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