Lesson 7

 

• Key Sentences
• Dialogs
• Substitution
• Expansion
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Practice

Key Sentences

tɑːnæː gər təːn xəduːl be?	How many people are in your family?
tɑːnæː əːʤ yɑmə̌r ɑʤə̌l xiːdə̌g be?	What does your mother do?
tər jix sʊrgʊːl t ɑʤə̌lʤ bæːn	She works at a university.
mɑnæː gər t ɑːb əːʤ bɔlə̌n duː tæː gəːn dorbuːl	There are four people in my family: my father, my mother, my younger brother, and me.
ɑx xœrə̌mə̌lʧə̌xsə̌n	My older brother is married.
təd xuːxəd ugue	They don’t have any children.

 

Dialogs

One

A: bɑːtə̌r    tɑː gər təːn həduːl be?
B: mɑnæː gər t ɑːb əːʤ bɔlə̌n duː tæː gəːn dorbuːl    tɑː gər təːn həduːl be?
A: biː gər təːn əːʤ tæː gəːn xɔjʊːl
B: tɑːnæː əːʤ yɑmə̌r ɑʤə̌l xiːdə̌g be?
A: jix sʊrgʊːl t ɑʤə̌lʤ bæːn

 

Two

A: tɑːnæː gər t xən xən bæːx be?
B: ɑːb əːʤ bɔlə̌n nəg duː tæː
A: tɑːnæː duː ʧin sʊrə̌gʧ ʊː
B: tiːm    tər æŋgə̌l xəl sʊrdə̌g
A: tɑːnæː əːʤ ɑʤə̌l tæː jʊː
B: mɑnæː əːʤ ɑʤə̌l ugue

 

Three

A: tɑːnæː gər t xən xən bæːx be?
B: mɑnæː gər t ɑːb əːʤ əgʧ tæː gɑːn bæːn
A: tɑːnæː əgʧ ɑʤə̌l tæː jʊː?
B: ɑʤə̌l tæː    tər bæŋk d ɑʤə̌lʤ bæːn     tɑːnæː ɑx ʧin yɑmə̌r ɑʤə̌l xiːdə̌x be?
A: tər bɔl əmʧ
B: tər xœrə̌mə̌lʧə̌xsə̌n ʊː?
A: tər xœrə̌mə̌lʧə̌xsə̌n    tərnæː busgue n sœblə̌gʧ
B: təd xuːxəd tæː jʊː?
A: ugue

 

Notes

/xəduːl/ is the word for “how many” when talking about the total number of people.

When a question word is repeated (as /xən xən/ is in dialog 2 and 3) it means that you should list all the answers. “Who all is in your family?”

Substitution

 

One

tər _________ sʊrdə̌g

æŋgə̌l həl mɔŋgə̌l həl xetə̌d (getə̌d) xəl jɔpə̌n xəl sɔlə̌ŋgə̌s həl

 

Two

tər _________  __________ʤ bæːn

jix sʊrgʊːl t bænk d xəʧəːl iːn gər d bæːr dɑːn gər təːn

ɑʤə̌l- ɑʤə̌l-   *** xəʧəːl ɔr- ɑmə̌r- təlwə̌s uʤ-

Three

_________  _________ tæː jʊː? ***

təd

xuːxəd

 

 

Four

_________  _________ bæːn ʊː?

təd tɑːnd tɑːnd tɑːnd tuːnd tuːnd tuːnd

xuːxəd əgʧ æŋgə̌l xəl næː nɔm təlwə̌s œxə̌n duː xetə̌d xəl næː nɔm gɑr ʊtə̌s

 

Notes:

You may notice that sometimes our teachers pronounce certain words slightly differently from each other. They also sometimes pronounce the same word differently in different situations. Some of this is due to trying to say things clearly for us. Some of it is also apparently due to dialectical differences. Although Xilingol is considered the standard for Mongolian in Inner Mongolia, many people from Xilingol at times pronounce the /x/ like a /g/. You can hear this in /xetə̌d/ as it is pronounced in the first substitution set above. But notice how they say in for the vocabulary list below. The dictionary lists it is as /x/ so that is generally what I will write. But a reminder again: copy what our teachers say, not what I write. It won’t hurt you to say /getə̌d/.

There are two ways to ask if someone has something. One uses /tæː jʊː/ and the other uses /bæːn ʊː/. As I currently understand it, /tæː jʊː/ is more commonly used with people (as in “Do you have a brother?”) However, I need to ask our tutors again when they get back. I will also have them record us some more examples.

*** rerecord

Expansion

One

1. biː obə̌r mɔŋgə̌l iːn jix sʊrgʊːl d sʊrə̌lʧə̌ʤ bæːn
2. onoːdə̌r mɔŋgə̌l xəl næː xəʧəːl tæː    mɑrgɑːʃ xəʧəːl ugue
3. xəʧəːl bʊːsɑːr biː bæːr dɑːn xærʤ ɑmə̌rnɑː

Notes:

Pay attention to the verb roots to get the meaning, but also notice the verb endings.

Vocabulary

xəduːl		how many in all
ɑʤə̌l-		to work
mɑnæː		my, our
bɔlə̌n		and
dorbuːl		four in all
xœrə̌mə̌l-		to get married
xuːxəd		children
xɔjʊːl		two in all
æŋgə̌l xəl		English
bæŋk		bank
busgue		wife
sœblə̌gʧ		nurse
mɔŋgə̌l həl		Mongolian
xetə̌d xəl		Chinese
jɔpə̌n xəl		Japanese
sɔlə̌ŋgə̌s həl		Korean
xəʧəːl ɔr-		to have class
ɑmə̌r-		to rest
tɑːnd		to you (polite)
tuːnd		to him, to her
gɑr ʊtə̌s		cell phone
obə̌r mɔŋgə̌l		Inner Mongolia
sʊr-		to study
sʊrə̌lʧ-		to study
bʊː-		to finish (class)

Grammar

All of us

In this lesson we saw the question word /xəduːl/, meaning “how many in all”. We already learned that /xəd/ or /hədə̌n/ means “how many”. The /-uːl/ ending adds the meaning of “in all”. When answering the question, the numbers likewise need the /-ʊːl/ or /-uːl/ endings. From what I understand these are just used with people, but I will ask our teachers about it later. Let’s listen to two through ten below.

• xɔjə̌rʊːl
• gʊrbʊːl
• doruːl
• tɑbʊːl
• ʤʊrgɑːgʊːl
• dɔlʊːl
• næːmʊːl
• jisuːl
• ɑrbʊːl

You may be wondering why four and nine have the /-uːl/ ending while the others have the /ʊːl/ ending. It is because of vowel harmony. You will recall that /ɑ/, /ɔ/, and /ʊ/ are masculine vowels; /ə/, /o/, and /u/ are feminine vowels; and /i/ is a neutral vowel. Since masculine and feminine vowels cannot mix within a single word, when a special ending is added, it must also match the word. Four and nine are feminine words so they take the feminine /-uːl/ ending. The others take the masculine /ʊːl/ ending.

Verb Endings

Let’s look at some frequently used verb endings that we have already come across. There will be many more to learn but these are some of the most common and important. Note that sometimes an extra vowel follows the ending. This does not change the meaning.

-n	future tense. Somebody will do something.	bæːn, bæːnɑː, irnəː, ɔʧnɔː
-də̌g	present tense. Somebody does something regularly..	sʊrdə̌g, gədə̌gəː
-ʤ bæːn (-ʤiːn)	present progressive tense. Somebody is doing something now.	aʤə̌lʤ bæːn, ɑmə̌rʤ bæːn, aʤə̌lʤiːn, ɑmə̌rʤiːnɑː
-sə̌n	past tense. Somebody did something. Something is finished.	xœrə̌mə̌lsə̌n, irsə̌n
-x	infinitive tense. “to do” something. It is often used when adding some other word after the verb.	bæːx be, irə̌x gue

Practice

How do you say the following words:

• how many in all
• four of us
• two of us
• three of us
• children
• bank
• wife
• nurse
• names of five languages
• to rest
• to study
• Inner Mongolia
• cell phone

How do you say the following sentences:

• How many people are in your family?
• Who all are they?
• What does your father do?
• My brother works at the bank.
• There are five people in my family: my father, my mother, my older sister, my younger brother, and me.
• Are you married?
• My younger sister doesn’t have any children.
• I study Mongolian.
• My friend studies Japanese at Inner Mongolia University.
• My mother is resting at home.
• Do you have a younger brother?
• Does the policeman have an older sister?
• Does your mother have a TV?

Review by saying the following:

• How are you?
• Goodbye
• See you tomorrow.
• Thank you.
• What is your name?
• What day is it tomorrow?

If you were able to say most of these things correctly then you are ready to go on to lesson eight. If not then keep practicing. You can also download the audio for the whole lesson so that you can practice listening while fixing your car. Just right-click the link below and choose “Save Link As…” to download.

Lesson 7

If you have any questions about this lesson or if you notice a mistake, then please leave a comment below. If I don’t know the answer myself, then I will ask our teachers.