MWW 24 - 25: Аргал (ft. Баас)

Cyrillic	аргал
Transcription	argal
IPA	[ˈar.qəɬ] or [ˈar.ɢəɬ]
Layman’s Pronunciation	ARGLE
Translation	dried dung
In Genghis Khan’s time it was arγal.

Cyrillic	баас
Transcription	baas
IPA	[pa:s]
Layman’s Pronunciation	BAAHHS
Translation	fresh dung
In Genghis Khan’s time it was baγasu.

Now that it’s late spring, the days are warm, the ground is clear, and poop is back. Let’s talk about poop!

Mongolian has two words for poop. Argal is dried dung, whereas fresh poo is baas. Species may be another criterion, because you can get argal from cows, goats, sheep, horses, and camels, but humans always make baas. The difference between the two types of poop is important. Baas is always gross - exactly like we Americans think of poop. It’s soft, dirty, sticky, stinky, and spreads germs and you want to stay as far away from it as possible. We hate it, flies love it. When it comes out of a cow, horse, sheep, or goat, it starts as baas. But over a few days, due to the gentle touch of nature (sunshine, wind), it is transformed - into argal. Argal is hard, dry, and doesn’t smell much. As I’ve found out, it isn’t anymore gross to pick up than a piece of wood, and it doesn’t attract flies. Most importantly, you can burn argal but not baas. Argal is an important fuel source. In fact, since Mongolians have herded for thousands of years and many still do, it’s probably the oldest, most readily available fuel.

This pile of argal will keep me warm tonight.

Dung as Fuel

There are three main sources of fuel for heating: dung (аргал), wood (мод, mod), and coal (нүүрс, nüürs). Of the three, dung is certainly the most environmentally friendly, and coal the least so. Unlike coal, dung doesn’t release poisonous gases, or leave behind ugly, dangerous dust. You’d better have a working carbon monoxide detector if you burn coal while you sleep. Also, it is the most renewable. Coal takes millions of years to develop and for all practical purposes, our supply is fixed. Wood can be replenished if we plant trees, but trees grow slowly, much slower than they’re cut down. But dung replenishes itself constantly with no direct effort by anyone. A herder’s supply is replenished every day when his animals poop. One more thing: poop is free. If it’s left out in the field, anyone can go grab it. I’ve never heard of a herder yelling, “Hey! That’s MY poop! Get your own!”

Argal on fire

So why use wood and coal at all? Dung gets used up fast. You need to keep shoveling more of it into your fire, perhaps every 20 minutes or so, if that’s all you’re using. Wood burns from 45 minutes to almost 2 hours, and it burns really hot (unless it’s damp). Coal doesn’t burn as hot, but it can burn for several hours. By combining wood and coal, you can keep your home very warm for a long time. It’s hard to do this with just dung.

To sum up, here’s a comparison chart based on my personal experience:

Parameter	Dung	Wood	Coal
Renewability	High Renews itself quickly	Moderate Renewable, slowly	Low Non-renewable
Danger (1)	Minimal: germs from stuff that’s too fresh	Low: splinters, handling sharp tools	High: carbon monoxide is deadly, and ingesting coal dust can cause other problems
Cost	Free. It’s there for the taking.	? (2)	? (2)
Labor	Minimal: walk around and pick up poo.	Intense: Cut down the tree, then saw and chop the wood.	Moderate: carry a large coal bag, and break the big pieces of coal up.
Temperature	Moderate	High	Low, moderate
Stamina	Low	Moderate	High
Pollution	Minimal	Minimal	High

(1) Of course, it’s possible to burn down your ger with all three.

(2) My school provides me wood and coal, so the cost is hidden from me. Another volunteer who lives in the Gobi near a coal mine says it can be purchased for about $8 per ton.

Fun Poop Facts

• Баас has an associated verb, баах. It means “to defecate.”
• The Mongolian expression for a pen accidentally discharging too much ink is Үзэг баах, or “the pen pooes.”
• Camels don’t poop! At least not in Mongolian. There’s no such thing as camel баас. Camels are so good at conserving water that their dung is dry enough to use as fuel as soon as it comes out. (It must hurt, though!)
• The past tense of баах - баасан - coincides with the word Баасан, “Friday / Venus.” They’re different in Classical Mongolian though: baγaγsan and basaŋ, respectively. The planet’s name is ultimately a Tibetan loanword.
• Баасан, with the other meaning, is common in personal names. The name Баасанхүү (Baasanhüü), roughly equivalent to “Son of Venus,” is homophonous with the phrase баасан хүү (baasan hüü), “the boy who pooped.”