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In: Oirad and Kalmyk Lingustic Essays. Edited by Ágnes Birtalan. Budapest, 2012, ELtE Eötvös Kiadó. /tálentum 11./ 84–89.
1. In comparison with the Written mongolian language the following peculiari-ties appear. E. g.:
a. The consonants g, γ, b in an intervocalic position do not disappear:
Written mongolian Khalkha Ööld
debel dēl dewĕl “gown”
quruγu(n) xurū xurgă “finger”
niruγun nurū nurgă “spine”
yaγa-, yaγakikü yāx yagāx “What to do?” etc.
b. The vowel i after an initial consonant n-, č-, š-, ǰ- does not show an assimilated form. E. g.:
Written mongolian Khalkha Ööld
nidonon nodnin nidnăn “last year”
čidaqu čadax tšidăx “to be able”
čidal čadal tšidăl “ability”
sinaγ-a šanaga šinăgă “ladle, scoop”
silγaqu šalgax šilgăx “to examine, to check”
ǰirγal ǰargal džirgăl “happiness”
ǰiran ǰar džirăn “sixty” etc.
c. In words containing front vowels, there appears the allophone k of the velar consonant. E. g.:
Written mongolian Khalkha Ööld
kümün xün küm “man”
üker üxer ükĕr “ox, cow”
yeke ix ik “big”
köke xöx kök “blue” etc.
d. Some words are close in their pronunciation and form to their original form. E. g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
örlüge ürün öglȫ “morning”
mangγadar mangădăr margāš “tomorrow”
arasun, arisun arăs ar's “skin”
ör, üür ör ǖr “dawn”
ǰasaqu džsăx, yasăx jasax “to repair, to correct” etc.
The above mentioned features demonstrating the closeness to the Written mon-golian language certify that the modern form of the Ööld variety still preserves peculiarities of the old mongol language. In the tabgach language of the toba Empire that constitutes part of the monuments of the old mongol language in the 4–5th centuries, the Written mongolian word aq-a is aqan, the Written mon-golian word qoni-čin is qoyinčin. The Ööld forms like axăn “brother”, xȫ “sheep”
show some parallels and similarities with the dialect of the tabgach.7
7 Vladimircov 1929: 356; Ligeti 1969: 115.
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2. There are no diphthongs in the Ööld dialect. Diphthongs of the Written mon-golian appear as long vowels in the Ööld dialect. For example, the word-final Writ-ten mongolian diphthongs ai, oi, ui, üi, ei are pronounced as ā, ō, ū, ǖ, ī, ē. E. g.:
ai > ā
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
noqai noxā noxoi “dog”
γaqai gaxā gaxai “pig”
toluγai tolxā tolgoi “head” etc.
oi > ō
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
qoyiši xōr xoiš “backwards” etc.
ei > ǟ
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
eregtei irĕktǟ eregtei “male”
emegtei imĕktǟ emegtei “female”
keregtei kirĕktǟ xeregtei “necessary” etc.
ui > ū
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
quyiq-a xūx xuix “scalp”
duγui dugū dugui “circle” etc.
The word-final sequences -ba/-be of the written language in Ööld appear as the long vowels ū/ǖ. E. g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
arban arū araw “ten”
γurban gurū guraw “three”
dörben dörǖ döröw “four”
kerbe kirǖ xerew “if”
aliba alū aliwā “any, every” etc.
The sequence -üyi- e. g. in the Written mongolian words küyiten, küyisü has changed to the long vowel ī.
3. It is very interesting that in the Ööld dialect there are palatalized long vowels. E. g.
a. For the Written mongolian initial and inlaut diphthong ai there stands an ǟ in Ööld.
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
sayin sǟn sain “good”
nayir nǟr nair “feast”
naima(n) nǟm naim “eight”
ayil ǟl ail “encampment”
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In the same manner, the Written mongolian words that have an i in their first syllable and a final ai diphthong appear in Ööld featuring such a palatalized long vowel. E. g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
čirai tširǟ carai “face”
nirai nirǟ nyarai “new-born”
The y consonant of back-vowelled words may also result in a palatalized long vowel. E. g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
ayaγa ǟgă ayaga “bowl, cup” etc.
b. The oi diphthong of Written mongolian is represented in Ööld by a palatalized long vowel. E. g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
oi ȫ oi “forest”
oyir-a ȫr oir “near, close”
oyimasu(n) ȫms oims “stockings”
qoni xȫ xon' “sheep” etc.
c. In some Written mongolian words that have an i in their first syllable, the sequence -aγu- has resulted in the palatalized long vowel ū. E.g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
biraγu burū byarū “calf”
kiraγu kirū xyarū “hoar-frost”
iraγu irū yarū “harmonious” etc.
Although the lexicon of the Ööld dialect and that of the literary language basi-cally coincide, it is not difficult to find differing words. For example there are a lot of words the form of which shortened and became items of the lexicon. E. g.:
1. The inlaut consonants d and t are not pronounced. E. g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
gedesün gess gedes “belly, stomach”
γadasun gass gadas “stake, nail”
γutulsun goss gutal “boot” etc.
2. Final short or long vowels disappear. E. g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
qoγulai xōl xōloi “throat”
qančui xants xancui “sleeve”
ǰögei džög jögī “bee” etc.
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3. In some cases the elements n, g of the words disappear. E. g.:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
sün üs sǖ “milk”
söni sȫ šönö “night”
qonin hō xon' “sheep”
qongγur xo xongor “light bay”
qongγu xoŋ xongo “the back of the thigh”
suγu sū suga “out, apart” etc.
4. The consonant r in an inlaut position is not pronounced in some words:
Written mongolian Ööld Khalkha
urtu ut urt “long”
mögeresün mös mögȫrs “cartilage”
there appear several dialect words in Ööld that are not present in modern mongolian. E. g.:
akād “interesting” etc. kīlĕn “shirt”
arxăd “leather sack for kumis” manz “lapel”
garāts “roof-ring” pil “dish, plate”
güz “cupboard” sagsāg “lambskin”
idrĕn “a toothed implement of tsuglā “wrapping”
wood used in dressing skins” tsuglāx “to wrap”
ilkă “trouser-belt” xantšĭr “peritoneum”
irkă “threshold” xās “pot”
kidžĕm “saddle-cloth” xāx “to shoot”
kīgăs “odd, uneven”
Homonyms occur in great numbers in the Ööld dialect. E. g.:
xōl “food” ~ xōl “throat”
sū- “to sit” ~ sū “apart”
üs “hair” ~ üs “milk”
tsar “dish” ~ tsar “ox”
öndör “high, tall” ~ öndör “today”
dzet “the head-part of the rafter” ~ dzet “nail-skin” etc.
In comparison with the Khalkha dialect the following main differences may be observed.
1. In Ööld there appears an initial g- in the case of some words. E. g.:
Khalkha Ööld
olgŏĕ golgā “large intestine”
uyrăx guyrăx “to be moved, to be touched”
belĕg bilĭk “gift, present” etc.
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3. X in front-vocalic words is represented by k. E. g.:
Khalkha Ööld
xöx kök “blue”
ix ik “big”
xē kē “ornament” etc.
4. Diphthongs are missing from Ööld. E. g.:
Khalkha Ööld
tolgōĕ tolxā “head”
gaxāĕ gaxā “pig”
xōĕš xōră “backwards”
xǖĕtĕn kītn “cold”
xǖĕs kīs, kǖs “navel” etc.
The above material well illustrates that the Ööld dialect is worth being subjected to further academic examinations and comparative works.
The presented material is based on the results of the expedition carried out with the aim of collecting Ööld linguistic material from speakers of tsambagaraw, in 1983. The age of the informants exceeded 55 years.
BIBLIoGrAPHy
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Colō, . 1965: Jaxčinī aman ayalgū. [The Dsakhchin Dialect.] Šinǰlex Uxānī Akademīn xewlel, Ulānbātar.
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