3.10. Are the Mongolian dialects an obstacle for the foreigner learn ing Mongolian?
Description
This article is from the Mongolia FAQ, by Oliver Corff with numerous contributions by others.
3.10. Are the Mongolian dialects an obstacle for the foreigner learn ing Mongolian?
The language[s] in Mongolia and Southern Mongolia are virtually the
same: Mongolian is spoken in Mongolia and Southern Mongolia, but it is
spoken in its Xalx (Khalkha) form in Mongolia but spoken in its Chahar
(Cahar) dialect form in Southern (Inner) Mongolia. Besides Chahar,
there are other dialects: Alashan in the western regions of Southern
Mongolia, and the forms spoken in Hulunbuir (eastern part of Southern
Mongolia). Nonetheless, Chahar is the quasi-standard of Southern
Mongolia.
Differences can be found in lexicon, pronounciation and grammar. The
differences in lexicon differs mostly in the realm of foreign loans:
Chinese words are more popular in Southern Mongolia (e.g. biyanji for
editor) which is redaktor in Russian-influenced Xalx; both try to re-
introduce the genuinely Mongolian term nairuulagq. Other words,
especially of theoretical and political nature, are often formed after
completely different roots.
The pronounciation differs in the case that some sounds which were not
separated in the Classical Mongolian writing (like z) are now
pronounced like z in Mongolia and j in Southern Mongolia. This is a
general rule which is influenced by the following vowel, i.e. whether
a i or something different follows.
Grammar is occasionally distinct because elder forms are sometimes
preserved in Southern Mongolian speech.
In general, it is not too difficult to speak Xalx in Southern Mongolia
since Xalx is recognized as the prestigious lingua franca of the
International Mongol community. It is however slightly more difficult
to understand Chahar if one has only enjoyed Xalx training.
The differences are aggravated by the usage of different writing
systems. Southern Mongolia keeps using the Classical Mongolian writing
(which is very conservative, also for the grammatical endings of verbs
etc.) while in Mongolia in the 1940s an extended Cyrillic alphabet was
introduced. The extensions were necessary to accommodate the Mongolian
vowels ö and ü which are usually indicated by two dots over o and u in
transliterations.
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