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Mongolian is the best-known member of the Mongolic language family, and the primary language of most of the residents of Mongolia. If the Altaic theory is correct, then Mongolian also belongs to the larger Altaic language family. It is also spoken in some of the surrounding areas in provinces of China and the Russian Federation. The majority of speakers in Mongolia speak the Khalkha (or Halh) dialect.
Classification
Mongolian is a Mongolic language. The Altaic theory (which is still controversial and not accepted by all linguists), proposes that the Mongolian family is a member of the larger Altaic family, which would also include the Turkic and Tungusic languages, and possibly Japanese and Korean. Related languages include Kalmyk spoken near the Caspian Sea and Buryat of East Siberia, as well as a number of minor languages in China and the Mogholi language of Afghanistan.
Geographic distribution
Over two million people speak Mongolian throughout Mongolia. There is also a significant number of speakers in Russia, primarily in Buryatia, and millions of speakers in Northern China.
Official status
Khalkha Mongolian is the national language of Mongolia.
Dialects
The most prestigious dialect is Khalkha, which is spoken in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, and most of Mongolia. However, the dialect spoken in Inner Mongolia and northern Mongolia has around a million more speakers than does Khalkha.
Sounds
The full inventory of long and short vowels can only occur in word-initial syllables. In word-internal and word-final syllables, vowels are reduced. Long vowels can only appear in initial syllables. In many non-initial syllables, there is, phonemically, no vowel at all (for example, хоёр, "two," ажил, "work," and саармаг, "neutral" are, phonemically, /xɔjr/, /aʧɮ/, and /saːrmɡ/, respectively (examples from Svantesson et al)). An epenthetic vowel is allophonically inserted, and the form of the epenthetic vowel is predictable from the preceding vowel: the epenthetic vowel is just a centralized version of the vowel in the preceding syllable. In the examples given, the words are phonetically [xɔjɔ̆r], [aʧĭɮ], and [saːrmăɡ]. However, in the epenthetic vowel in a syllable after /u/ is a centralized /e/, and if there is an /i/ in the preceding syllable, then an epenthetic vowel's phonetic form is determined by the vowel in the syllable preceding the /i/, that is, two syllables before the epenthetic vowel. Another factor affecting the form of the epenthetic vowel is the preceding consonant: if it is postalveolar or palatalized, then the epenthetic vowel is a centralized /i/, as in [aʧĭɮ].
No discussion of the phonology of Mongolian would be complete without discussing the language's vowel harmony. Mongolian groups vowels into two groups. Traditionally, these groups have been seen as "front vowels" and "back vowels," but Svantesson et al analyze the groups instead as (what they term) "non-pharyngeal" (e, u, o) and "pharyngeal" (a,ʊ,ɔ). /i/ is a neutral vowel, and does not belong in either group. The type of vowel which occurs in the first syllable of a word determines what vowels can occur in the rest of the word. If the first vowel is pharyngeal, then all the vowels of the word must be either /i/ or a pharyngeal vowel. Similarly, if the first vowel is a non-pharyngeal vowel, then all the vowels of the word must be either /i/ or a non-pharyngeal vowel.
Vowels
Mongolian also has four diphthongs, /ui/, /ʊi/, /ɔi/, and /ai/. Short /o/ is phonetically [ɵ]. The traditional analysis of the vowel system of Mongolian had /i iː y yː u uː e eː ø øː o oː a aː/. However, /y/ is now analyzed as /u/, while /u/ is analyzed as /ʊ/. Likewise, /ø/ is analyzed as /o/ and /o/ is analyzed as /ɔ/.
Consonants
Mongolian lacks a true phoneme /l/; instead, it has a voiced lateral fricative, /ɮ/. Syllable-finally, /n/ is realized as [ŋ]. The phonemes /pʰ/, /pʰʲ/, /f/, /k/, and /kʲ/ only occur in loanwords, and so they are not shown in the table.
Grammar
Mongolian is agglutinative, like Turkish or Finnish, meaning it strings together affixes, adding them to roots. A hallmark of agglutinative languages is that these affixes, unlike in fusional languages, are almost always monomorphemic, composed of a single morpheme. So one affix is required to express plurality, and a separate one to indicate the case of a noun, and so on.
Pronouns
Mongolian has only first and second person pronouns; in place of third person pronouns, the demonstrative pronouns "this" (en), "that" (ter), "these" (ed nar), and "those" (ted nar) are used.
Writing system
The word “Mongol” written in Mongolian script.
Main article: Mongolian alphabet
Mongolian has been written in a variety of alphabets over the years.
The traditional Mongolian alphabet was created in the 12th century, although it has undergone transformations and occasionally been supplanted by other scripts. The Mongolian alphabet was used in Mongolia until 1943, when it was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. As of today, Cyrillic is still the most common script found in Mongolia, while the traditional alphabet is being slowly reintroduced in the public school system.
In the People's Republic of China, the Mongolian language is the official language - co-official with Mandarin Chinese - in some regions. The traditional alphabet has always been used, although Cyrillic was considered briefly before the Sino-Soviet split.
The modified Cyrillic alphabet used for Mongolian is as follows:
| Cyrillic |
IPA |
Transliteration |
|
Cyrillic |
IPA |
Transliteration |
| Аа |
a |
a |
|
Пп |
(pʰ ), (pʰʲ ) |
( p ) |
| Бб |
p,pʲ |
b |
|
Рр |
r,rʲ |
r |
| Вв |
w,wʲ |
v, w |
|
Сс |
s |
s |
| Гг |
ɡ,ɡʲ,ɢ |
g |
|
Тт |
tʰ,tʰʲ |
t |
| Дд |
t,tʲ |
d |
|
Уу |
ʊ |
u |
| Ее |
je |
ye |
|
Үү |
u |
ü |
| Ёё |
jɔ |
yo |
|
Фф |
( f ) |
( f ) |
| Жж |
ʧ |
j |
|
Хх |
x,xʲ |
kh |
| Зз |
ʦ |
(d)z |
|
Цц |
ʦʰ |
ts |
| Ии |
i |
i |
|
Чч |
ʧʰ |
ch |
| Йй |
j |
y |
|
Шш |
ʃ |
sh |
| Кк |
( k ), (kʲ ) |
( k ) |
|
Щщ |
(sʧ ) |
( s(h)ch ) |
| Лл |
ɮ,ɮʲ |
l |
|
Ыы |
i |
y |
| Мм |
m,mʲ |
m |
|
Ьь |
ʲ |
y, ' |
| Нн |
n,nʲ |
n |
|
Ээ |
e |
e |
| Оо |
ɔ |
o |
|
Юю |
jʊ |
yu |
| Өө |
o |
ö |
|
Яя |
ja |
ya |
External links
References and phrases
- Mongolian Phrasebook. Lonely Planet Publications: Victoria, Australia, 1995.
- Svantesson et al. The Phonology of Mongolian. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
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Mongghol (used in 
