Mongolian languages
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What are Mongolian languages?
Mongolian languages, a family within the Altaic language group, are spoken in Mongolia and nearby areas of east-central Asia. The subclassification of these languages remains debated. Central Mongolian languages are generally split into western (Oirat and Kalmyk) and eastern (Buryat and Mongol) groups.
Mongol, the primary language, is spoken by about seven million people in Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang autonomous regions, as well as the Qinghai and Gansu provinces of China. The Khalkha dialect serves as the base for Mongolia's official language. Other Mongolian groups include D\u00f6rv\u00f6d (D\u00f6rbed), Buryat, Bayad, and Dariganga.
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Where are Mongolian languages mainly spoken?
Mongolian languages are mainly spoken in Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. They are also spoken in the Xinjiang region, as well as the Qinghai and Gansu provinces of China. Additionally, there are groups of speakers in Russia's Siberia and Afghanistan. The Khalkha dialect serves as the foundation for Mongolia's official language.
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What is the main language of the Mongolian languages group?
The principal language within the Mongolian language family is the Mongol language, spoken by approximately seven million individuals residing in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and the provinces of Qinghai and Gansu in China. The Khalkha dialect serves as the foundation for the official language of Mongolia and is understood by 90% of the countryās population.
The traditional Mongolian script is scheduled to be reintroduced as the official written language of Mongolia in 2025. In the 1940s, the traditional Mongolian vertical script was replaced by a Cyrillic script based on the Russian alphabet; however, in the 1990s, the traditional script was taught again in schools.
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How are Mongolian languages different from each other?
The Mongolian languages, spoken across Mongolia and neighboring regions of east-central Asia, are categorized into central and outlying groups, with variations arising from geographic separation and historical influences.
The central group includes the closely related Oirat and Kalmyk languages in the west, and Buryat and Mongol languages in the east. The outlying languages such as Moghol, Daur, Yellow Uyghur, Monguor (Tu), Dongxiang, and Baoāan, display more archaic features compared to the central languages.
Written forms exist for all central languages, but not for the outlying ones. Dialectal differences, divergent spelling conventions, and vocabulary differences contribute to variations among Mongolian languages. Additionally, the phonological systems of Altaic languages, including Mongolian, typically lack honorific language and gender distinctions.
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What writing systems are used for Mongolian languages?
The writing systems used for Mongolian languages include the traditional Mongolian script, Cyrillic, and others.
The traditional Mongolian script, derived from the Uyghur alphabet around 1310, has 26 letters and is written vertically from left to right. Although set to be reintroduced in 2025, this script is still used in China.
In the 1940s, the traditional Mongolian script was replaced by a Cyrillic script based on the Russian alphabet. While the traditional script was reintroduced in schools in the 1990s, both scripts appear on store signs. Additionally, Buryat and Kalmyk are literary languages that use the Cyrillic script.
It should be noted that Oirat utilizes a variant of the old Mongolian vertical script.
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How have the Mongolian languages changed or been influenced by other cultures and languages?
Mongolian languages have been influenced by other cultures through borrowing and geographic proximity. The conversion of the Mongols to Buddhism around 1575 ushered in a period where scriptural texts were translated from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese sources, adding numerous terms to the Mongolian language.
Altaic languages, including Mongolian, have borrowed vocabulary from each other due to their close proximity. Ancient Mongolian adopted agricultural terms from Turkic languages. Mongol language has also borrowed its script from the Turkic Uyghurs. Additionally, international scientific, political, and cultural terms have entered Central Asian Altaic languages through Russian.
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Mongolian languages, one of three families within the Altaic language group. The Mongolian languages are spoken in Mongolia and adjacent parts of east-central Asia. Their subclassification is controversial, and no one scheme has won universal approval. The central Mongolian languages are usually divided into a western group, consisting of the closely related Oirat (spoken in Mongolia and in the Xinjiang region of China) and Kalmyk (Russia), and an eastern group, consisting of the closely related Buryat (Russia) and Mongol (Mongolia and China) languages. Outlying languagesāMoghol (spoken in Afghanistan), Daur (Inner Mongolia, China), Yellow Uyghur (East Yogur, not to be confused with the Turkic Yellow Uyghur [West Yugar]; Gansu province, China), and the southern group of Monguor (Tu), Dongxiang, and Baoāan (Bonan), which are spoken on the border between the provinces of Gansu and Qinghaiāexhibit archaic features. All of the central, but none of the outlying, languages have written forms.
The Altaic hypothesisāthe idea that Turkic, Mongolic, and Manchu-Tungus languages are a language family that share a genetic relationship (along with Korean and Japanese in some formulations)āis controversial among linguists. Most scholars now reject the hypothesis, but some argue that the Altaic category remains useful as an areal grouping with noteworthy similarities in vocabulary, morphological and syntactic structure, and certain phonological features explained by prolonged geographic proximity. Here, Altaic is discussed as a language group in recognition of the diversity of views in scholarship.
The history of the Mongolian language, both spoken and written, consists of three periods. The divisions of the spoken language are Old, or Ancient, Mongolian (through the 12th century), Middle Mongolian (13thā16th centuries), and New, or Modern, Mongolian (17th century to the present). Old Mongolian is reconstructed from borrowings in other languages and by comparison of the recorded Mongolian languages. The Mongolian vertical script language developed at the end of the 12th century; the oldest extant text dates from roughly 1225. The Pre-Classical period of the written language corresponds to Middle Mongolian. This language is slightly more archaic than the contemporary Middle Mongolian recorded in Chinese transcription in the Secret History of the Mongols (c. 1240) and in other texts and glosses in the Chinese, āPhags-pa, Persian, and Latin scripts. The conversion of the Mongols to Buddhism (c. 1575) ushered in the Classical period (17th and early 18th centuries) of translation of scriptural texts from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese, and this period corresponds to the commencement of the Modern period of the spoken language. Not until the 19th century did features of contemporary spoken Mongolian languages begin to appear in Mongolian texts.
With the translation of Buddhistic texts, Mongolian received a large number of Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, and Uyghur terms, including not only technical religious words but also personal names and astronomical and calendrical terms.
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At the end of the Ancient Mongolian period, the Mongolian language began to spread from its original homeland, and, during the Middle Mongolian period, various dialects began to develop into separate languages. The outlying languagesāwhich today survive as Moghol in Afghanistan; Daur in the east; and Monguor (Tu), Baoāan (Bonan), and Santa (Dongxiang) in the southāwere isolated from the main body of Mongolian languages when the tide of Mongol conquest receded. These languages diverged from the main group of Mongolian dialects and to this day retain archaic features characteristic of Middle Mongolian that have been lost in other Mongolian languages; e.g., many retain /f/ and /h/ from Proto-Altaic */p/ (an asterisk identifies a sound as a hypothetical, reconstructed form), as well as unassimilated vowel sequences. An example of the latter phenomenon is Middle Mongolian eāĆ¼ (which in Classical Mongolian contained a medial velar, egĆ¼), where other languages have merged the vowels into a single, long vowel (thus į¹»).
Moghol
The Moghol language was reported in the late 20th century to be spoken by no more than 200 elderly people of a few thousand ethnic Moghols living near HerÄt in Afghanistan. It is unique in preserving the high back unrounded vowel /ÉÆ/. Unlike some of the other outlying languages, it has lost Proto-Altaic */p/, but it preserves some unassimilated vowel sequences. The phonology and syntax of Moghol have been affected by Persian, and it has borrowed a large number of words from that language, including some function words. Like Daur, it is not closely related to any other extant Mongolian language.
Daur
Daur is spoken in several places in the northeastern portion of Inner Mongolia. It preserves some unassimilated vowel sequences, and one dialect preserves /h/. It is unique in preserving a complete set of forms of the old verb a- āto beā and in preserving complete sets of forms for both inclusive and exclusive āweā. Some Daur speakers used Manchu as their written language, and the influence of Manchu on Daur vocabulary and grammar led some to misclassify it as a Manchu-Tungus language.
Other outlying languages
There is no general agreement concerning relationships within the southern group of Mongolian languages. Monguor (Tu), Baoāan, and Santa are spoken in isolated communities within a compact area on the border between the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. Monguor is similar enough to Baoāan that the latter has sometimes been considered a Monguor dialect. Santa, spoken just east of Baoāan, is less similar. Yellow Uyghur (also called Shera Yƶgur, JegĆ¼n Uyghur, East Yogur, among other names) is spoken in the north of Gansu proper. It is not to be confused with the Yellow Uyghur (Sarƶ, or Sarig, Uyghur, or Yugur, West Yugar) that is a Turkic language; the speakers of the two languages have sometimes been confusingly lumped together. Several other names of dialects or languages (e.g., Aragwa, Sanquan, Shirongol) were mistakenly reported or identified by scholars.
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The southern group of Mongolian languages generally preserve unassimilated vowel sequences and retain /h/; in Monguor, Baoāan, and Santa, the earlier stage, /f/, occurs as well. Unlike other Mongolian languages, Monguor, Baoāan, and Yellow Uyghur have stress on the last syllable, with loss or weakening of some initial syllables.