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:

• http://www.goldenbridge-forapartment.com/en/mongolia/show/id/271
• http://lhagii_0529.blog.gogo.mn/index.html

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.

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 90^th 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!