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.