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Vowel harmony in Mongolic languages

Svantesson, Jan Olof LU (2024) p.774-779
Abstract

The main section of this chapter describes vowel harmony (VH) in Khalkha Mongolian, which has both tongue-root harmony and rounding harmony. The vowels are divided into two classes, retracted tongue root (RTR), a, ?, ?, and advanced tongue root (ATR), e, o, u, while i is neutral. There is rich inflectional and derivational morphology based on suffixes, whose vowels alternate with the harmony class of the word. Rounding harmony applies only to the non-high vowels a, ?, e, o, high rounded ? and u being opaque and i transparent. There is interaction between tongue-root harmony and velar versus uvular consonants. The contrast between palatalized and plain consonants occurs only in the context of RTR vowels. The VH status of the other... (More)

The main section of this chapter describes vowel harmony (VH) in Khalkha Mongolian, which has both tongue-root harmony and rounding harmony. The vowels are divided into two classes, retracted tongue root (RTR), a, ?, ?, and advanced tongue root (ATR), e, o, u, while i is neutral. There is rich inflectional and derivational morphology based on suffixes, whose vowels alternate with the harmony class of the word. Rounding harmony applies only to the non-high vowels a, ?, e, o, high rounded ? and u being opaque and i transparent. There is interaction between tongue-root harmony and velar versus uvular consonants. The contrast between palatalized and plain consonants occurs only in the context of RTR vowels. The VH status of the other Mongolic languages is described briefly. Some have lost VH altogether, and others have retained it in different forms. Oirat (including Kalmyk) is the only Mongolic language with palatal harmony.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
ATR, Kalmyk, Khalkha, Mongolian, Rounding harmony, RTR, Tongue-root harmony
host publication
The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony
pages
6 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85212162368
ISBN
9780198826804
9780191865718
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198826804.013.60
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fb399afe-e372-448d-8355-f7b89d3aff78
date added to LUP
2025-01-22 10:20:59
date last changed
2025-07-10 00:04:04
@inbook{fb399afe-e372-448d-8355-f7b89d3aff78,
  abstract     = {{<p>The main section of this chapter describes vowel harmony (VH) in Khalkha Mongolian, which has both tongue-root harmony and rounding harmony. The vowels are divided into two classes, retracted tongue root (RTR), a, ?, ?, and advanced tongue root (ATR), e, o, u, while i is neutral. There is rich inflectional and derivational morphology based on suffixes, whose vowels alternate with the harmony class of the word. Rounding harmony applies only to the non-high vowels a, ?, e, o, high rounded ? and u being opaque and i transparent. There is interaction between tongue-root harmony and velar versus uvular consonants. The contrast between palatalized and plain consonants occurs only in the context of RTR vowels. The VH status of the other Mongolic languages is described briefly. Some have lost VH altogether, and others have retained it in different forms. Oirat (including Kalmyk) is the only Mongolic language with palatal harmony.</p>}},
  author       = {{Svantesson, Jan Olof}},
  booktitle    = {{The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony}},
  isbn         = {{9780198826804}},
  keywords     = {{ATR; Kalmyk; Khalkha; Mongolian; Rounding harmony; RTR; Tongue-root harmony}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{774--779}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  title        = {{Vowel harmony in Mongolic languages}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198826804.013.60}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198826804.013.60}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}