Making Sense of the Traditional Mongolian Script

(This page is an introduction to the traditional Mongolian script based on my experience of being taught by Inner Mongolian teachers. I pass it on here in the hope that it may be of help to those wanting to learn this script. Any errors, omissions, or mistakes are my own, not those of my teachers.)

1. INTRODUCTION

The old Mongolian script is not easy to come to grips with. This due to three main causes:

1. The shape of the letters themselves can be very confusing. The same letter will take different shapes depending on whether it comes at the start of a word (initial position), in the middle of a word (medial position), or at the end of a word (final position), sometimes with multiple forms at each position. A number of letters are composed of little more than 'teeth', often resulting in a bewildering sequence of teeth that is hard to make sense of, e.g., , the word for 'pig'.

2. The alphabet itself is defective as it lacks sufficient letters to represent all the sounds of Mongolian. This means that some letters must do double duty to represent the sounds of the language. For example, while modern standardised Mongolian recognises seven vowels, the alphabet has only five letters to represent them, which is reduced to three in medial or final position.

3. Mongolian spelling is mostly archaic, being based on the pronunciation of the language many centuries ago. While there are many patterns that allow the reader to relate the spelling to the modern pronunciation (which has been standardised in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia but may vary greatly according to spoken dialects), there are also many irregularities and idiosyncratic spellings that simply need to be memorised.

Because of these three characteristics, learning the alphabet requires a disciplined approach. Simply plunging in and learning it letter by letter is certain to result in frustration and failure.

The two basic principles that must be followed are:

1. Learn the script on its own terms. An easygoing approach based on the idea that the Mongolian script is just a funny way of writing modern Mongolian will not yield optimum results. To learn it, you should develop the habit of spelling out words out exactly as they are written. In Inner Mongolian primary schools, children are required to read the letters exactly as written for two years. Once they have developed this habit they are they allowed to start reading words in the modern pronunciation from the third year. There is less emphasis on this in Mongolia (the country), which is partly why many Mongolians find it hard to remember the spelling of the old script and thus how to write it.

To take one example, the modern word for 'magpie' is bisyllabic: ʃa:ʤ-gai, pronounced in Mongolia (Khalkha standard) as ʃa:ʣ-gai (шаазгай). In the traditional script this is four syllables: ša-ɣa-ǰa-ɣai: . The learner should develop the habit of perceiving this word on its own terms as 'sha ga ja gai' rather than a confusing way of writing 'shaaj gai' or 'shaaz gai'. This will make it easier both to read the script and to remember the spelling, avoiding the trap of vague impressionism, which can only lead to failure.

2. Learn the script as a syllabary, like Japanese hiragana and katakana: Don't try to learn the consonants and vowels in their isolated forms; they must be learnt in combination. Children are traditionally taught the alphabet this way in both Inner Mongolia and Mongolia. However, specifics vary. In Inner Mongolia, a highly rigorous approach is adopted that greatly facilitates learning the alphabet. To some extent the Inner Mongolian approach is an innovation on traditional approaches, but the overall result is to make the alphabet easier to learn.

In modern Inner Mongolia, the syllabic approach involves first learning a large table of open syllables based on combining 16 consonants and seven vowels. Each syllable is shown in initial, medial, and final form.

After learning these open syllables, the student learns a small set of non-syllabic letters that are used to close or lengthen syllables. By learning these, the student can easily identify both long open syllables and closed syllables in reading the script. (The practice of listing syllable-closing letters in a separate table appears to be special to modern Inner Mongolia. Other systems incorporate them in the main table of syllables.)

The above approach to teaching the script has several advantages.

From the point of view of form , it allows all combinations of letters (or glyphs) to be presented in a highly systematic fashion. Since letters have different forms, sometimes more than one form at each position, this is essential to organising the different combinations into a coherent system.

, it allows all combinations of letters (or glyphs) to be presented in a highly systematic fashion. Since letters have different forms, sometimes more than one form at each position, this is essential to organising the different combinations into a coherent system. From the point of view of pronunciation , it provides a disciplined framework for grasping how letters represent multiple sounds, eliminating some of the guesswork and highlighting (rather than multiplying) areas of indeterminacy.

, it provides a disciplined framework for grasping how letters represent multiple sounds, eliminating some of the guesswork and highlighting (rather than multiplying) areas of indeterminacy. From the point of view of interpretation, it arms the learner with a solid basis for deciphering the written word. This is particularly important since, as we noted above, many letters have similar shapes, giving rise to potentially confusing sequences.

The tables given below present 1) the basic set of open syllables and 2) the set of letters that can be used to complete syllables, either by closing them or by adding vowels.

The Mongolian script also has a set of rarer consonants mostly found in loanwords from foreign languages. These are omitted here but must also be learnt in order to read the language properly.

* The script is shown below in its handwritten form, which is somewhat different from the printed form. (See here for conversion between handwritten and printed forms).

* The tables below are presented in two phonetic representations. One uses international phonetic alphabet (IPA) and follows modern Inner Mongolian pronunciation. The other is Cyrillic, the alphabet used in Mongolia. The representation of the traditional script in Roman or Latin letters is somewhat chaotic, with several different systems in use. Unfortunately, there is some conflict between the different systems, which is most noticeable at several of the vowels.

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Many systems attempt to represent the pronunciation of the language at an earlier stage -- i.e., as though the alphabet represented Classical Mongolian as it is supposed to have been pronounced. The system here presents a pronunciation that makes sense to modern Inner Mongolians. Differences in representing the traditional alphabet tend to be concentrated on the vowels and a small group of consonants. The following table covers the main differences: Classical Classical * Classical (IM1) Classical (IM2) Modern IM Cyrillic a a a a a а e e e e ə э i i i i i и o o o o ɔ о u u u u ʊ у ö ö ɵ ö o ө ü ü ʉ ü u ү q kh h x x х k g g g g g г G g ɣ ng ŋ ng ng ŋ нг š sh š š ʃ ш č ch c č ʧ ч ǰ zh z ǰ ʤ ж Many systems attempt to represent the pronunciation of the language at an earlier stage -- i.e., as though the alphabet represented Classical Mongolian as it is supposed to have been pronounced. The system here presents a pronunciation that makes sense to modern Inner Mongolians. Differences in representing the traditional alphabet tend to be concentrated on the vowels and a small group of consonants. The following table covers the main differences: * Used by current author elsewhere. Note that some systems distinguish between G/ɣ before feminine vowels and g before masculine vowels, and q before feminine vowels and k before masculine vowels.

Note that the traditional Mongolia script is written from top to bottom in columns going from left to right, unlike the (traditional) Chinese and Japanese order of columns going from right to left.

2. THE TABLE OF OPEN SYLLABLES

The inventory of common open syllables is set out in a matrix showing how each consonant combines with the seven vowels of Mongolian.

The order of consonants is:

Plain vowels (no consonant), n, b, p, x, g, m, l, s, ʃ, t, d, ʧ, ʤ, j, and r. In Cyrillic, the order is: plain vowels, н, б, п, х, г, м, л, с, ш, т, д, ч/ц, ж/з, я/ю/ё, and р. Owing to phonetic change in Khalkha Mongolian, the old phonemes ʧ and ʤ have split into two phonemes: ʧ and ʦ (ч and ц) and ʤ and ʣ (ж and з) respectively.

The order of vowels is:

a, ə, i, ɔ, ʊ, o, u (or in Cyrillic, а, э, и, о, у, ө, ү). Since the traditional alphabet is insufficient to fully distinguish among all seven vowels, in Inner Mongolia the vowels are customarily identified using the numbers 1 to 7.

The order shown above is used in dictionaries in Inner Mongolia (with some minor variation) and is worth memorising.

Looking at the tables, you will notice that, despite the fact that the matrix is supposed to cover seven distinct vowels, the actual number of vowels used in the traditional script is usually three and at best five. This will be discussed below. The pronunciation of each syllable is shown down the left-hand side in both phonetic alphabet and Cyrillic letters.

The tables have actually been made into a song, which can be seen here (Youtube) or here (if you're in China), sung by Halin and friend. The order, which isn't so easily read directly from the tables, is shown here.

The Tables

Plain vowels and syllables starting in 'n'

Plain vowels: In initial position only, there is a distinction between vowels 1 and 2 (a and e, Cyrillic а and э).

The special form for vowel 2 (e or э) is found only in foreign words.

The na and ne syllables in final position offer a choice between a) a normal consonant-vowel sequence and b) a syllable-final n followed by a as a separate letter. This is not a free choice; it is determined by the spelling of the word in question.

Plain vowels n / н Initial Medial Final Initial Medial Final 1

a

а 1

na

на 2

ə

э 2

nə

нэ 3

i

и 3

ni

ни 4

ɔ

o 4

nɔ

но 5

ʊ

y 5

nʊ

нy 6

o

ө 6

no

нө 7

u

ү 7

nu

нү

Syllables starting in 'b' and 'p'

The following letters are noticeable for the way they are joined to the following vowel in a ligature, which can be confusing for learners. Words beginning with p tend to be foreign words.

b / б p / п Initial Medial Final Initial Medial Final 1

ba

ба 1

pa

па 2

bə

бэ 2

pə

пэ 3

bi

би 3

pi

пи 4

bɔ

бo 4

pɔ

по 5

bʊ

бy 5

pʊ

пy 6

bo

бө 6

po

пө 7

bu

бү 7

pu

пү

Syllables starting in 'kh' and 'g'

The following columns are essential in indicating vowel harmony since almost alone in the Mongolian alphabet, they clearly differentiate between masculine and feminine vowels. However, what the system gives with one hand it takes away with the other: the sounds x and g (х and г) are not distinguished for feminine and neutral vowels.

Like the previous columns, the forms indicating feminine vowels use a ligature.

The g sound is usually presented as a single phoneme in most non-specialist treatments of Mongolian, although the sound used before masculine/yang vowels is actually ɣ, while that used before feminine/yin vowels is g. While the pronunciation differs, in the modern language it is only in final position that it actually plays a role in distinguishing words.

x / х g / ɣ / г Initial Medial Final Initial Medial Final 1

xa

ха 1

ɣa

га 2

xə

хэ 2

gə

гэ 3

xi

хи 3

gi

ги 4

xɔ

хo 4

ɣɔ

го 5

xʊ

хy 5

ɣʊ

гy 6

xo

хө 6

go

гө 7

xu

хү 7

gu

гү

Syllables starting in 'm' and 'l'

Final ma / me and la / le offer a choice between a) a normal consonant-vowel combination and b) a terminating m or l followed by the letter a written separately. The choice is determined by the spelling of the word in question.

m / м l / л Initial Medial Final Initial Medial Final 1

ma

ма 1

la

ла 2

mə

мэ 2

lə

лэ 3

mi

ми 3

li

ли 4

mɔ

мo 4

lɔ

ло 5

mʊ

мy 5

lʊ

лy 6

mo

мө 6

lo

лө 7

mu

мү 7

lu

лү

Syllables starting in 's' and 'sh'

s and ʃ: The combinations si and ʃi are both pronounced /ʃi/.

s / с ʃ / ш Initial Medial Final Initial Medial Final 1

sa

са 1

ʃa

ша 2

sə

сэ 2

ʃə

шэ 3

si

си 3

ʃi

ши 4

sɔ

сo 4

ʃɔ

шо 5

sʊ

сy 5

ʃʊ

шy 6

so

сө 6

ʃo

шө 7

su

сү 7

ʃu

шү

Syllables starting in 't' and 'd'

The distinction between the d and t columns in the spelling is an artificial one. Although the language distinguishes between t and d in pronunciation, the two are not distinguished in the traditional script, apart from a few foreign words.

t / т d / д Initial Medial Final Initial Medial Final 1

ta

та 1

da

да 2

tə

тэ 2

də

дэ 3

ti

ти 3

di

ди 4

tɔ

тo 4

dɔ

до 5

tʊ

тy 5

dʊ

дy 6

to

тө 6

do

дө 7

tu

тү 7

du

дү

Syllables starting in 'ch' and 'j'

In the Mongolian of Mongolia and also in dialects of Inner Mongolia, in a large number of words ʧ has become ts and ʤ has become dz (in Cyrillic terms, ч has become ц and ж has become з).

ʧ / ч ʤ / ж Initial Medial Final Initial Medial Final 1

ʧa

ча 1

ʤa

жа 2

ʧə

чэ 2

ʤə

жэ 3

ʧi

чи 3

ʤi

жи 4

ʧɔ

чo 4

ʤɔ

жо 5

ʧʊ

чy 5

ʤʊ

жy 6

ʧo

чө 6

ʤo

жө 7

ʧu

чү 7

ʤu

жү

Syllables starting in 'y' and 'r'

Both ja/je and ra/re have alternative spellings in the final position: either a standard consonant + vowel combination, or a terminal consonant followed by a separately written a. The form used depends on the word in question.

Cyrillic does very poorly at rendering the vowels of the j row.

j / й r / р Initial Medial Final Initial Medial Final 1

ja

я 1

ra

ра 2

jə

е 2

rə

рэ 3

ji

и 3

ri

ри 4

jɔ

ё 4

rɔ

ро 5

jʊ

юу 5

rʊ

рy 6

jo

ю 6

ro

рө 7

ju

юү 7

ru

рү

As I mentioned above, there are several other consonants that are found only in foreign words. If you are interested in seeing these letters, see this site, which also includes sound files.

3. TABLE OF CLOSING CONSONANTS AND VOWELS

Besides the short open syllables shown in the tables above, Mongolian also has syllables finishing in a consonant (a CVC structure or indeed a CVCC structure). In other cases, the vowel may be lengthened or converted into a diphthong.

The non-syllabic consonants or vowels used to complete syllables are known in Chinese as 半音节 or 伴音节, both pronounced bàn yīnjié but meaning 'half syllable' and 'syllable accompaniment' respectively. They are divided into three groups: hard (strong), soft (weak), and vocalic. The classification is relevant to the attachment of suffixes, which we will not cover here.

The elements are as follows:

Classification Consonant or vowel Medial (syllable end) Final (word end) Hard b / б ɣ / г (after masculine/yang vowels) g / г (after feminine/yin vowels) r / р s / с d / д Soft n / н m / м l / л ŋ / н Vocalic i / й ʊ or u / у or ү

4. SYLLABIFICATION IN ACTION

The following are a few very simple examples of syllabification in action.

Word Division into syllables Notes Modern form Meaning

xələ

xə-lə Two open syllables: xə and le . xəl

Cyrillic: хэл 'language, tongue'

mʊʊr

mʊʊr The open syllable mʊ plus the additional vowel ʊ and consonant r , but still one syllable. mʊʊr

Cyrillic: муур

'cat'

bars

bars The open syllable ba plus additional consonants r and s , but still one syllable. bar

Cyrillic: бар 'tiger'

xɔŋxʊ

xɔŋ-xʊ

First syllable is xɔŋ , xɔ plus ŋ . The second syllable is open xʊ . Note the ligature between the letters for ŋ and x . xɔŋx

Cyrillic: хонх 'bell'

ɣaxai

ɣa-xai First syllable is open ɣa , second syllable consists of xa plus the vowel i . ɣaxai

Cyrillic: гахай 'pig'

gurbel

gur-bəl First syllable is gu plus r ; second syllable is be plus l . gurbəl

Cyrillic: гүрвэл

'lizard'

tiŋxim

tiŋ-xim

First syllable is ti plus ŋ ; the second syllable is x i closing with the letter m . tiŋxim

Cyrillic: тинхим, usually танхим in Mongolia. 'living room'

This approach provides the student with a solid framework for learning to read and decipher the Mongolian script.

5. HOW TO DISTINGUISH VOWELS

Although Mongolian has seven vowels, in a majority of positions the script essentially distinguishes only three vowels: , , and , representing a/ə, i, and ɔ/ʊ/o/u respectively (in Cyrillic, а/э, и and о/у/ө/ү). This is one of the script's most confusing points.

However, a considerable amount of uncertainty is removed by a linguistic feature of Mongolian known as vowel harmony. Vowels in Mongolian fall into three categories:

Strong, masculine or yang vowels: vowels 1, 4, 5 = a , ɔ , ʊ = Cyrillic а о у.

, , = Cyrillic а о у. Weak, feminine or yin vowels: vowels 2, 6, 7 = ə , o , u = э, ө, ү.

, , = э, ө, ү. neuter or neutral vowel: vowel 3 = i = й.

Incidentally, the preferred terminology for the two main classes of vowel in Inner Mongolia is yang and yin, but 'masculine' and 'feminine' will continue to be used below.

Under vowel harmony, native Mongolian words are normally harmonised to contain 1) only masculine (yang) and neutral vowels, or 2) only feminine (yin) and neutral vowels. No mixtures are allowed. A word containing neutral vowels only is treated as feminine/yin.

In most cases, the script provides vital clues as to whether a word is masculine (yang) or feminine (yin) under vowel harmony. The most important clues are:

1) The distinction between the vowels ɔ/ʊ (masculine) and o/u (feminine) in initial syllables only, serving as an indication that the word as a whole is masculine (yang) or feminine (yin). 2) The distinction between plain vowels 1 and 2 ( and ) in initial syllables only, which distinguishes masculine a (Cyrillic а) and feminine ə (Cyrillic э). However, there is no distinction if the initial syllable starts with a consonant. In such cases the reader must look for other signs. 3) Clear vowel harmony distinctions are drawn in the x and g (ɣ) columns (Cyrillic х and г), with different letters used in front of masculine/yang vowels, and feminine/yin or neutral vowels respectively. 4) Vowel harmony is also shown by the letter used for syllable-final g / ɣ (Cyrillic г), which differs according to the vowel harmony category of the word (see above).

6. EXAMPLES OF VOWEL HARMONY IN SPELLING

Word Division into syllables Notes Modern form Meaning

ʃɔrʊ

ʃɔ-rʊ Masculine/yang word.

Category made clear by vowel ɔ in the first syllable. Final vowel harmonized to ʊ . ʃɔr

Cyrillic: шор 'pointed'

ʃoru

ʃo-ru Feminine/yin word.

Category made clear by vowel o in the first syllable. Final vowel harmonized to u . ʃоr

Cyrillic: шөр (more usually шөрөг in Mongolia) 'fence'

bɔlʤʊmʊr

bɔl-ʤʊ-mʊr Masculine/yang word.

Category made clear by vowel ɔ in the first syllable. Vowels in following syllables harmonised to ʊ . bɔlʤmɔr

Cyrillic: болжмор 'sparrow, lark'

tomusu

to-mu-su Feminine/yin word.

Category made clear by vowel o in the first syllable. Vowels in following syllables harmonised to u . toms

Cyrillic: төмс 'potato'

abʊ

a-bʊ Masculine/yang word.

Category made clear by initial vowel a . The final vowel is harmonised to ʊ . aab

Cyrillic аав 'father'

əʤi

ə-ʤi Feminine/yin word.

Category made clear by the initial vowel e , which is a feminine/yin vowel. ə:ʤ

Cyrillic: ээж 'mother'

malaɣai

ma-la-ɣai Masculine/yang word.

Category made clear by use of ga in medial position (this is a distinctive masculine form in the g column). Vowels are harmonised to a . malɣai

Cyrillic: малгай 'hat'

mələxəi

mə-lə-xəi Feminine/yin word.

Category made clear by use of xe in medial position (this is a distinctive feminine form in the x row). Vowels are harmonised to e . məlxi:

Cyrillic: мэлхий 'frog'

bʊɣʊ

bʊ-ɣʊ Masculine/yang word.

Category made clear by vowel ʊ in the first syllable and the form ɣʊ in the final syllable. bʊg

Cyrillic: буга

'deer'

mogu

mo-gu Feminine/yin word.

Category made clear by vowel o in the first syllable and the form gu in the final syllable. mog

Cyrillic: мөг 'mushroom'

imaɣa

i-ma-ɣa Masculine/yang word.

Category made clear by the occurence of word-final ɣa form. jama:

Cyrillic: ямаа 'goat'

ʧag

ʧag Masculine/yang word.

Category made clear by the occurrence of the syllable-closing g form, which follows masculine/yang vowels. ʧag

Cyrillic: цаг 'clock, time'

ʧəʧəg

ʧə-ʧəg Feminine/yin word.

Category made clear by the occurrence of the syllable-closing g form, which follows feminine/yin vowels. ʧəʧəg

Cyrillic: цэцэг 'flower'

While vowel harmony does a lot to disambiguate vowels, there are many forms containing vowels 1 and 2 (a and e, Cyrillic а and э) that fall between the cracks, with actual or potential multiple readings. A couple of examples are:

Word Division into syllables Notes Modern form Meaning

sam

sam No indication of vowel harmony class. Can also be read sem , meaning 'quietly'. sam

Cyrillic: сам 'comb'

nərə

nə-rə No indication of vowel harmony category. Could conceivably be read as nara . The word nara exists, meaning 'sun', but is distinguished by being written nara . nər

Cyrillic: нэр 'name'

sələmə

sə-lə-mə No indication of vowel harmony. Could theoretically be read salama ; however, this word does not exist. sələm

Cyrillic: сэлэм 'sword'

A more serious problem is the fact that the script draws no distinction between vowels 4 and 5 (ɔ and ʊ, Cyrillic о and y), and between vowels 6 and 7 (o and u, Cyrillic ө and ү). Arriving at the correct pronunciation of these sounds is a matter of identifying the word and knowing how it is pronounced.

While this may appear to be a serious drawback, it does have its advantages. The choice of vowel 4 or 5, or vowel 6 or 7, often differs between dialects. For example, the word morən 'river' (Cyrillic мөрөн) is pronounced murən (theoretically Cyrillic мүрэн) in dialects in the east of Inner Mongolia. Whereas Cyrillic forces a differentiation and recognises only morən, the indeterminacy of the traditional script allows it to accommodate both pronunciations.

7. OTHER AMBIGUITIES

Besides problems distinguishing among vowels, there are several other issues reading the script. These include:

1) The existence of cases where can be read either a (Cyrillic а) or ən (Cyrillic эн). 2) The failure to distinguish between t and d in the vast majority of cases. 3) The failure to distinguish between g and x before feminine/yin and neutral vowels.



əndə

ən-də Can also be read:

1) ada 'demon' (due to the confusion between a and en) -- modern Mongolian ad Cyrillic ад, or

2) ata 'gelding over five years old' (due to additional confusion between t and d ) -- modern Mongolian at or Cyrillic ат. ənd

Cyrillic: энд 'here'

gərəltunə

gə-rəl-tu-ne Can also be read xereldune 'fight', due to failure to distinguish g / x and t / d . gərəltənə

Cyrillic: гэрэлтэнэ 'twinkle'

8. CITATION FORMS (INDEPENDENT SYLLABLES)

There are some occasions when an open syllable stands alone as a single unit, not forming part of a word. This is the case 1) when the syllable is cited as an independent form, for example in the index of dictionaries, or 2) when a word is formed of a single syllable.

Words written with these forms include bi (Cyrillic би) meaning 'I, me' and la (Cyrillic лаа) meaning 'wax'.

(Conversion between handwritten and printed forms is here.)

Vowels n / н b / б p / п x / х g / ɣ / г m / м l / л s / с ʃ / ш t / т d / д ʧ / ч ʤ / ж j / й r / р 1

a

а 2

e

э 3

i

и 4

ɔ

o 5

ʊ

y 6

o

ө 7

u

ү

Examples and writing on this page are drawn from the book Mongol chagaan tolgai kart (Cyrillic Монгол цагаан толгой карт) published by Inner Mongolian People's Publishing (ISBN 7204089375/G); see here for details and photo.

A very good introduction to the Mongolian traditional script can be found at "Writing Mongol in Uighur Script" by Luigi Kapaj.

Study Mongolian also covers the letters of the Mongolian alphabet.

An introduction to the Traditional Mongolian script written in Mongolian can be found here.

A tool for converting between Mongol Bichig and the Cyrillic script can be found here: Conversion System between Traditional Mongolian and Cyrillic Mongolian.

If you want to find books in the Mongolian traditional script in Hohhot and Ulaanbaatar, try these pages: Hohhot Bookshops and Ulaanbaatar Bookshops.