Sunday, July 14, 2013

MWW 54: Нум (ft. Сум 2)


Cyrillic
нум
NomO
Transcription
num
IPA
[nʊm]
Layman’s Pronunciation
NOOM
Meaning
bow
In Genghis Khan’s time it was numu.

Cyrillic
сум
SomO
Transcription
sum
IPA
[sʊm]
Layman’s Pronunciation
SOOM
Meaning
arrow, dart, bullet, missile, cursor
In Genghis Khan’s time it was numu.

Нум means “bow.” Сум (a homophone of the word for district) means “arrow” and “dart,” and by extension also “bullet,” “missile,” and “cursor.” Together the two form the compound нум сум, “archery.” Archery is also called сур харвалт or байт харваа.

The bow was the most important weapon of ancient steppe nomads. Chinggis Khaan’s warriors are credited with numerous feats that astounded their enemies, such as firing arrows backwards at approaching armies while they retreated on horseback. Archery skill is still celebrated in Mongolia every July, although the modern bows, I’m told, are very different from the bows of 800 years ago. They’re larger, and would be much less useful on horseback. Naadam archers today compete standing up, but I’d love to see mounted archery come back.

Personally, archery is one of the most fascinating things in Mongolia, but unlike Mongolian script, of which I can say now “Ok, I learned that,” I’ve tried in vain for 2 years to find someone to teach me archery. No one I know at site practices archery or knows anyone who does. But at least I was lucky enough that my sum became host to an archery demonstration back in May, and I got to try it out a little bit.

When the archer takes the bow out of its case (хоромсого), she must reattach the bowstring (хөвч) to the bow. Next, take an arrow out of the quiver (саадаг). The Mongolian archer must nock the arrow (нум сум онилох), or place the little notch (онь) on the butt of the arrow so it fits on the middle of the string. She now draws the bow (хөвч татах) as she raises it to aim at her target. To draw the bow properly, pull the middle of the bowstring with your thumb and wrap your other fingers in front of the thumb. The target (бай) is made up of many pieces of leather called сур. When her aim is certain, she shoots (сумаар харвах). The arrow flies until it hits the target (бай онох) - or misses (бай онохгүй).

Or look here:



A left-handed archer draws and shoots

You can see many more pictures of our archery exhibition here. For those who can read Mongolian, these websites have some longer lists of archery terminology:


Saturday, July 13, 2013

MWW 53: Морь


Cyrillic
морь
MorI

Transcription
mori
IPA
[mœrʲ], [mɛr]
Layman’s Pronunciation
MUHR, MEHR
Meaning
horse
In Genghis Khan’s time it was mori.

This is another one that I can’t believe I didn’t do earlier. Mongolians have long owed their livelihood - and probably their place in history - to their horses. Even now, it's rare for Mongolians in the countryside to not be able to ride a horse. Judging by the lyrics of folk songs, old musicians sang about their horses at least as much as their women, and songs about horses are still being composed and hugely popular. (When’s the last time the Billboard charts featured a song about horses?) Horses are also the most common topic of student graffiti on books and desks.

Pronunciation notes

Based on spelling, the word should be [mɔrʲ]. Many Mongolians front back vowels in front of palatalized consonants, which gives us [mœrʲ]. However, during PST in Shaamar sum I often heard a much more divergent pronunciation, like [mer] or [mɛr], sounding like English “mare.” I also heard хорь “twenty” pronounced [xɛr], similar to “hair.” Fronting had definitely gone much further there. When I asked some people about it though, they said they never pronounce it like that, and I never heard anyone say [mɛr] again, except for one random occasion this year.

Морь versus Адуу

Mongolian has another word for horse, адуу (aduu). It isn’t always clear which is the appropriate word to use. However, number appears to be a factor, because I was told that you may never call a lone horse адуу, but when there were 5 or so you could start calling them адуу. This can’t explain everything though, because horse meat is always called адууны мах, never *морьны мах.

Horse Vocab

As you might expect, Mongolians have lots of words to distinguish different kinds of horses, based on age, sex, and coat color/pattern.

унага
foal (baby horse, one year old or less)
азарга
stallion (adult male horse)
гүү
mare (adult female)
агт морь
gelding (castrated male horse)
хязаалан
four-year-old horse
борлог
dun
буурал
roan
халиун
cream horse
хээр
bay
цоохор
dappled
шарга
yellowish, “Isabella”

And here are some phrases or compound expressions with “horse:”

морь унах
to ride a horse
мориноос унах
to fall off a horse
(for more about "ride" and "fall," see my other Words of the Week #61 and #62 here)
хурдан морь
racehorse (lit. “fast horse”)
морин хуур
horsehead fiddle (a traditional stringed instrument)
морь харах
to urinate (lit. “to look at a horse”)

Saying Би морь харлаа is a sure way to amuse Mongolians who demand to know why you’re getting up in the middle of a drinking party. I think it only works for men though.

Monday, July 8, 2013

MWW 52: Наадам


Cyrillic
наадам
Negedo^
Transcription
naadam
IPA
[ˈna:tǝm]
Layman’s Pronunciation
NAH-dum
Meaning
game, festival
In Genghis Khan’s time it was naγadum.

Now that it’s July, it’s time for the other biggest holiday of the Mongolian year, Наадам, so in its honor this week I’ll be posting words related to Naadam, starting with Naadam itself. Наадам is held every year from July 11 to July 14, at about the hottest time of the year. Just as Цагаан Сар sort of marks the climax of winter and the coming of spring, Наадам marks the climax of summer and the coming of autumn. Naadam is the biggest sports even of the Mongolian year, and has been nicknamed “The Mongolian Olympics.” It features wrestling, archery, and horse-racing. For this reason it may also be properly called Эрийн Гурван Наадам, “The Men’s Three Naadams,” or “The Three Manly Games” (even though women compete in archery and horse-racing).

Other names for this big event are Төрийн Наадам or Улсын Наадам (state Naadam or National Naadam). This is to distinguish it from all the other little Naadams around the country. There are also сумын наадам (local naadams) and аймгийн наадам (provincial naadams). These Naadams are usually held early in July, with the winners going on to the National Naadam, but this year my sum is having its Naadam in late July, to coincide with its 90th anniversary.

Наадам has given its name to many other kinds of events, such as багт наадам - masquerade (Naadam with masks), үгийн наадам - pun, word game (Naadam of words), галын наадам - firecracker (Naadam of fire), and жижиг галын наадам - grasshopper (little Naadam of fire). When my school put on a festival the day before the official first day of school, it was called the сургуулийн наадам. However, when one simply says Наадам by itself, it’s usually taken to mean the Улсын Наадам.

Наадах vs. Тоглох

Наадам, the noun, is derived from the verb наадах, “to play, enjoy oneself.” (This should not be confused with наадахь, “the one over here.”) Mongolian has two verbs that are normally translated as “play”: the other one is тоглох. Even though наадах has given birth to the mother of all Mongolian games, Наадам, тоглох has won out overall: it’s far more common than наадах, it is the normal verb for “play” for almost all types of game, and its derived noun, тоглоом, is the normal word for “toy” and “game” in the general, non-specific sense. Thus you would say сагсан бөмбөг тоглох, “play basketball,” not *сагсан бөмбөг наадах. Poor old наадах is hardly used at all.

However, наадах has, in its causative form наадуулах, given us a funny idiom, загас наадуулах, “to have sex” (literally “to let fish play.”)

Naadam Greetings

The proper greeting on Naadam is Сайхан наадаарай! This is сайхан, “fine, well, good,” and the verb наадах with the -аарай4 ending. (The superscript numeral four indicates that it has four vowel-harmony variations: -аарай, -ээрэй, -оорой, and -өөрэй.) The -аарай4 ending is a kind of imperative, mid-way between the abrupt, demanding verb stem and the “if you please” request -аач4 form. So Сайхан наадаарай could be translated as “Play well!” It falls into a group of common greetings that all take the form сайн / санхан V-аарай4.

Greeting
Most literal translation
English sense-translation
Сайхан амраарай!
well rest-IMPERATIVE
Good night!
Enjoy your vacation!
Сайхан нойрсоорой!
well sleep-IMP
Good night!
Сайхан баярлаарай!
well enjoy-IMP
Have fun!
Сайн яваад ирээрэй!
well go-and come-IMP
Have a nice trip!
Сайхан шинэлээрэй!
well renew-IMP
Happy Tsagaan Sar!
Сайн сууж байгаарай!
well sit-and be-IMP
(said by someone leaving on a trip, to the people who are staying)
Сайхан хооллоорой!
well meal-VERBALIZER-IMP
Bon appetit!

Сайхан наадаарай, everyone!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

MWW 51: Соёмбо

The Soyombo, national symbol of Mongolia
Cyrillic
соёмбо
SoyomB
Transcription
soyombo
IPA
[ˈsɔjəmp]
Layman’s Pronunciation
SOY-ump
Meaning

In Zanabazar's time it was soyumbu or soyungbu.


The Soyombo is a national symbol of Mongolia, perhaps even the national symbol, as well as a writing system, tracing its origin to Занабазар (Zanabazar). Zanabazar (1635-1723) was the first Богд хаан (Bogd haan), the chief spiritual leader of Vajrayana Buddhism in Mongolia. Like the Dalai Lama, the position of Богд хаан passes to someone who is identified as the rebirth of the previous Богд хаан. Zanabazar was an accomplished artist who established the tradition for Mongolian Buddhist art. Nowadays, the major art museum in Ulaanbaatar is named after Zanabazar. If this wasn't enough, Zanabazar may have been a proto-conlanger, because he invented his own writing system, the Соёмбо бичиг (Soyombo bichig or Soyombo script). He didn't take full credit for it, but ascribed its invention to a vision. Because of this spontaneous appearance, he named his script svayambhu. This is composed of the Sanskrit roots sva, "self, own" and bhū, "be" [*] and can be translated as "created out of itself," "self-developed," "self-manifested" or "that which is created by its own accord." In classical Mongolian this became soyumbu or soyungbu, and finally соёмбо in the modern language.

The Soyombo symbol is one of the characters in the Soyombo alphabet. Within the script, it actually appears in two variations, a white and a black variation, which were used to divide passages and texts. This symbol is  made up of many smaller shapes with particular meanings.

The alphabet as a whole never caught on, and is usually only seen in some temple inscriptions. The Soyombo symbol, however, took on a life of its own, and has become the most prominent symbol of Mongolia. The Soyombo was placed on the flag of the new independent Mongolia in 1911, and has remained, in some form, on every flag since then. (The socialists placed a star representing socialism on it, which was removed when the country democratized in the 1990s.) The Soyombo appears on Mongolian money, the Mongolian coat of arms, and on almost every government seal and signet I've seen. Outside of official use, it's very popular to put the Soyombo on all kinds of things. As with the name Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Khan) it's popular to give the name "Soyombo" to just about anything that can be named. The Soyombo has given its name to various places and businesses, a movie theater, a brand of vodka, and lots of other things. According to the book Chinggis's Mongolia:

  • The three-pointed flame symbolizes the flourishing of all people young and old, in the past present and future.
  • The circle and crescent represent the sun and moon, and thus the everlasting blue sky and indestructability of Mongolia.
  • The downward-pointing triangle represents a spearhead to protect against enemies.
  • The rectangle represents a shield, and by extension honesty, stability, and loyalty.
  • The yin-yang symbol represents two fish. In Mongolian folklore, fish are believed to never close their eyes, and to breed like rabbits. Thus it reminds people to be alert, and to "be fruitful and multiply."
  • The two vertical rectangles represent walls. If Mongolians live in harmony with their motherland, they will be as strong as an iron wall.

Sentences

Соёмбо нь Занабазарын зохиосон, Монгол, Санскрит, Төвд үг бичихэд зориулагдсан бичиг юм.
The Soyombo is a script composed by Zanabazar and intended to write Mongolian, Sanskrit, and Tibetan.

Pictures

Soyombo on a truck. The Mongolian script reads: Монголын Бурханы Шашин Соёлын Соёмбо Наадам. Bonus point if you recognize the background pattern on this sticker.
Soyombo on top of a pillar
Soyombo in an insurance company's name.
Soyombo brand vodka
Soyombo on an official government document
Soyombo script at a Buddhist temple. The Soyombo symbol is on the far left.
Soyombo on the Mongolian flag
Soyombo on the fence of the parliament building
The top three shapes in a Soyombo - the flame, circle, and crescent - sometimes appear independently, perhaps as a kind of "abbreviation" of the entire Soyombo.
Flame, circle, and crescent on top of a суврага at a temple.

Friday, April 19, 2013

MWW 50: Цуйван


Cyrillic
цуйван

Transcription
tsuiwan
IPA
[ˈtshʏ:.wəŋ]
Layman’s Pronunciation
TSOY-wung
Meaning
a Mongolian noodle dish
In bygone days it was cuyiwing.


Цуйван is a tasty Монгол үндэсний хоол made of partly fried, partly steamed meat, vegetables, and long flat noodles. But don’t tell Mongolians that, because they will vociferously deny, “Tsuiwan is NOT noodles!” Instead they will tell you, “Tsuiwan is flour.” To the Mongolians, noodle means гоймон, which means instant-ramen-type stuff. Whereas when they say flour, they mean гурил. In Mongolian, гурил collapses three concepts that are separate in English: flour, dough (which the Mongolians call зуурсан гурил, “mixed flour”) and tsuiwan noodles. They’re all made of the same substance right? But even though the result is a a long, thin, worm-like starchy food item, Mongolians don’t see why we call it noodles, because they certainly never call it гоймон! And you can’t convince them that they’re the same thing, no matter how well it fits the English definition of noodle. The lumping of цуйван with гурил instead of гоймон continues with soup. When you add tsuiwan noodles to soup, it’s simply called гурилтай шөл, “flour soup,” and never гоймонтой шөл.



So how is tsuiwan made? Tsuiwan starts by mixing flour and water to form dough, which is rolled into a large flat sheet and baked briefly on a hot stove. When it gets solid enough, you cut the hot dough into long flat noodles. Now in a wok start frying finely sliced meat and vegetables (in some places, this may be no more than potatoes and onions) in a wok and flavor them with lots of salt (and Vigora, and anything else if you can get). Stir the noodles (er, flour) together with the meat and veggies. Finally, fill the wok with a little bit of water (about 1/3 of the way to the level of the noodles) and put the lid on for a few minutes to let it soften up. Yum!

Цуйван бол гурилаас хийдэг.
Tsuivan is made from flour/dough/noodles.

Цуйван хамгийн амттай Монгол үндэсний хоол бөгөөд хийхэд үр чадвар их шаарддаг.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

MWW 49: Тэмээ

Cyrillic
тэмээ

Transcription
temee
IPA
[theˈme:]
Layman’s Pronunciation
teh-MAY
Meaning
camel
In Genghis Khan’s time it was temege.

I’ve already used a particular type of camel, the ингэ, for a word before, so how about a more detailed treatment? Bactrian (two-humped) camels are the largest animals that Mongolians herd, but they are the least common. Camels are desert animals, so naturally they are herded primarily in the Gobi. However, they do appear much farther north as well, and Mongolia is a dry country overall. There are some camels in my area (as you may have guessed from my pictures from Tsagaan Sar 2012), but I live on about the northern limit of camel country. In my сум, the prize for most camels went to a man with 33. In the Gobi, I hear there are guys with over 200.

Being adapted for extreme conditions, camels have the best endurance of the herd animals. They can go days without drinking water, and then drink superhuman amounts in a single session. To conserve water, they produce dung that’s dry enough to use as fuel immediately (as I mentioned before), and their urine is a thick syrup. Camels produce milk, but due to the composition of the milk, it can’t be made into normal yogurt - only a very runny, drinkable kind. You can eat camels too, but camel meat tastes pretty much indistinguishable from Mongolian beef to me. Although they may seem slow initially, camels can run very fast when they want, and can kick in every direction, making them formidable enemies. Camels are more sensible than other livestock, and while you can work a horse to death, you can’t a camel; the camel will lay down and quit before you push it that far. A small ger can be loaded onto the backs of two camels. Camel wool is considered especially warm.

Of all livestock, the camel is the most valuable. The respect Mongolians afford camels is so great that it is considered taboo to insult them. When I once formed the sentence, “Camels smell bad” in Mongolian class, I was advised, “We don’t say bad things about camels.”

ботго
baby camel
ботголох
to make baby camels
тором
two-year-old camel
буйлт
three-year-old camel (“one with a буйл”?)
тайлаг
four or five-year old male camel
гунж
four or five-year old female camel (or cow)
буур
adult male camel
ингэ
adult female camel
ат
castrated camel
буйллах
for a camel to bellow
зогдор
long hair on the throat of a camel
буйл
wooden peg in a camel’s nose, to which a rope is fastened
хоормог
fermented camel milk
сөг
command to make a camel kneel