MWW 42 - 44: Жил, Он, Нас

Since it was a new year just a couple of months ago, how about the word for year? Or rather words, because Mongolian has three words that commonly translate as year. And just like prior words of the day өдөр and хоног, a distinction between time as a particular point and a duration plays a role.

Cyrillic	он
Transcription	on
IPA	[ɔŋ]
Layman’s Pronunciation	ONG
Meaning	year
In Genghis Khan’s time it was on.

Он always refers to a year as a point in time, just like өдөр refers to a day as a point in time, as can be seen from the expression for “date.” It is usually used when referring to particular years, like 100, 1206, 1993, 2011, 2012, 2013, etc. Unlike English, the word for "year" here cannot be omitted

• төрсөн он - birth year
• он сар өдөр - date (“year month day”)
• онд орох - to pass the winter (“enter the year”)
• он тоолол - chronology
• он дараалсан бичиг - annals, chronicle

Cyrillic	жил
Transcription	jil
IPA	[tʃiɬ]
Layman’s Pronunciation	JEEL
Meaning	year (365 days)
In Genghis Khan’s time it was jil.

Жил usually refers to a year as a length of time, just like хоног refers to a day as a length of time. Жил must be used whenever you intend year to mean “365 days.” Жил can be added up and counted - or divided, as in нэг жил (one year), хоёр жил (two years), таван жил (five years), or хагас жил (half a year). Он cannot be added to one another, only numbered ordinally.

• жилийн орлого - annual income
• өндөр жил - a leap year
• жил бүр - every year
• жил турш - all year
• жилээс жилд - from year to year

There is some overlap. The expressions for “last year” (өнгөрсөн жил) and “next year” (дараа жил), which technically talk about specific years, include жил. Even more confusingly, New Year’s is known as Шинэ жил, but the typical greeting for the holiday is Шинэ оны мэнд хүргэе.

Cyrillic	нас
Transcription	nas
IPA	[nas]
Layman’s Pronunciation	NAHSS
Meaning	year, age, life
In Genghis Khan’s time it was nasu.

Нас is somewhat different. It is a particularly human word. Нас always refers to human years, or perhaps to animal years. For this reason it may be translated as “years old,” or “years of age.” Its scope is broader though than just “year,” though, and it may sometimes be used to refer to an entire human life.

• нэг настай - one year old (“one year-with”)
• Хэдэн настай вэ? / Нас хэд вэ? - How old [are you]? (“How-many year-with?" / "Year how-many?”)
• Би хорин долоон настай. - I am twenty-seven years old. ("I twenty-seven year-with.")
• нас хүрэх - to become an adult (“reach age”)
• насад - all one’s life
• настан - elders
• насжих - to grow old
• наслах - to live a long time
• нас барах - to die (“to finish the age”)
• урьд нас - previous life / birth / incarnation
• хойт нас - next life / birth / incarnation