Khalkha Mongolian
De facto standard dialect of Mongolian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Khalkha dialect[a] is a dialect of central Mongolian widely spoken in Mongolia. According to some classifications, the Khalkha dialect includes Inner Mongolian varieties such as Shiliin gol, Ulaanchab and Sönid.[2] As it was the basis for the Cyrillic orthography of Mongolian,[3] it is de facto the national language of Mongolia.[4] The name of the dialect is related to the name of the Khalkha Mongols and the Khalkha River.
| Khalkha | |
|---|---|
| Халх аялгуу/Khalkh ayalguu/ᠬᠠᠯᠬᠠ ᠠᠶᠠᠯᠭᠤ | |
| Pronunciation | [χaɬχ ai̯ɮɢʊ́] |
| Native to | Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia |
| Region | widespread in Mongolia |
| Ethnicity | Khalkha Mongols |
Native speakers | 2.9 million (2020 Census)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Mongolia |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | khk |
| Glottolog | halh1238 |
There are certain differences between normative (standardised form of Khalkha) and spoken Khalkha. For example, the normative language uses proximal demonstratives based on the word stem ʉː/n- (except for the nominative in [i̠n] and the accusative which takes the stem ʉːn-)[5] and thus exhibits the same developmental tendency as exhibited by Oirat.[6] On the other hand, the spoken language also makes use of paradigms that are based on the stems inʉːn- and inĕn-.[7] This seems to agree with the use in Chakhar Mongolian.[8] The same holds for the distal demonstrative /tir/.[9]
Khalkha may roughly be divided into Northern and Southern Khalkha, which would include Sönid, etc. Both varieties share affricate depalatalization, namely, /tʃ/ > /ts/ and /tʃʰ/ > /tsʰ/ except before *i, while Southern Khalkha patterns with Chakhar and Ordos Mongolian in that it exhibits a dissimilating deaspiration; e.g. *tʰatʰa > /tatʰ/.[10] However, Mongolian scholars more often hold that the border between Khalkha and Chakhar is the border between the Mongolian state and the Chakhar area of Inner Mongolia of China.[11]
Especially in the speech of younger speakers, /p/ (or /w/) > [ɸ] may take place, as in written Mongolian qabtasu > Sünid [ɢaptʰǎs] ~ [ɢaɸtʰǎs] 'cover (of a book)'.[12]
One of the classifications of Khalkha dialect in Mongolia divides it into 3 subdialects: Central, Western and Eastern. The orthography of the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet is essentially based on the Central Khalkha dialect. Among the main differences is the pronunciation of initial letter х in feminine words which is in Central Khalkha pronounced as it is written, in Western Khalkha as h, and in Eastern Khalkha as g; e.g. хөтөл khötöl (Central Khalkha), көтөл kötöl (Western Khalkha), гөтөл götöl (Eastern Khalkha). The initial letter х is pronounced in masculine words in Western Khalkha as /h/ (almost not heard) if the following consonant is voiceless, and is pronounced as /ɢ/ (and devoiced to /q/) in Eastern Khalkha; e.g. хутга khutga [χó̙tʰɵ̙q] (Central Khalkha), hутага khutaga [hʊ́tʰəɣ] (Western Khalkha), гутага gutaga [ɢʊ́tʰəq] (Eastern Khalkha). Initial /tʰ/ is unaspirated in Eastern Khalkha; e.g. талх talkh [tʰaɬχ] (Central Khalkha), талқ talq [tʰaɬq] (Western Khalkha), далх dalkh [taɬχ] (Eastern Khalkha).
Grouping of Khalkha dialects
In Juha Janhunen's book Mongolian, he groups the Khalkha dialects into the following 19:[13]
- Outer Mongolia:
- Central
- Khalkha Proper dialect
- Northern Khalkha
- Southern Khalkha
- Ulaanbaatar dialect of Khalkha
- Khalkha Proper dialect
- Northern:
- Khotogoid dialect
- Darkhad dialect
- Southeastern:
- Dariganga dialect
- Central
- Russia:
- Inner Mongolia:
- Ulaanchab dialects:
- Chakhar dialect
- Urad dialect
- Darkhan dialect
- Dörbhön Khuukhed dialect
- Muumingan dialect
- Khishigten dialect
- Ulaanchab dialects:
- Shilingol dialects:
Notes
- Mongolian: Халх аялгуу / Khalkh ayalguu / ᠬᠠᠯᠬᠠ ᠠᠶᠠᠯᠭᠤ [χaɬχ ai̯ɮɢʊ́]
