis Sinor, sexagenario optime de rebus altaicis merito dedicata. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. pp. 487–508.
• Rachewiltz, Igor de. 1999. Some reflections on so-called Written Mongolian. In: Helmut Eimer, Michael Hahn, Maria Schetelich, Peter Wyzlic (eds.). Studia Tibetica et Mongolica – Festschrift Manfred Taube. Swisttal-Odendorf: Indica et Tibetica Verlag: 235–246.
• Rinchen, Byambyn (ed.). 1979. Mongol ard ulsyn ugsaatny sudlal helnij šinžlelijn atlas. Ulaanbaatar: ŠUA.
• Rybatzki, Volker. 2003a. Intra-Mongolic Taxonomy. In Janhunen 2003: 364–390.
• Rybatzki, Volker. 2003b. Middle Mongol. In Janhunen 2003: 47–82.
• Sajto, Kosüke. 1999. Orčin čagyn Mongol helnij "neršsen" temdeg nerijn onclog (temdeglel). Mongol ulsyn ih surguulijn Mongol sudlalyn surguul' Erdem šinžilgeenij bičig XV bot, 13: 95–111.
• Sanžaa, Ž. and D. Tujaa. 2001. Darhad ajalguuny urt egšgijg avialbaryn tövšind sudalsan n'. Mongol hel šinžlel, 4: 33–50.
• Sanžeev, G. D. 1953. Sravnitel'naja grammatika mongol'skih jazykov. Moskva: Akademija Nauk USSR.
• Sečen. 2004. Odu üy-e-yin mongγul bičig-ün kelen-ü üge bütügekü daγaburi-yin sudulul. Kökeqota: ÖMASKKQ. .
• Sechenbaatar [Sečenbaγatur], Borjigin. 2003. The Chakhar dialect of Mongol: a morphological description. Helsinki: Finno-Ugrian society. .
• Sečenbaγatur, Qasgerel, Tuyaγ-a [Туяa], Bu. Jirannige, Wu Yingzhe, Činggeltei. 2005. Mongγul kelen-ü nutuγ-un ayalγun-u sinǰilel-ün uduridqal [A guide to the regional dialects of Mongolian]. Kökeqota: ÖMAKQ. .
• Siqinchaoketu [=Sečenčoγtu]. 1999). Kangjiayu yanjiu. Shanghai: Shanghai Yuandong Chubanshe.
• Slater, Keith. 2003. A grammar of Mangghuer. London: RoutledgeCurzon. .
• Starostin, Sergei A., Anna V. Dybo, and Oleg A. Mudrak. 2003. Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, 3 volumes. Leiden: Brill. .
• Street, John C. 1957. The language of the Secret History of the Mongols. New Haven: American Oriental Society. American Oriental series; 42.
• Street, John C. 2008. Middle Mongolian Past-tense -BA in the Secret History. Journal of the American Oriental Society 128 (3): 399–422.
• Svantesson, Jan-Olof. 2003. Khalkha. In Janhunen 2003: 154–176.
• Svantesson, Jan-Olof, Anna Tsendina, Anastasia Karlsson, Vivan Franzén. 2005. The Phonology of Mongolian. New York: Oxford University Press. .
• Temürcereng, J̌. 2004. Mongγul kelen-ü üge-yin sang-un sudulul. Kökeqota: ÖMASKKQ. .
• Toγtambayar, L. 2006. Mongγul kelen-ü kele ǰüiǰigsen yabuča-yin tuqai sudulul. Liyuuning-un ündüsüten-ü keblel-ün qoriy-a. .
• Tömörtogoo, D. 1992. Mongol helnij tüühen helzüj. Ulaanbaatar.
• Tömörtogoo, D. 2002. Mongol dörvölžin üsegijn durashalyn sudalgaa. Ulaanbaatar: IAMS. .
• Tsedendamba, Ts. and Sürengiin Möömöö (eds.). 1997. Orčin cagijn mongol hel. Ulaanbaatar.
• Tserenpil, D. and R. Kullmann. 2005. Mongolian grammar. Ulaanbaatar: Admon. .
• Tümenčečeg. 1990. Dumdadu ǰaγun-u mongγul kelen-ü toγačin ögülekü tölüb-ün kelberi-nügüd ba tegün-ü ularil kögǰil. Öbür mongγul-un yeke surγaγuli, 3: 102–120.
• Vovin . Alexander . Alexander Vovin . 2005 . The end of the Altaic controversy (review of Starostin et al. 2003) . Central Asiatic Journal . 49 . 1 . 71–132 .
• Walker, Rachel. 1997. Mongolian stress, licensing, and factorial typology . Rutgers Optimality Archive, ROA-172.
• Weiers, Michael. 1969. Untersuchungen zu einer historischen Grammatik des präklassischen Schriftmongolisch. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. Asiatische Forschungen, 28. (Revision of 1966 dissertation submitted to the Universität Bonn.)
• Yu, Wonsoo. 1991. A study of Mongolian negation (Ph.D. thesis). Bloomington: Indiana University.

Further reading

• Janhunen, Juha A. (2012): Mongolian. (London Oriental and African Language Library, 19.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. .

Traditional Mongolian script

• (ru) Schmidt, Isaak Jakob, Грамматика монгольскaго языка (Grammatika mongolʹskago i︠a︡zyka), Saint-Petersburg, 1832
• (ru) Bobrovnikov, Aleksieĭ Aleksandrovich Грамматика монгольско-калмыцкого языка (Grammatika mongolʹsko-kalmyt͡skago i͡azyka), Kazan, 1849
• (de) Schmidt, Isaak Jakob, der mongolischen Sprache, St. Petersburg, 1831
• (fr) Rémusat, Abel Récherches sur les langues tartares, Paris, 1820
• (fr, ru) Kovalevskiĭ, Osip Mikhaĭlovich, Dictionnaire Mongol-Russe-Franca̧is, Volumes 1–3, Kazan 1844-46-49
• (fr) Soulié, Charles Georges, Éléments de grammaire mongole (dialecte ordoss), Paris, 1903
• (it) Puini, Carlo, Elementi della grammatica mongolica, Firenze, 1878

External links

• Lingua Mongolia (a website dedicated to the Mongolian language, mostly as written in the Mongolian Uyghur script)
• Bolor Mongolian-English dictionary

Notes and References

1. Web site: China . Ethnologue.
2. Web site: Mongolian scripts and writing culture . MONGOLIANZ . 2017.
3. Gerard. Clauson. 1956. The case against the Altaic theory. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202637/http://altaica.ru/LIBRARY/CLAUSON/Clauson_against.pdf. 2016-03-03. Central Asiatic Journal. 2. 181–187.
4. Web site: Harris . Chauncy D. . Chauncy D. Harris . Sanders . Alan J.K. . Lattimore . Owen . Owen Lattimore . Ray . Michael . Pletcher . Kenneth . McKenna . Amy . Murray . Lorraine . 2023-03-14 . Mongolia . 2023-05-11 . . en.
5. Garudi (2002): 7, but see Rachewiltz (1976)
6. Djahukyan (1991): 2368
7. Rybatzki (2003b): 58.
8. 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.
9. Rybatzki (2003b): 57.
10. Janhunen (2003a): 32.
11. Okada (1984)
12. Nadmid (1967): 98–102.
13. Book: Janhunen. Juha. Mongolian. November 29, 2012. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 11. 1.
14. Book: Tsung. Linda. Language Power and Hierarchy: Multilingual Education in China. October 27, 2014. Bloomsbury Academic. 59. 3.
15. Book: Tsung. Linda. Language Power and Hierarchy: Multilingual Education in China. October 27, 2014. Bloomsbury Academic. 3.
16. Book: Iredale. Robyn. Bilik. Naran. Fei. Guo. China's Minorities on the Move: Selected Case Studies. August 2, 2003. 84. 4.
17. Book: Janhunen. Juha. Mongolian. November 29, 2012. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 16. 1.
18. Book: Otsuka. Hitomi. More Morphologies: Contributions to the Festival of Languages, Bremen, 17 Sep to 7 Oct, 2009. 30 Nov 2012. 99. 6.
19. Book: Iredale. Robyn. China's Minorities on the Move: Selected Case Studies. August 2, 2003. Routledge. 56, 64–67. 3.
20. Book: Janhunen. Juha. Mongolian. November 29, 2012. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 11. 1. Book: Iredale. Robyn. Bilik. Naran. Fei. Guo. China's Minorities on the Move: Selected Case Studies. August 2, 2003. 61. 3.
21. December 24, 2007. Barry Sautman . Preferential policies for ethnic minorities in China. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics . 4 . 1–2 . 86–118 . 10.1080/13537119808428530 . 2 August 2022 .
22. News: Shih . Gerry . Chinese authorities face widespread anger in Inner Mongolia after requiring Mandarin-language classes . 1 September 2020 . The Washington Post . August 31, 2020.
23. News: Qin . Amy . Curbs on Mongolian Language Teaching Prompt Large Protests in China . 1 September 2020 . The New York Times . August 31, 2020.
24. News: Feng . Emily . Parents Keep Children Home As China Limits Mongolian Language In The Classroom . 17 September 2020 . NPR . 16 September 2020.
25. Web site: 2023-09-13 . China Enforces Ban on Mongolian Language in Schools, Books . 2023-09-18 . VOA . en.
26. See especially Rinčjen (1979), Amaržargal (1988), Coloo (1988) and for a general bibliography on Mongolic phonology Svantesson et al. (2005): 218–229.
27. See Ashimura (2002) for a rare piece of research into dialect morphosyntax that shows significant differences between Khalkha and Khorchin.
28. Janhunen (2003): 189.
29. Book: Janhunen, Juha A.. Mongolian. 2012. John Benjamins Publishing. 978-90-272-3820-7. 3. en.
30. For an exact delimitation of Khalkha, see Amaržargal (1988): 24–25.
31. See Janhunen (ed.) (2003) and Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005) for two classificatory schemes.
32. Sanžeev (1953): 27–61, especially 55.
33. Quoted from Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 167–168.
34. Book: Language Policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and Practice Since 1949. Zhou. Minglang. Sun. Hongkai. 2006-04-11. Springer Science & Business Media. 978-1-4020-8039-5. en.
35. Janhunen (2003)
36. Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 265–266.
37. 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.
38. Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 166–73, 184–195.
39. Janhunen (2003): 180.
40. Svantesson et al. (2005): 143, Poppe (1955): 110–115.
41. 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 pronounced as /[ɮ]/ for Proto-Mongolic and imprecision or convenience in notation for Chakhar, Dobu (1983).
42. e.g. bi tegün-i taniǰei I him know. '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.
43. 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 -pronounced as //sŋ// in research work like Bayančoγtu (2002): 306.
44. 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."
45. Janhunen 2003d.
46. Janhunen, Juha (2003). The Mongolic Languages. p. 179. Routledge Language Family Series 5. London: Routledge.
47. Svantesson et al. (2005): 9-10
48. Dàobù 1982, p. 2.
49. Juha Janhunen (Hg.): The Mongolic Languages. London / New York: Routledge, 2003; ISBN 0-7007-1133-3; S. xviii.
50. Svantesson et al. (2005): 11-12
51. 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 / Chinese: 《蒙汉词典》 1999 and / Галсанпунцаг 2004.
52. Atwood p. 374.
53. Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 249–384.
54. Book: The phonology of Mongolian . 2005 . Oxford University press . 978-0-19-926017-1 . The phonology of the world's languages . Oxford (GB).
55. Svantesson et al. (2005): 22
56. Book: Sanders, Alan J. K.. Colloquial Mongolian : the complete course for beginners. 978-1-317-30598-9. 13. 919495714. 2015-08-14. Routledge .
57. Svantesson et al. (2005): 1
58. Svantesson et al. (2005): 43–50.
59. Svantesson et al. (2005): 46–47, 50–51.
60. Svantesson et al. (2005): 1–7, 22–24, 73–75.
61. Svantesson et al. 2005: 25–30.
62. 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".
63. Karlsson (2005): 17
64. Web site: Vowels in Mongolian speech: deletions and epenthesis . Anastasia Mukhanova Karlsson. 2014-07-26.
65. Svantesson et al. (2005): 62–72.
66. Svantesson et al. (2005): 95–97
67. elaborating on Bosson (1964) and Poppe (1970).
68. 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).
69. Harnud [Köke] (2003).
70. Harnud (2003) was reviewed by J. Brown in Journal of the International Phonetic Association (December 2006). 36(2): 205–207.
71. Harnud [Köke] (2003): 44–54, 94–100.
72. Sečenbaγatur (2003)
73. Bayančoγtu (2002)
74. Svantesson et al. (2005): 58–59.
75. Web site: Grammar. www.linguamongolia.com. 2020-02-11.
76. Sečen (2004).
77. Luvsanvandan (ed.) (1987): 151–153, 161–163.
78. Hashimoto (1993).
79. Luvsanvandan (ed.) (1987): 103–104, 124–125, 130–131.
80. Tsedendamba and Möömöö (1997): 222–232.
81. 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.
82. Web site: Differential object marking in Mongolian. Guntsetseg. Dolgor. January 2008. Research Gate. 14 March 2020.
83. Sečenbaγatur (2003): 32–46.
84. Tsedendamba and Möömöö (1997): 234–241.
85. For a pioneering approach to this problem, see Sajto (1999).
86. Web site: Mongolian. Languages Gulper. 1 June 2019.
87. Book: Gaunt, John.. Modern Mongolian : a course-book. 2006. Routledge. 0-7007-1305-0. xxv (13 depending on ebook/physical book) / xxvi (14 depending on ebook/physical book). 615102455.
88. Web site: Mongolian Grammar - Linguistics 35. sites.google.com. 2020-02-11.
89. Tsedendamba and Möömöö (1997): 210–219, Sečenbaγatur (2003): 23–29.
90. This is a simplified treatment of word classes. For a more precise treatment within the descriptive framework common in Inner Mongolia, see Sečenbaγatur (2003).
91. Web site: Mongolian Grammar. Learn101.org. 1 June 2019.
92. For the historic background of negation, see Yu (1991). For a phenomenology, see Bjambasan (2001).
93. Book: Gaunt. John. Modern Mongolian: A Course-book. Bayarmandakh. L.. Chuluunbaatar. L.. 2004. Psychology Press. 978-0-7007-1305-9. xv/13 (depending on ebook or physical / xvi/14. en.
94. Book: Gaunt, John.. Modern Mongolian : a course-book. 2006. Routledge. 0-7007-1305-0. 615102455.
95. Web site: Guntsetseg. Dolgor. Differential Case Marking in Mongolian. 16 March 2020. Research Gate.
96. Guntsetseg (2008): 55.
97. Tserenpil and Kullmann (2005): 237, 347.
98. Svantesson (2003): 164–165.
99. Mönh-Amgalan (1998).
100. Sečenbaγatur (2003): 167.
101. Matsuoka (2007)
102. Hashimoto (2004)
103. Guntsetseg (2008): 54.
104. Tserenpil and Kullmann (2005): 88, 363–364.
105. Apatoczky (2005)
106. Hammar (1983): 45–80.
107. Kang (2000)
108. Tserenpil and Kullmann (2005): 348–349.
109. Sečenbaγatur (2003): 116–123.
110. Brosig (2009)
111. Svantesson (2003): 172.
112. See Sečenbaγatur (2003): 176–182 (who uses the term "postposition" for both and the term "conjunction" for junctors).
113. Sečenbaγatur (2003): 152–153.
114. Johanson (1995)
115. Mizuno (1995)
116. Pürev-Očir (1997): 131.
117. Sečenbaγatur (2003): 36.
118. Temürčereng (2004): 86–99.
119. Svantesson (2003): 127.
120. Temürčereng (2004): 99–102.
121. Öbür mongγul-un yeke surγaγuli (2005): 792–793.
122. Öbür mongγul-un yeke surγaγuli (2005): 828.
123. Rybatzki (2003a): 385–387
124. Uyghur Technologists of Writing and Literacy in Mongol China. Brose. Michael C.. T'oung Pao. Brill Publishers. 2005. Second Series. 91. 4/5. 397, 406. 10.1163/156853205774910106. 4529015.
125. Book: Saruul-Erdene, Myagmar. https://books.google.com/books?id=QnwSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79. 5. Official script changes in socialist Mongolia. Socialist and Post–Socialist Mongolia: Nation, Identity, and Culture. Routledge. 2021-03-04. 2021-11-16. 79–83. 978-1-000-33715-0.
126. Batchuluun Yembuu, Khulan Munkh-Erdene (2005). Literacy country study: Mongolia . Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2006.Literacy for Life. P.7-8
127. Svantesson et al. (2005): 34, 40–41.
128. Web site: Sühbaatar, B. Mongol helnij kirill üsgijg latin üsgeer galiglah tuhaj. InfoCon. 2009-01-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20090129190356/http://www.infocon.mn/english/reference/GaligiinTuhai.htm. 2009-01-29. dead.
129. Svantesson et al. (2005): 34, 40.
130. Sečenbaγatur et al. (2005): 398.
131. Web site: Mongolia to promote usage of traditional script. China.org.cn (March 19, 2020).
132. https://www.montsame.mn/en/read/219358 Official documents to be recorded in both scripts from 2025
133. http://mongolia.gogo.mn/r/146942 Mongolian Language Law is effective from July 1st
134. Web site: Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Mongolian, Halh (Cyrillic) . https://web.archive.org/web/20230605131541/https://www.unicode.org/udhr/d/udhr_khk.html . 2023-06-05 . unicode.org.
135. Web site: UDHR - Mongolian, Halh (Mongolian) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210724122411/https://www.unicode.org/udhr/d/udhr_khk_mong.html . 2021-07-24 . 2022-01-08 . unicode.org.
136. Web site: Universal Declaration of Human Rights . United Nations.