Mongolian London Oriental and African Language Library The LONDON ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN LANGUAGE LIBRARY aims to make available reliable and up-to-date analyses of the grammatical structure of the major Oriental and African languages, in a form readily accessible to the non-specialist. With this in mind, the language material in each volume is in Roman script, and fully glossed and translated. The series is based at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, Europe’s largest institution specializing in the study of the languages and cultures of Africa and Asia. Each volume is written by an acknowledged expert in the field who has carried out original research on the language and has first-hand knowledge of the area in which it is spoken. For an overview of all books published in this series, please see http/benjamins.com/catalog/loall Editors Theodora Bynon David C. Bennett School of Oriental and African Studies University of London Masayoshi Shibatani Kobe University, Japan Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA Advisory Board James Bynon James A. Matisoff Bernard Comrie Christopher Shackle Gilbert Lazard Andrew Simpson Christian Lehmann Volume 19 Mongolian by Juha A. Janhunen Mongolian Juha A. Janhunen University of Helsinki John Benjamins Publishing Company Amsterdam / Philadelphia TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of 8 the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984. Cover illustration: Detail of a thangka at the Bogdo Gegen’s summer palace, Ulan Bator. Photo: Juha Janhunen, 2010. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Janhunen, Juha Antero. Mongolian / Juha A. Janhunen. p. cm. (London Oriental and African Language Library, issn 1382-3485 ; v. 19) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Mongolian language--Grammar. I. Title. PL403.J36 2012 494’.2382421--dc23 2012033112 isbn 978 90 272 3820 7 (Hb ; alk. paper) isbn 978 90 272 7305 5 (Eb) © 2012 – John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa Table of contents Preface ix Figures and tables xi Symbols and abbreviations xiii Map xv chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The geographical context 1 1.2 The Mongolic language family 2 1.3 Common Mongolic 4 1.4 The literary languages 6 1.5 Dialectal division 8 1.6 The oral standards 9 1.7 The demographic situation 11 1.8 Interaction with other languages 12 1.9 The languages of Outer Mongolia 14 1.10 The languages of Inner Mongolia 15 1.11 Sources on Mongolian 16 1.12 Sources on Mongolic 18 chapter 2 Segmental structure 21 2.1 Orthographical systems 21 2.2 Principles of notation 22 2.3 The phonological framework 24 2.4 Basic consonants 26 2.5 Consonant phonetics 28 2.6 Basic vowels 30 2.7 Vowel neutralizations 33 2.8 Long monophthongs 35 2.9 Diphthongs 37 2.10 Vowels of non-initial syllables 39 2.11 Consonant palatalization 41 vi Mongolian 2.12 Vowel palatalization 44 2.13 Palatal breaking 46 2.14 The status of the palatal glide 47 2.15 The status of the labial glide 49 2.16 Velars and postvelars 52 2.17 Syllable-final nasals 54 chapter 3 Morpheme structure 57 3.1 Typological orientation 57 3.2 Parts of speech 58 3.3 Types of segmental alternations 60 3.4 Stem types 61 3.5 Nasal stems 64 3.6 The unstable nasal 66 3.7 The reduced vowel 69 3.8 Stable consonant clusters 73 3.9 Consonant phonotactics 76 3.10 Vowel harmony 78 3.11 Connective consonants 82 3.12 Connective vowels 83 3.13 Types of bound morphemes 85 3.14 Prosody and juncture 89 3.15 Phonological emphasis 91 chapter 4 Nominal morphology 95 4.1 Categories of nominal morphology 95 4.2 Nominal derivation 96 4.3 Plural marking 99 4.4 Generic rhymes 102 4.5 The case system 104 4.6 Case marking 106 4.7 Paradigms with the unstable nasal 110 4.8 Double declension 113 4.9 The marked nominative 114 4.10 Adjectival morphology 117 4.11 Alliterative particles 119 4.12 Spatial morphology 121 4.13 Numeral morphology 125 Table of contents vii 4.14 Non-personal pronouns 129 4.15 Personal pronouns 133 4.16 Personal possessor marking 137 4.17 Reflexive possessor marking 140 chapter 5 Verbal morphology 143 5.1 Categories of verbal morphology 143 5.2 Verbal derivation 145 5.3 Voice marking 147 5.4 Modal markers 151 5.5 Tense-aspect markers 156 5.6 The nominalization of verbals 159 5.7 The converbialization of verbals 163 5.8 Quasiconverbs 169 5.9 Ambivalent non-finite forms 172 5.10 Auxiliaries 173 5.11 Defective verbs 175 5.12 Synthetic periphrastic forms 176 5.13 Negation marking on verbals 180 5.14 Interrogation marking on verbals 183 chapter 6 Phrasal syntax 185 6.1 Types of phrases 185 6.2 The basic nominal phrase 186 6.3 Binomes and appositions 189 6.4 Phrases with numeral headwords 191 6.5 Phrases with spatial headwords 194 6.6 Phrases with pronominal headwords 196 6.7 Phrases with adjectival headwords 197 6.8 Postpositional phrases 199 6.9 The basic verbal phrase 204 6.10 Object marking 205 6.11 Adverbial marking 208 6.12 Adverbal invariables 211 6.13 Complex verbal predicates 215 6.14 The syntax of clitics 217 6.15 Coordinating conjunctions 220 viii Mongolian chapter 7 Clausal syntax 223 7.1 Types of clauses 223 7.2 The basic finite clause 224 7.3 The imperative clause 226 7.4 The nominal clause 228 7.5 The existential clause 231 7.6 Possessive constructions 233 7.7 Topicalization and topic marking 235 7.8 Finite tense and aspect 238 7.9 Evidentiality 244 7.10 Passivization 246 7.11 Causative constructions 248 7.12 The syntax of negation 250 7.13 The syntax of interrogation 254 7.14 Final particles 256 chapter 8 Complex sentences 263 8.1 Types of complex sentences 263 8.2 Coordination and subordination 264 8.3 Clausal modifiers 266 8.4 Predicative complements 269 8.5 Conjunct relativization 271 8.6 Disjunct relativization 272 8.7 Nominal relativization 275 8.8 Referative constructions 277 8.9 Conjunct serialization 279 8.10 Disjunct serialization 281 8.11 Quotative constructions 283 8.12 Subordinating conjunctions 286 8.13 Discursive connectors 287 Text sample 291 Sample paradigms 297 Chart of letters 301 Bibliography 305 Grammatical index 313 Preface This grammar was written as a medium-length synchronic description of the Mongolian language. It is neither the first nor the last grammar of this language, but it differs from most of its predecessors, and probably also from many of its successors, by not being based on a specific dialect or standardized form of speech. Mongolian is a language spo- ken on a vast territory, written in two scripts and used orally in a large number of local forms. Although an exhaustive treatment of all the local forms would be impossible, a grammatical description will have to include at least some of the variation actually pres- ent in the language. Following the objectives of the present series, this grammar is intended for both the general linguist and the specialized Mongolist. It has been a challenge to try to accommodate the expectations of these two very different readerships. Conventional Mongolian studies is a field where the established tradition often matters more than theoretical innovation and descriptive adequacy, while the theories of general linguistics are sometimes based on a surprisingly superficial familiarity with the reality of actual languages. The terminological traditions are also very different. Quite possibly, some readers will find this grammar hopelessly conventional, while to others it may appear disturbingly “modern” and innovative. On the conventional side, this grammar places relatively much emphasis on pho- nology and morphology, while syntax and especially discourse (and anything beyond that) are given less attention. The description is focused on the qualitative analysis of the language in a rather strict form-to-function framework with no specific linguistic theory or quantitative corpus as a basis. The language material comes from published sources, personal observations, interviews with native speakers, data communicated by colleagues, and the internet. Also, diachrony is freely used as an explanatory tool, as it always should in a descriptive grammar. Following the introduction (Chapter 1), the discussion is organized into seven chap- ters, which proceed in a cumulative order, but without strict borderlines, from pho- nology (Chapters 2–3) through morphology (Chapters 4–5) to syntax (Chapters 6–8). Morphophonology is discussed both in connection with morpheme structure and in the relevant sections of morphology, while morphosyntax is introduced in the chapters on morphology but illustrated in more detail, with sentence examples, in connection with the syntax. The interaction of the different parts of grammar is also illustrated by the sample text and the selection of sample paradigms. x Mongolian While working on this project I have enjoyed the encouragement of Mongolist colleagues in many countries, including Ágnes Birtalan (Budapest), Benjamin Brosig (Stockholm), Robin Charpentier (Ulan Bator), Volker Rybatzki (Helsinki), Elena Skribnik (Munich), Jan-Olof Svantesson (Lund) and Mikael Thompson (Bloomington), to men- tion just a few. I have also had many chances to discuss specific issues concerning the language data with native-speaking scholars of different dialectal backgrounds, includ- ing Borjigin Buhchulu (Baarin), Dolgor Guntsetseg (Khalkha), Li Baowen (Mongoljin), Borjigin Sechenbaatar (Chakhar) and Wu Yingzhe (Khorchin).