Mongolian language

This article covers the language in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia; for other Mongolian languages ​​see Mongolian languages .

Mongolian (ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠬᠡᠯᠡ, монгол хэл )
Spoken in	Mongolia (State), Inner Mongolia ( PR China ) Buryatia ( Russia ) Kalmykia ( Russia )
speaker	4.5 to 5 million
Linguistic classification	Mongolian languages Central Mongolian languages Chalcha Mongolian
Official status
Official language in	Mongolia PR China ( Inner Mongolia )
Language codes
ISO 639 -1	mn
ISO 639 -2	mon
ISO 639-3	khk , mvf , mon (macro language)

The Mongolian language (in Mongolian script :ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ
ᠬᠡᠯᠡ, in Cyrillic script : монгол хэл ) in the narrower sense belongs to the Mongolian language family , along with some closely related languages ​​(especially Buryat and Oiri / Kalmuck ) . Depending on the estimate, Mongolian is spoken by a total of around 4.5 to 5 or a little more than 5 million people, of which a little less than half (2 to 2.4 million depending on the estimate) in the state of Mongolia , a little more than half (depending on the estimate just under 3 to 3.4 or 3.5 million) live in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as well as in the neighboring provinces in China , and smaller groups in the Russian Federation (especially in Buryatia , but also in neighboring Tuvinia ).

There are two standard varieties of Mongolian: one in Inner Mongolia, which is written in the traditional Mongolian script and is an official language there alongside Chinese, and the official language in Mongolia, which is written in a Cyrillic alphabet .

Classification and geographical distribution

For classification see also: Mongolian languages

Geographical distribution of the Mongolian languages

The family of Mongolian languages ​​can be divided as follows:

1. The Dagur branch in the northeast consists of Dagur ( Daur ) with several variants (the Amur, Nonni and Hailar dialect groups as well as a diaspora in the Ili area since the 18th century).
2. The common Mongolian branch of the Mongolian languages ​​includes idioms in the traditional homeland of the Mongols (Mongolia), but also in the north ( Siberia ), east ( Manchuria / northeast China), south (Ordos) and west ( Djungary ). It is a dialect continuum that is mostly understood by its speakers as a common Mongolian language. This view is shared by most of the Mongolian scholars in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, as well as the official categorization of the ethnic groups in China, while Russian and Western scholars regard at least Buryat and Oiri , but often Ordos and Chamnigan as their own languages ​​(see below) . It is ultimately a question of definition and terminology.
3. The Shirongol branch in Qinghai includes West Yugur, Monguor , Bonan , Kangjia, and Santa ( Dongxiang ).
4. The Moghol branch in Afghanistan consists of Moghol with several (possibly extinct) variants.

Dialects

1. The Chalcha dialects (Mongolian [ xɑlx ]ᠬᠠᠯᠬ ᠠ‹Qalq-a› / Халх ‹Xalx›) in the center of the language area encompass approximately the territory of the state of Mongolia, but also some dialects - v. a. Qahar ([ ˈʧɑxɑ̆r ]ᠴᠠᠬᠠᠷ‹Čaqar› / Цахар ‹Caxar›) - in Inner Mongolia. They are the basis of the two modern standard Mongolian languages.
2. The Horqin dialects ([ ˈxɔrʧɪn ]ᠬᠣᠷᠴᠢᠨ‹Qorčin› / Хорчин ‹Xorčin›) are spoken in eastern Inner Mongolia and in the neighboring Chinese provinces of Liaoning , Jilin and Heilongjiang .
3. The Ordos dialects ([ ˈɔrdɔ̆s ]ᠣᠷᠳᠣᠰ‹Ordos› / Ордос ‹Ordos›) are spoken on the Ordos Plateau in southern Inner Mongolia between the Great Wall of China and the great arch of the Yellow River ( Huang He ).
4. Chamnigan (ᠬᠠᠮᠨᠢᠭᠠᠨ‹Qamniɣan›) is spoken in the northeast, in the valleys of the Onon and Argun in the border area between Russia (Transbaikal), China ( Hulun Buir ) and Mongolia ( Chentii-Aimag ).
5. Buryat ([ ˈburɪɑd ]ᠪᠤᠷᠢᠶᠠᠳ‹Buriyad›) is spoken in the north, on both sides of Lake Baikal , especially in the Republic of Buryatia , but also as far as Mongolia and China (in the two Bargu banners in Hulun Buir). Buryat is now a separate written language, which, however, is not used by the Buryats in Mongolia and China.
6. Oiri ([ œːrd ]ᠣᠶᠢᠷᠠᠳ‹Oyirad›) originally had its center in Djungaria in the north of today's Xinjiang , but is spoken of as far as the western part of Mongolia ( Chowd-Aimag ) and Inner Mongolia ( Alxa ) and in the north of Qinghai ( Haixi ) a diaspora in the Volga region (Kalmuck) and in Manchuria. Kalmuk is now a separate written language.

Standard varieties

There are two standard varieties of Mongolian.

Mongolia

Standard Mongolian in the state of Mongolia is based on the northern Chalcha dialects, to which u. a. belongs to the dialect of Ulaanbaatar , and is written in Cyrillic script.

China

Standard Mongolian in Inner Mongolia is based on the Qahar dialect of the Chalcha dialect group, which is spoken in the Xilin Hoh / Zhenglán banner , and is written in the traditional Mongolian script.

The number of Mongolian speakers in China is still greater than in the state of Mongolia, with the majority of Mongolians in China having one of the Horqin dialects or more than two million of them the dialect of Horqin itself as their mother tongue, so the Horqin Dialect group has about as many speakers as the Chalcha dialect group in Mongolia state. Still, the dialect of Qahar, which today has only about 100,000 native speakers and belongs to the Chalcha dialect group, is the basis of standard Mongolian in China.

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 Central Mongolian affricates * ʧ (ᠴ‹Č›) and * ʤ (ᠵ‹J̌›) in ʦ (ц ‹c›) and ʣ (з ‹z›) versus ʧ (ч ‹č›) and ʤ (ж ‹ž›) in Mongolia:

Central Mongolian	Inner Mongolia	Mongolia	meaning
* ʧisu ᠴᠢᠰᠤ ‹Čisu›	[ ʧʊs ]ᠴᠢᠰᠤ ‹Čisu›	[ ʦʊs ] цус ‹cus›	blood
* ʤam ᠵᠠᠮ ‹J̌am›	[ ʤɑm ]ᠵᠠᠮ ‹J̌am›	[ dzɑm ] зам ‹zam›	Street
* oʧixu ᠣᠴᠢᠬᠤ ‹Očiqu›	[ ɔʧɪx ]ᠣᠴᠢᠬᠤ ‹Očiqu›	[ ɔʧɪx ] очих ‹očix›	go
* ʤime ᠵᠢᠮ ᠡ ‹J̌im-e›	[ ʤim ]ᠵᠢᠮ ᠡ ‹J̌im-e›	[ ʤim ] жим ‹žim›	law

There are also differences in vocabulary and language usage: in the state of Mongolia, for example, more loanwords from Russian are used, in Inner Mongolia more loanwords from Chinese .

Phonetics and Phonology

Consonants

Mongolian has the following consonants (in IPA and equivalents in Mongolian (M) and Cyrillic (K), with transliteration in angle brackets).

		bilabial			labiodental			alveolar			retroflex			postalveolar			palatal			velar / uvular
		IPA	M.	K	IPA	M.	K	IPA	M.	K	IPA	M.	K	IPA	M.	K	IPA	M.	K	IPA	M.	K
Plosives	not aspirated	b [ p ] ~ [ b̥ ] ~ [ β ]	ᠪ ‹B›	б				d [ t ] ~ [ d̥ ]	ᠳ ‹D›	д										ɡ [ k ] ~ [ ɡ̊ ]	ᠭ ‹Ɣ› ᡎ <G>	г
	aspirated	p [ pʰ ]	ᠫ‹P›	п				t [ tʰ ]	ᠲ ‹T›	т										k [ kʰ ]	ᠺ ‹K›	к
Affricates	not aspirated							( ʣ [ ʦ ] ~ [ d̥͡z̥ ]) *	ᠽ ‹Dz›	з	( dʐ ) *	ᡁ ‹Zh›		ʤ [ ʨ ] ~ [ ʧ ] ~ [ d̥͡ʒ̊ ] ~ [ ʦ ]	ᠵ ‹J̌›	ж з
	aspirated							( ʦ [ ʦʰ ]) *	ᠼ ‹Ts›	ц	( tʂ ) *	ᡂ ‹Ch›		ʧ [ ʨʰ ] ~ [ ʧʰ ] ~ [ ʦʰ ]	ᠴ ‹Č›	ц ч
Fricatives	unvoiced				( f ) *	ᠹ ‹F›	ф	s	ᠰ ‹S›	с	( ʂ ) *	ᠱ ‹Sh›		ʃ	ᠱ ‹Š›	ш				x [ χ ]	ᠬ ‹Q› ᠺ ‹K› ᠾ <H>	х
	voiced	w	ᠸ ‹W›	в							( ʐ ) *	ᠿ ‹Rh›
Approximants																	j	ᠶ ‹Y›
Nasals		m	ᠮ ‹M›	м				n	ᠨ ‹N›	н										ŋ	ᠩ ‹Ng›	н
Lateral fricatives								l [ ɬ ] ~ [ ɮ ]	ᠯ ‹L› ᡀ ‹Lh›	л
Vibrants								r	ᠷ ‹R›	р

* only in loan words

Vowels

Mongolian has the following vowels :

vocal	example				vocal	example
	IPA	Mongolian	Cyrillic	meaning		IPA	Mongolian	Cyrillic	meaning
i	il	ᠢᠯᠡ ‹Ile›	ил ‹il›	"open"	iː	ʧiːrs	ᠴᠢᠭᠢᠷᠰᠦ ‹Čigirsü›	чийрс ‹čijrs›	"Raffia mat"
ɪ	ʤɪr	ᠵᠢᠷᠠ ‹J̌ira›	(жар ‹žar›)	"sixty"	ɪː	ʧɪːrɑ̆ɡ	ᠴᠢᠭᠢᠷᠠᠭ ‹Čigiraɣ›	чийрэг ‹čijrėg›	"Stocky"
ə	ər	ᠡᠷ ᠡ ‹Er-e›	эр ‹ėr›	"Man"	əː	ʧəːʤ	ᠴᠡᠭᠡᠵᠢ ‹Čegeǰi›	цээж ‹cėėž›	"Chest"
ɑ	ɑrd	ᠠᠷᠠᠳ ‹Arad›	ард ‹ard›	"People"	ɑː	ɑːʃ	ᠠᠭᠠᠰᠢ ‹Aɣaši›	ааш ‹aaš›	"Mood"
ɔ	ɔd	ᠣᠳᠣᠨ ‹Odon›	од ‹od›	"Star"	ɔː	xɔːsɔ̆n	ᠬᠣᠭᠣᠰᠣᠨ ‹Qoɣoson›	хоосон ‹xooson›	"empty"
O	or	ᠣᠳᠣᠨ ‹Ödön›	өд ‹öd›	"Feather"	O	xoːrŏɡ	ᠬᠥᠭᠥᠷᠭᠡ ‹Kögörge›	хөөрөг ‹xöörög›	"Bridge"
ʊ	ʊs	ᠤᠰᠤ ‹Usu›	ус ‹us›	"Water"	ʊː	ʊːl	ᠠᠭᠤᠯᠠ ‹Aɣula›	уул ‹uul›	"Mountain"
u	us	ᠦᠰᠦ ‹Üsü›	үс ‹üs›	"Hair"	uː	uːl	ᠡᠭᠦᠯᠡ ‹Ugle›	үүл ‹üül›	"Cloud"

A distinguishing feature of the Mongolian dialects is the appearance of umlauts in syllables followed by / i /. In Inner Mongolia, pronunciation with umlaut vowels is standard; In the state of Mongolia, pronunciation without umlaut vowels is standard.

Examples of words with umlaut in Inner Mongolia and their non-umlaut equivalent in Mongolia state:

umlaut	example			Correspondence	umlaut	example			Correspondence
	IPA	Mongolian	meaning	Cyrillic		IPA	Mongolian	meaning	Cyrillic
æ	æm	ᠠᠮᠢ ‹Ami›	"Life"	амь ‹on '›	æː	sow	ᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ ‹Sayin›	"Well"	сайн ‹sajn›
œ	mœr	ᠮᠣᠷᠢ ‹Mori›	"Horse"	морь ‹mor '›	œː	xœːt	ᠬᠣᠶᠢᠲᠤ ‹Qoyitu›	"north"	хойт ‹xojt›
					eː	ərə̆ɡteː	ᠡᠷᠡᠭᠲᠡᠢ ‹Eregtei›	"male"	эрэгтэй ‹ėrėgtėj›
					O	boːrŏŋxøː	ᠪᠥᠭᠡᠷᠡᠩᠬᠡᠢ ‹Bögerengkei›	"Spherical"	бөөрөнхий ‹böörönxij›
ʏ	ʏn	ᠤᠨᠢ <University>	"Roof strut"	унь ‹un '›	ʏː	tʏːl	ᠲᠤᠶᠢᠯ ‹Tuyil›	"Pole"	туйл ‹tujl›
					yː	yːl	ᠤᠶᠢᠯᠡ ‹Üile›	"Action"	үйл ‹üjl›

Mongolian has a vowel harmony . The vowels are divided into front ( female in Mongolian usage ), that is / e /, / o / and / u /, and rear (Mongolian male ), that is / a /, / ɔ / and / ʊ /; / i / is neutral. A word usually only has front or rear vowels, / i / can appear with both.

Many suffixes come in four different forms, with another distinction being made. The vowel of the suffix is ​​based on the last vowel of the stem according to the following scheme:

/ a /, / ʊ / → [a]

/ e /, / o / → [e]

/ ɔ / → [ɔ]

/ o / → [o]

/ i / is ignored, if a word only contains / i /, [e] appears.

Emphasis

The emphasis is always on the first syllable of a word.

morphology

Mongolian is characterized by an almost always drinking morphology and is counted among the agglutinating languages . Further details and concrete examples of noun and verb morphology in the article Mongolian languages .

noun

For the Mongolian noun, the case category is particularly relevant. Number plays a subordinate role, gender does not exist.

case

Seven or eight cases are accepted for Mongolian , namely nominative , genitive , dative / locative , accusative , ablative , instrumental , comitive and allative . The case suffixes vary e.g. T. according to the vowel harmony depending on the vowels of the stem:

case	use	suffix			Examples
		IPA	Mongolian	Cyrillic
Nominative	Subject; indefinites and non-human object, Place names	-	-	-	ᠠᠬ᠎ᠠ ‹Aq-a› »older brother« ᠡᠭᠡ ‹Eke› »mother« ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ‹Ulus› »state«
Genitive	Attribute of a noun	ɪːn in æː eː œː	ᠶᠢᠨ ‹Yin›  ᠦᠨ ‹Un› / ‹ün›   ᠦ ‹U› / ‹ü›	ийн ‹ijn› ын ‹yn› ий ‹ij› ы ‹y› н ‹n›	ᠠᠬ᠎ᠠ ᠶᠢᠨ ‹Aq-a-yin› »of the older brother« ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ᠤᠨ ‹Ulus-un› »of the state« ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠨ ᠦ ‹Kümün-ü› »of man«
Dative- locative	indirect object; Location, target	d t	ᠳᠤ ‹Du› /‹ dü ›  ᠲᠦ ‹Tu› / ‹tü› ( ᠳᠤᠷ ‹Dur› / ‹dür›) ( ᠲᠤᠷ ‹Tur› / ‹door›)	д ‹d› т ‹t›	ᠠᠬ᠎ᠠ ᠳᠤ ‹Aq-a-du› »the brother« ᠪᠡᠢᠵᠢᠩ ᠳᠤ ‹Beiǰing-dü› »in Beijing« ᠭᠠᠷ ᠲᠤ ‹Ɣar-tu› »in hand« ᠠᠷᠠᠳ ᠲᠤ ‹Arad-tu› »to the people«
accusative	definites or human direct object	(ɡ) ɪː (ɡ) iː ɪːɡ iːɡ	ᠶᠢ ‹Yi›  ᠢ ‹I›	ыг ‹yg› ийг ‹ijg› г ‹g›	ᠰᠢᠷᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠶᠢ ‹Širegen-yi› »the table« ᠰᠠᠨᠳᠠᠯᠢ ᠶᠢ ‹Sandali-yi› »the chair« ᠨᠥᠮ ᠢ ‹Nom-i› »the book« ᠺᠦᠮᠦᠨ ᠢ ‹Kümün-i› »the people«
Instrumental	Means, tool	(ɡ) ɑːr (ɡ) əːr (ɡ) ɔːr (ɡ) oːr	ᠪᠡᠷ ‹Bar› / ‹ber›  ᠢᠶᠠᠷ ‹Iyar› / ‹iyer›	аар ‹aar› ээр ‹ėėr› оор ‹oor› өөр ‹öör›	ᠠᠬ᠎ᠠ ᠪᠠᠷ ‹Aq-a-bar› »by the brother« (have it done or similar) ᠰᠢᠷᠡᠭᠡ ᠪᠡᠷ ‹Širegen-ber› »with the table«, »by means of the table« ᠭᠠᠷ ᠢᠶᠠᠷ ‹Ɣar-iyar› »by hand« ᠰᠠᠨᠠᠯ ᠢᠶᠠᠷ ‹Sanal-iyar› »with the idea«, »by means of the idea«
ablative	Starting point, Comparison, reason	(ɡ) ɑːs (ɡ) əːs (ɡ) ɔːs (ɡ) oːs	ᠠᠴᠠ ‹Ača› / ‹eče›	аас ‹aas› ээс ‹ėės› оос ‹oos› өөс ‹öös›	ᠠᠬ᠎ᠠ ᠠᠴᠠ ‹Aq-a-ača› »from the older brother« ᠰᠢᠷᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠡᠴᠡ ‹Širegen-eče› (larger or similar) »than the table« ᠭᠠᠷ ᠠᠴᠠ ‹Ɣar-ača› »out of hand« ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ᠠᠴᠠ ‹Ulus-ača› »from the state«
Comitative	Companion, Expression of possession	tæː teː tœː tøː	ᠲᠠᠢ ‹Tai› / ‹tei›	тай ‹taj› той ‹toj› тэй ‹tėj›	ᠠᠬ᠎ᠠ ᠲᠠᠢ ‹Aq-a-tai› »with the brother« ᠨᠥᠬᠥᠷ ᠲᠡᠢ ‹Nökör-tei› »with the comrade« ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠨ ᠲᠡᠢ ‹Kümün-tei› »with the person«
Allative	direction	læː leː	ᠤᠷᠤᠭᠤ ‹Uruɣu› ᠯᠤᠭ᠎ᠠ ‹Luɣ ‑ a› ᠯᠦᠭᠡ <lie>	руу ‹ruu› рүү ‹back› луу ‹luu› лүү ‹lüü›

number

Number marking is optional in Mongolian and is rarely used. When using numerals, no plural is usually marked.

There are several plural suffixes, some of which are used according to phonological criteria, but mostly unpredictable.

suffix			use	Examples
IPA	Mongolian	Cyrillic		Mongolian	Cyrillic	meaning
nʊːd nuːd	ᠨᠤᠭᠤᠳ ‹Nuɣud› ᠨᠦᠭᠦᠳ ‹Nügüd›	нууд ‹nuud› нүүд ‹nüüd›	after consonants	ᠣᠶᠤᠲᠠᠨ ᠨᠤᠭᠤᠳ ‹Oyutan-nuɣud›	оюутнууд ‹ojuutnuud›	"Studied"
				ᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ ᠨᠤᠭᠤᠳ ‹Dalai-nuɣud›	далайнууд ‹dalajnuud›	"Seas"
				ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭᠤᠨ ᠨᠤᠭᠤᠳ ‹Šibaɣun-nuɣud›	шувуунууд ‹šuvuunuud›	"Birds"
				ᠰᠢᠷᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠨᠤᠭᠤᠳ ‹Širegen-nuɣud›	ширээнүүд ‹širėėnüüd›	"Tables"
ʊːd ud	ᠤᠳ ‹Ud› / ‹üd›	ууд ‹uud› үүд ‹üüd›	after consonants, except n	ᠨᠥᠮ ᠤᠳ ‹Nom-ud›	номууд ‹nomuud›	"Books"
				ᠪᠠᠭᠠᠲᠦᠷ ᠤᠳ ‹Baɣatur-ud›	баатарууд ‹baataruud›	"Heroes"
				ᠭᠡᠷ ᠦᠳ ‹Ger-üd›	гэрүүд ‹gerüüd›	"Yurts"
				ᠭᠡᠤᠭᠡᠳ ᠦᠳ ‹Keüked-üd›	хүүхдүүд ‹xüüxdüüd›	"Children"
no no	ᠨᠠᠷ ‹Nar› / ‹ner›	нар ‹nar› нэр ‹nėr›	Personal designations	ᠪᠠᠭᠰᠢ ᠨᠠᠷ ‹Baqaši nar›	багш нар ‹bagš nar›	"Teacher"
				ᠡᠮᠴᠢ ᠨᠠᠷ ‹Emči ner›	эмч нэр ‹ėmč ner›	"Doctors"
ʧʊːd ʧuːd ʧʊːl ʧuːl	ᠴᠤᠳ ‹Čud› / ‹čüd› ᠴᠤᠦᠯ ‹Čul› / ‹čül›	чууд ‹čuud› чүүд ‹čüüd›	Collectives	ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯᠴᠦᠳ ‹Mongɣolčud›	монголчууд ‹mongolčuud›	"Mongols"
				ᠠᠩᠭᠢᠯᠢᠴᠦᠳ ‹Anggiličud›	англичууд ‹angličuud›	"British"
				ᠵᠠᠯᠠᠭᠤᠴᠳ ‹J̌alagučud›	залуучууд ‹zaluučuud›	»Young people«
				ᠡᠮᠡᠭᠲᠡᠢᠢᠴᠦᠳ ‹Emengteyilčud›	эмэгтэйчүүд ‹ėmėgtėjčüüd›	"Women"
d	᠊ᠳ ‹D›	д ‹d›	v. a. for nouns on -č (in) and -gč (i)	ᠠᠵᠢᠯᠴᠢᠳ ‹Aǰilčid›	ажилчид ‹ažilčid›	"Worker"
				ᠰᠡᠳᠬᠦᠯᠴᠢᠳ ‹Sedqülčid›	сэтгүүлчид ‹sėtgüülčid›	»Journalists«
				ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠳ ‹Qaɣad›	хаад ‹xaad›	"Kings"
				ᠨᠥᠭᠥᠳ ‹Nöqöd›	нөхөд ‹nöxöd›	"Enjoyed"
s	᠊ᠰ ‹S›	с ‹s›	rarely, only for certain words	ᠦᠢᠯᠡᠰ ‹Üyiles›	үйлс ‹üjls›	"Deeds"
				ᠡᠷᠡᠰ ‹Eres›	эрс ‹ėrs›	"Men"
				ᠨᠡᠷᠡᠰ ‹Neres›	нэрс ‹nėrs›	"Names"
				ᠠᠭᠤᠯᠠᠰ ‹Aɣulas›	уулс ‹uuls›	"Mountains"

The plural suffix comes before the case suffix.

Possessive suffixes

In addition to the possibility of using personal pronouns in the genitive as possessive pronouns , Mongolian has suffixes that can be used to express possession or belonging.

The possessive suffixes come after the case suffix.

• Reflexive-possessive: with the suffix - ɑːn / - əːn / - ɔːn / - oːn ᠪᠠᠨ ‹-Ban› / ‹-ben› or ‍ᠢᠢᠠᠨ ‹-Iyan› / ‹iyen› is used to express belonging to the subject of the sentence. If this suffix can be used, the use of a possessive pronoun is not possible.
• Personal-possessive: If the noun does not belong to the subject of the sentence, the following suffixes are used:

	Singular			Plural
1st person	min	ᠮᠢᠨᠢ <mini>	минь ‹min '›	mɑn	ᠮᠠᠨᠢ ‹Mani›	мань ‹man '›
2nd person	ʧin	ᠴᠢᠨᠢ ‹Čini›	чинь ‹čin '›	tɑn	ᠲᠠᠨᠢ ‹Tani›	тань ‹tan '›
3rd person	n	ᠨᠢ ‹Ni›	нь ‹n '›	n	ᠨᠢ ‹Ni›	нь ‹n '›

pronoun

Separate personal pronouns exist for the first and second person, for the third person one uses the demonstrative pronouns ‹ene› (this (r)) and ‹tere› (that (r)). Again, no distinction is made according to gender. As in German, the second person singular has a familial (‹či›) and a polite form (‹ta›). In the plural, a distinction is made between an inclusive and an exclusive we .

		Singular	Plural
			inclusive	exclusive
1st person		ᠪᠢ ‹Bi› / би ‹bi› ᠮᠢᠨᠤ ᠪᠠᠶ ᠠ ‹Minü bey-e›	ᠪᠢᠳᠡ ‹Bide› / бид [эн] ‹bid [ėn]› ᠪᠢᠳᠡᠨᠡᠷ ‹Bidener› / бид нар ‹bid nar› ᠪᠢᠳᠡᠨᠤᠰ ‹Bidenüs›	ᠮᠠᠨ ‹Man› / ман ‹man› ᠮᠠᠨᠤᠰ ‹Manus›
2nd person	familiar	ᠴᠢ ‹Či› / чи ‹či›	ᠲᠠ ‹Ta› ᠲᠠ ᠨᠠᠷ ‹Ta nar› / та нар ‹ta nar› ᠲᠠᠨᠤᠰ ‹Tanus› ᠲᠠᠳᠠᠨ ‹Tadan›
	polite	ᠲᠠ ‹Ta› / та ‹ta›
3rd person	Near	ᠡᠨᠡ ‹Ene› / энэ ‹ėnė› ᠡᠨᠡ ᠺᠤᠮᠤᠨ ‹Ene kümün› ᠡᠺᠤᠨ‹Egün› / үүн ‹üün› 1	ᠡᠳᠡ ‹Ede› / эд ‹ėd› ᠡᠳᠡᠨᠤᠰ ‹Edenüs› / эднүүс ‹ėdnüüs›
	remote	ᠲᠡᠷᠡ ‹Tere› / тэр ‹tėr› ᠲᠡᠷᠡ ᠺᠤᠮᠤᠨ ‹Tere kümün›	ᠲᠡᠳᠡ ‹Tede› / тэд [эн] ‹tėd [ėn]› ᠲᠡᠳᠡᠨᠡᠷ ‹Tedener› / тэд нар ‹tėd nar› ᠲᠡᠳᠡᠨᠤᠰ ‹Tedenüs› / тэднүүс ‹tėdnüüs›
reflexive		ᠣᠪᠡᠷ ᠢᠶᠡᠨ ‹Öber-iyen› / өөрөө ‹ööröö› ᠣᠪᠡᠰᠤᠪᠡᠨ ‹Practicing› ᠣᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠺᠡᠨ ‹Öbertegen› / өөртөө ‹öörtöö›	ᠣᠪᠡᠷᠰᠡᠳ ᠢᠶᠡᠨ ‹Öbersed-iyen›

¹ stem of the oblique case ofᠡᠨᠡ ‹Ene› / энэ ‹ėnė›.

Adjectives

Adjectives do not differ morphologically from nouns: ‍ᠮᠣᠳᠤᠨ"Tree; wooden". In some grammars both are therefore referred to as "nouns". However, some forms are typical of adjectives:

	education	Examples
Basic form	-	‍ᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠪᠲᠤᠷ "red", ‍ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠬᠠᠨ "White", ᠥᠨᠳᠣᠷ "high"
Weakening	Trunk + ‍ᠪᠲᠤᠷ	‍ᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠪᠲᠤᠷ "reddish"
	Trunk + ‍ᠢᠢᠨ (‍ᠭᠡᠨ)	‍ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠬᠠᠨ "whitish", ‍ᠨᠡᠭᠡᠭᠡᠨ "quite large"
Reinforcement	Reduplication with insertion of ‍‍ᠪ	‍‍ᠤ‍ᠪ ᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠨ »Bright red«
	‍‍ᠮᠠᠰᠢ + Trunk	‍‍ᠮᠠᠰᠢ ᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ "very good"
comparative	Comparison object in the genitive + stem	‍ᠠᠭᠤᠯᠠᠨ ᠡᠴᠡ ᠥᠨᠳᠣᠷ "Higher than the mountain"
superlative	Trunk + ‍ᠬᠠᠮᠤᠨ ‍ᠤᠨ or ‍ᠲᠣᠶᠢᠯ ‍ᠤᠨ	‍ᠬᠠᠮᠤᠨ ‍ᠤᠨ ᠭᠦᠨᠳᠤ "the hardest"
	Reduplication with insertion of ‍ᠡᠴᠡ (‍ᠢᠢᠨ)	‍ᠡᠷᠭᠢᠮᠡ ᠡᠴᠡ ᠡᠷᠭᠢᠮᠡ »The most outstanding of all«

Verbs

Mongolian has a rich repertoire of verb forms. A distinction is made between three morphological groups of suffixes that fulfill different functions. They are used alone or in combination to express tense , aspect and mode . Apart from the modal forms, they show no congruence .

• Finite verb forms can only appear as a predicate of a main clause . A distinction is also made between the groups of indicative forms and desire and command forms.
• Converges only occur in dependency. Either they are embedded directly by a verb or they are used as a predicate of a subordinate clause .
• Verbal nouns (or "participles") can be used as a predicate of an attribute, a complement or (with certain restrictions) a main clause. They can be declined like adjectivesand usually replace the finite verbs in negated sentences. Undisputed verbal nouns in modern language are -х (attributively quite neutral, finite always together with particles and with future tense meaning), -сан ⁴ (past or perfect), -даг (mainly for repeated actions), -аа (for continuous actions on one Handful of verb stems; otherwise only negated with the meaning “not yet” or with a few modal particles) and -маар ⁴ (expresses wish; partly more abstract attributive: сонсмоор дүү 1. a song that I want to hear 2. a song worth listening to).

More details in the article Mongolian Languages .

syntax

The Mongolian syntax is characterized by the fact that it is mostly head- final , the base word order in the sentence is SOV , in noun phrases the noun always comes at the end, and post positions are used.

• The word order in the sentence is SOV . The order of the parts of the sentence before the verb can vary, but the verb is almost always at the end of the sentence, and subordinate clauses must always be placed in front of it. Question and modal particles are behind the verb.
• In noun phrases , the noun is more at the end. Adjectives , genitive attributes , numerals and demonstratives come in front of them, job titles etc. and collective numerals behind them. Туяа Oюун хоёр TO two 'Tujaa and Ojuun', манай ухаантай Туяа дархан our clever T. Schmied 'our clever blacksmith Tujaa', хоёр ном two books 'two books'.

Written forms

Main article: Mongolian scripts

The first script in Central Mongolian is the vertical Uighur script , which was adopted at the end of the 12th century and adapted to Mongolian. The oldest surviving written testimony in the form of a stone inscription comes from this time. The most important literary work of the time, the Secret History of the Mongols , has only survived in Chinese transcription, but conclusions can be drawn about the peculiarities of the Central Mongolian language used at the time. The classical form of this traditional Mongolian script was fixed in the 17th century. It is still used in Inner Mongolia to this day.

The official script of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in China was the Tibetan Phags-pa script (1269–1368), but the Chinese script was also used extensively for Mongolian texts. From the 13th to the 15th centuries there are Mongolian texts in Arabic script. Several other writing systems have been proposed over time, such as the Sojombo script developed by Dsanabadsar .

In 1930, the Mongolian People's Republic decided to introduce the Latin alphabet, but it was only used briefly. After the official reintroduction of the Latin alphabet in 1941, the Russian-Cyrillic alphabet with the additional letters for / ö / and / ü / was used by Soviet pressure only one month later, while in Kalmykia and Buryatia the Cyrillic alphabet (with changes) had been used since has been in use for four years. Since 1984, the classical writing has been taught again in high schools in Mongolia. It is often used for company signs, logos, and similar decorative purposes, while the Cyrillic alphabet is used for everything else.

In Inner Mongolia, the traditional script remained unchallenged until the government of the Autonomous Region proposed a written Cyrillic language in the mid-1950s. From 1957, however, the general trend in China was to write minority languages ​​in Latin and the introduction of Cyrillic was shelved. After the break between China and the Soviet Union, the introduction of the Cyrillic script was no longer an option and the plans for a Latin script were not pursued any further, so that the traditional Mongolian script is still used in Inner Mongolia to this day.

literature

General representations

• Mongolian language. In: Christopher P. Atwood: Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire . New York: Facts On File, 2004; ISBN 0-8160-4671-9 .
• Juha A. Janhunen: Mongolian . John Benjamin, 2012.
• Jan-Olof Svantesson: Khalkha. In: Juha Janhunen (Ed.): The Mongolic Languages . London: Routledge, 2003; Pp. 154-176.
• Dàobù 道 布 [ᠳᠣᠪᠣ]: Měnggǔyǔ jiǎnzhì 《蒙古语 简 志》 . Běijīng: Rénmín chūbǎnshè 人民出版社, 1982.
• Борис Яковлевич Владимирцов: Сравнительная грамматика монгольского письменного языка и халха. Введение и фонетика . Leningrad: Наука, 1929. Chinese translation by Chén Wěi 陈伟 and Chén Péng 陈鹏 : Ménggǔ shūmiànyǔ yǔ Kā'ěrkā fāngyán bǐjiào yǔfǎ 《蒙古 书面语 与 喀尔喀 方言 比较 语法》 . Xīníng: Qīnghǎi rénmín chūbǎnshè 青海 人民出版社 , 1988; ISBN 9787225001371 .

Phonology

• Jan-Olof Svantesson: The Phonology of Mongolian . Oxford University Press, 2005.

grammar

• Bātúbāyǎ'ěr 巴图巴雅尔: Měnggǔ yǔfǎ chūchéng 《蒙古 语法 初 程》 /. Hohhot:ᠥᠪᠥᠷ
  ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠰᠤᠷᠭᠠᠨ
  ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠴᠢᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠬᠡᠪᠯᠡᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠭᠣᠷᠢᠶ ᠠ/ Nèiménggǔ jiàoyù chūbǎnshè 内蒙古 教育 出版社 , 1991.
• Karl Rudolf Bittigau: Mongolian grammar. Draft of a functional grammar (FG) of modern, literary Chalchamongol . Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 2003.
• Stanisław Godziński: Współczesny jęyzk mongolski . Warsaw: Dialogue, 1998.
• Dandii-Yadamyn Tserenpil, Rita Kullmann: Mongolian Grammar . Hong Kong: 1996, 2002 2001; Ulaanbaatar: ³2005, ⁴ 2008.
• ᠪ᠂
  ᠷᠢᠨᠴᠢᠨ: ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ
  ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ᠌ ᠤᠨ
  ᠬᠡᠯᠡᠨ ᠦ
  ᠵᠦᠢ. Hohhot:ᠥᠪᠥᠷ
  ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠠᠷᠠᠳ ᠣᠨ
  ᠬᠡᠪᠯᠡᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠭᠣᠷᠢᠶ ᠠ/ Nèi Ménggǔ rénmín chūbǎnshè 内蒙古 人民出版社 , 1990.
• Qīnggé'ěrtài 清 格尔泰 : Měnggǔyǔ yǔfǎ 《蒙古语 语法》 . Hohhot:ᠥᠪᠥᠷ
  ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠠᠷᠠᠳ ᠣᠨ
  ᠬᠡᠪᠯᠡᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠭᠣᠷᠢᠶ ᠠ/ Nèi Ménggǔ rénmín chūbǎnshè 内蒙古 人民出版社 , 1991.

Dictionaries

• Hans-Peter Vietze : Mongolian-German Dictionary . 2nd edition. DAO-Verlag, Berlin 2006.
• Hans-Peter Vietze: German-Mongolian Dictionary . New edition. DAO-Verlag, Berlin 2008.
• ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ
  ᠬᠢᠲᠠᠳ
  ᠲᠣᠯᠢ/ Měng-Hàn cídiǎn 《蒙汉 词典》 . Hohhot:ᠥᠪᠥᠷ
  ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠶᠡᠬᠡ
  ᠰᠤᠷᠭᠠᠭᠤᠯᠢ ᠶᠢᠨ
  ᠬᠡᠪᠯᠡᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠭᠣᠷᠢᠶ ᠠ/ Nèi Ménggǔ dàxué chūbǎnshè 内蒙古 大学 出版社 , 1999; ISBN 7-81074-000-8 .
• ᠰᠢᠨ᠎ᠡ
  ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ
  ᠬᠢᠲᠠᠳ
  ᠲᠣᠯᠢ/ Xīn Měng-Hàn cídiǎn 《新 蒙汉 词典》 / Шинэ Монгол – Хятад толь . Beijing: Shāngwù yìnshūguǎn 商务印书馆 2002; ISBN 7-100-01966-4 .
• ᠭᠠᠯᠰᠠᠩᠫᠤᠩᠰᠣᠭ / Галсанпунцаг: ᠺᠢᠷᠢᠯ -
  ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ
  ᠬᠠᠳᠠᠮᠠᠯ
  ᠲᠣᠯᠢ/ Кирилл – Монгол хадмал толь . Hohhot:ᠥᠪᠥᠷ
  ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠰᠤᠷᠭᠠᠨ
  ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠴᠢᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠬᠡᠪᠯᠡᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠭᠣᠷᠢᠶ ᠠ/ Өвөр Монголын сурган хүмүүжлийн хэвлэлийн хороо, 2004; ISBN 7-5311-5844-2 .

Textbooks

• Hans-Peter Vietze: Textbook of the Mongolian language . 5th edition. Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig 1988.
• ᠪᠢᠷᠢᠨᠲᠡᠭᠦᠰ: ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ
  ᠬᠡᠯᠡᠨ ᠦ
  ᠵᠥᠪ
  ᠳᠠᠭᠤᠳᠠᠯᠭ᠋ ᠠ
  ᠵᠥᠪ
  ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠯᠭᠡ ᠶᠢᠨ
  ᠲᠣᠯᠢ. Hohhot:ᠥᠪᠥᠷ
  ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠰᠤᠷᠭᠠᠨ
  ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠴᠢᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠬᠡᠪᠯᠡᠯ ᠤᠨ
  ᠭᠣᠷᠢᠶ ᠠ/ Nèi Ménggǔ jiàoyù chūbǎnshè 内蒙古 教育 出版社 , 2005.

Web links

Wikipedia in Mongolian

• Reinhold Greisbach , Nyamaa Purevshargal: Mongolisch sprachsignale.de (Mongolian language course, grammar, small vocabulary lists)
• Lingua Mongolia (introduction to the Mongolian language and writing; English)
• Mongolian language mongoluls.net (Introduction to the Mongolian language; English)
• Mongolian (монгол) ominglot.com (English)
• Толь Бичиг aasultserver.com (online dictionaries: English-Mongolian, Mongolian-English, German-Mongolian and Russian-Mongolian)
• Bolor Mongol Dictionary bolor-toli.com (online dictionaries: Mongolian-English, Mongolian-German, Mongolian-Korean, Mongolian-Japanese and vice versa)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Atwood 2004, p. 373.
2. ↑ Juha Janhunen (Ed.): The Mongolic Languages . Routledge, London / New York 2003, ISBN 0-7007-1133-3 ; P. xviii.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Janhunen 2012, p. 11.
4. ↑ Svantesson 2003, p. 154
5. ↑ М. Баянтөр, Г. Нямдаваа, З. Баярмаа: Монгол улсын ястангуудын тоо, байршилд гарч буй өөрчлөлтүүдийн асуудалд. In: Монголын хүн амын сетгүүл 10 (2004), pp. 57-70.
6. ↑ Juha Janhunen (Ed.): The Mongolic Languages . Routledge, London / New York 2003, ISBN 0-7007-1133-3 ; P. xviii.
7. ↑ Mongolian, Peripheral , Ethnologue.com (number from 1982!).
8. ↑ Atwood 2004, p. 374.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Janhunen 2012, p. 3.
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Janhunen 2012, p. 4.
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Janhunen 2012, pp. 4–5.
12. ↑ Janhunen 2012, p. 7.
13. ↑ Svantesson pp. 9-10.
14. ^ Svantesson p. 10
15. ↑ Dàobù 1982, p. 2.
16. ↑ Juha Janhunen (ed.): The Mongolic Languages . London / New York: Routledge, 2003; ISBN 0-7007-1133-3 ; P. xviii.
17. ^ Svantesson pp. 11-12
18. ↑ Mongolian language. In: Christopher P. Atwood: Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire . New York: Facts On File, 2004; ISBN 0-8160-4671-9 ; P. 373 and Владимирцов 1988 (1929) p. 390; Examples unified according toᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ
    ᠬᠢᠲᠠᠳ
    ᠲᠣᠯᠢ / 《蒙汉 词典》 1999 and ᠭᠠᠯᠰᠠᠩᠫᠤᠩᠰᠣᠭ / Галсанпунцаг 2004.
19. ↑ Atwood p. 374.
20. ↑ representation according toᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ
    ᠬᠢᠲᠠᠳ
    ᠲᠣᠯᠢ / 《蒙汉 词典》 1999 p. 1424, supplemented by Qīnggé'ěrtài 1991 p. 41–64.
21. ↑ Dàobù 1982, p. 17.
22. ^ Nicholas Poppe : Grammar of Written Mongolian . Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1954; P. 40.
23. ^ Otgonbayar Chuluunbaatar: Introduction to the Mongolian Scripts . Buske Verlag, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-87548-500-4 , pp. 60, 62 f.
24. ↑ Yeshen-Khorlo Dugarova-Montgomery, Robert Montgomery: The Alphabet of Buriat Agvan Dorjiev , p 90. Stephen Kotkin, Bruce A. Elleman (ed.): Mongolia in the Twentieth Century. Landlocked Cosmopolitan . ME Sharpe, Armonk 1999.