MWW 21 - 23: Ингэх, Тэгэх and Яах

Cyrillic	ингэх
Transcription	ingeh
IPA	[ˈiŋ.gɪx]
Layman’s Pronunciation	ING-gikh
Translation	to do this, to do it like this
In Genghis Khan’s time it was inggikü.

Cyrillic	тэгэх
Transcription	tegeh
IPA	[ˈthe.gɪx]
Layman’s Pronunciation	TEH-gikh
Translation	to do like that, to do it like that
In Genghis Khan’s time it was tegekü.

Cyrillic	яах
Transcription	yaah
IPA	[ja:χ]
Layman’s Pronunciation	YAHKH
Translation	to do what, to do it how
In Genghis Khan’s time it was yaγakiqu.

One of the cool things about Mongolian is that it has proverbs. I don't mean widely-known sayings encapsulating conventional wisdom - although Mongolian has those, too - I mean something like what pronouns are to nouns. Just as pronouns can stand in generally for a noun phrase, so proverbs stand in for a verb. They refer back to actions mentioned previously, or that can be inferred from context, or that are unknown. There are three particularly important proverbs.

Ингэх and тэгэх are demonstrative proverbs. Ингэх means "to do something in this way" and тэгэх means "to do something in that way." They correspond to the pronouns энэ "this" and тэр "that" respectively. As a matter of fact, the Mongolian words for "this way / like this" and "that way / like that" are forms of the verbs ингэх and тэгэх.

ингэх         à        ингэж “like this” (“while doing this”)

ингээд “like this” (“having done this”)

тэгэх          à        тэгж “like that” (“while doing that”)

тэгээд “like that” (“having done that’)

Тэгээд is also used like a linking conjunction "(and) then." The doubled imperative form тэг тэг is also used to grant permission.

Ингэж хийнэ.
You do it like this.

Тэгээд сургууль явсан.
Then I went to school.

Би энэ номыг авна.
Тэг тэг.
I'm going to take this book.
OK. ("Do that.")

Яах is an interrogative proverb.  Its meaning is something like "do what? do it how?" It's very pervasive and found in many fixed expressions.


яаж how
яагаад why
Яасан бэ? What happened?
Яах вэ? What shall I do? What am I going to do?
Яах нь бэ? What in the world?
Яавч амжихгүй. It's impossible. (Whatever one does, one does not succeed)
Яасан ч яахав. I don't mind. (Whatever happened, what will happen) (яахав = яах вэ)
Яах ч аргагүй. There's no way out. (Whatever happens, there is no means)

And now for an example combining two of our verbs:

Тэгэлгүй яахав. Of course! (If one doesn't do that, what will one do?)