The Mongolian Language and Numeral System

Andrew Romine

Period 4

Basic Language History Mongolian is a subfamily of Altaic

Altaic is mostly spoken in Asia The language is named for the Altai Shan, where

some believe it originated

Discovery of Turkic

Johann von Strahlenberg, a Swedish officer, realized the link between Turkic, Mongolian, and Manchu-Tungus

Sub-languages

Two main language groups: Western and Eastern Western languages are Oryat and Kalmyk Eastern Languages are Buryat and Mongol There are some outlying

languages but they have

no written language

Early Mongolian

A unified Mongolian language was recreated by linguists Unsure of origin Appeared to be spoken in the 12th century

Middle Mongolian

Middle Mongolian was used from 13th to 16th century Spread by Genghis Khan Outlying Mongolian languages were created from

conquest and destruction

Written Text

Written Text began in the 13th century This was the beginning of the pre-classical

period

Classical Period

The Classical Period was from the

17th to 18th century Ushered in by

Buddhism

Modern Mongolian

Modern Mongolian languages have been used since the 17th century

Lost many archaic features present in outlying languages

Full Written Text

It was not until the 19th century that the modern Mongolian languages (Buryat, Mongol, Oryat, and Kalmyk)

Famous Mongolian

Many people enjoy Mongolian custom and language

Some famous movies are: Prince Tsogt, 1948 State of Dogs, 1998 The Story of the Weeping Camel, 2003

Basic Mongolian Numerals

Mongolian Numerals are most likely based off of Tibetan script

Mongolian numerals are only used on the tögrög banknotes In Mongolia, the Chinese numeral system is used The Chinese numbers, as well as

Mongolian numerals, correspond to the Arabic number system