Dagur language

The Dagur, Daghur, Dahur, or Daur language, is a Mongolic language, as well as a distinct branch of the Mongolic language family, and is primarily spoken by members of the Daur ethnic group.

Dagur
Daghur, Dahur, Daur
Даор Усуву ᡩᠠᠣ‍ᠷ ᡠᠰᡠᠸᡠ Daor Usuwu (Hailar) ᡩᠠᠸᡠᠷ ᡴᡝᠯ Dagur Kel (Qiqihar)
Pronunciation	[daɔr usuɣu]
Native to	China, Mongolia, Russia
Region	China: Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang Province, Xinjiang
Ethnicity	Daur
Native speakers	(China: 91,000 cited 1999)
Language family	Mongolic Mongolic Dagur
Writing system	Latin script Mongol script Cyrillic script Manchu script (historically)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	dta
Glottolog	daur1238
ELP	Dagur
Dagur is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

There is no written standard in use, although a Pinyin-based orthography has been devised; instead the Dagur make use of Mongolian or Chinese, as most speakers know these languages as well. During the time of the Qing dynasty, Dagur was written with the Manchu alphabet.

Distribution

Dagur is a Mongolic language consisting of five dialects:

• Amur Dagur in the vicinity of Heihe (original homeland). About 400 people.
• Nonni Dagur on the west side of the Nonni River from south of Qiqihar up to Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner. Speakers of Nonni Dagur are usually grouped into the following 4 dialects:
  • Morin Daba Dagur, in Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner (Moli Daba) of Hulun Buir League, Inner Mongolia
  • Butha (Buteha) (Northern) Dagur, immediately south of Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner
  • Tsitsikar (Southern) Dagur, in Tsitsikar (Qiqihar) City and surrounding areas
  • Mergen Dagur or Nenjiang Dagur, in Nenjiang County (formerly Mergen County) of Heilongjiang Province
• Hailar Dagur to the south-east of Hailar in Ewenki Autonomous Banner
• Sinkiang Dagur in Xinjiang in the vicinity of Tacheng

Phonology

Dagur phonology is peculiar in that some of its dialects have developed a set of labialized consonants (e.g. /sʷar/ 'flea' vs. /sar/ 'moon'), while it shares palatalized consonants with most Mongolian dialects that have not been developed in the other Mongolic languages. It also has /f/, which is, however, limited to loan words. Word-final short vowels were lost and historically short vowels in non-initial syllables have lost phoneme status. Dagur is the only Mongolic language to share this development with Mongolian (i.e. Mongolian proper, Oirat, Buryat). Due to the merger of /ɔ/ and /ʊ/ with /o/ and /u/, vowel harmony was lost. According to Tsumagari (2003), vowel harmony is still a productive synchronic phonotactic aspect of Dagur in which initial syllable long vowels are divided into "masculine" (back), "feminine" (front), and neutral groups. Likewise, suffixal long vowels must agree in harmonic group with the root.

Vowels

Dagur vowels (Chuluu 1994)

	Front		Central		Back
	short	long	short	long	short	long
Close	i	iː			u	uː
Mid	e	eː	ə	əː	ɔ	ɔː
Open					a	aː

Consonants

Dagur consonants (Chuluu 1994)

		Labial			Alveolar			Postalveolar		Velar
		plain	lab.	pal.	plain	lab.	pal.	plain	lab.	plain	lab.	pal.
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	p			t	tʷ	tʲ	tʃ	tʃʷ	k	kʷ	kʲ
	voiced	b		bʲ	d	dʷ	dʲ	dʒ	dʒʷ	ɡ		ɡʲ
Fricative		f			s	sʷ		ʃ		x	xʷ	xʲ
Nasal		m	mʷ	mʲ	n		nʲ			ŋ
Trill					r		rʲ
Lateral					l		lʲ
Semivowel							j				w

Writing system

Letters	Contextual forms			Transliteration		International Phonetic Alphabet
	Initial	Medial	Final	Latin	Cyrillic
ᠠ	ᠠ‍	‍ᠠ‍	‍ᠠ ‍ᠠ᠋	a	а	/a/
ᠡ	ᠡ‍	‍ᠡ‍	‍ᠡ ‍ᠡ᠋	e	э	/ə/
ᠢ	ᠢ‍	‍ᠢ‍	‍ᠢ	i	и	/i/
ᠣ	ᠣ‍	‍ᠣ‍	‍ᠣ	o	о	/ɔ/
ᠦ	ᡠ‍	‍ᡠ᠊᠋‍	‍᠊ᡠ	u	у	/u/
ᠨ	ᠨ‍	‍ᠨ‍ ‍ᠨ᠋‍	‍ᠨ ‍ᠨ᠎	n	н	/n/
ᠩ	—	‍ᠩ‍	‍ᠩ	ng	нг	/ŋ/
ᠪ	ᠪ‍	‍ᠪ‍	‍ᠪ	b	б	/b/
ᡦ᠊	ᡦ᠊‍	‍᠊ᡦ᠊‍	—	p	п	/p/
ᡥ᠊	ᡥ᠊‍ ‍ᡭ᠊᠎	‍᠊ᡥ᠊ ‍᠊ᡭ᠊᠎	—	h	х	/x/
ᠬ	ᠬ ‍ᠺ᠊᠎	‍ᠬ‍ ‍᠊ᠺ᠊᠎	‍ᠬ	k	к	/k/
ᡤ᠊	ᡤ᠊ ‍ᡬ᠊᠋‍	‍ᡤ᠊‍ ‍᠊ᡬ᠊᠋‍	‍‍ᠭ᠎	g	г	/g/
ᠮ	ᠮ‍	‍ᠮ‍	‍ᠮ	m	м	/m/
ᠯ	ᠯ‍	‍ᠯ‍	‍ᠯ	l	л	/l/
ᠰ	ᠰ‍	‍ᠰ‍	‍ᠰ	s	с	/s/
ᡧ᠊	ᡧ᠊‍	‍᠊ᡧ᠊‍	‍᠊ᡧ	x	ш	/ʃ/
ᠲ	ᠲ‍	‍ᠲ‍	‍ᠲ	t	т	/t/
ᡩ᠊	ᡩ᠊‍	‍᠊ᡩ᠊‍	‍ᡩ᠊	d	д	/d/
ᠴ	ᠴ‍	‍ᠴ‍	‍‍ᠴ	q	ч	/t͡ʃ/
ᠵ	ᠵ‍	‍ᠵ‍	‍‍‍ᠵ	j	ж	/d͡ʒ/
ᠶ	ᠶ‍	‍ᠶ‍	‍ᠶ	y	й	/j/
ᠸ	ᠸ‍	‍᠊ᠸ᠊‍	‍᠊ᠸ	w	в	/w/
ᠷ	ᠷ‍	‍ᠷ‍	‍ᠷ	r	р	/r/

Grammar

Dagur has a pronominal system that distinguishes between first person plural inclusive /bed/ and exclusive /baː/ and, even more archaic, it distinguishes between third person singular /iːn/ and plural /aːn/. While the phoneme /t͡ʃ/ (< *t͡ʃʰ) has been retained, the second person singular pronoun has become /ʃiː/ nevertheless, resembling a more thorough sound change in Khorchin Mongolian. The second person plural is retained as /taː/. The genitive and accusative have fused in some variants, becoming –ji, and the ablative may assume the form of the instrumental case. The old comitative has been lost, while the innovated comitative is the same as in Mongolian. In addition, several other cases have been innovated that are not shared by Mongolian, including a new allative, -maji.

Dagur has a fairly simple tense-aspect system consisting of the nonpast markers -/bəi/ and (marginally) -/n/ and the past forms -/sən/ and (marginally) /la/ and the non-finite imperfective marker -/d͡ʒa/-. These may be inflected for person. The attributive particle forms are limited to –/ɡʷ/ (< Written Mongolian -γ-a) for imperfective aspect and future tense, -sən (< -γsan) for perfective aspect, -/ɡat͡ʃ/ (< -gči) for habituality (instead of -daγ which used to fulfil this function) and -/mar/ for potential and probable actions. It has acquired a highly complex converbal system containing several innovations. Notably, -mar which is a participle in Mongolian serves as a converb as well.

Grammatical case suffix table

Case	Marker	Note	Example	Meaning
Genitive	-ei	Added to words ending in a consonant (except j, q, x)	битегей biteg + ei → bitegei	of the book
			хелегей heleg + ei → helegei
			адусей adus + ei → adusei
			аолэй aol + ei → aolei	of the mountain
	-ii	Added to words ending in j, q, x	кайчий kaiq + ii → kaiqii	of shears
			оржий orj + ii → orjii
			тульший tulx + ii → tulxii
	-i	Added to words ending in a short vowel	морий mori + i → morii	of the horse
			новуй nowu + i → nowui	of the dog
			дангай danga + i → dangai	of smoke
	-yi	Appended to words ending in long vowels and diphthongs	акааий akaa + yi → akaayi	older brother's
			касооий kasoo + yi → kasooyi	of iron
			даоий dao + yi → daoyi	of the song
Accusative	Same as genitive case
Locative	-d	Added to the stem (if ending in a consonant d, t, k, s, j, q, x add an appropriate vowel before -d)	ширээд xiree + d → xireed	on the desk
			хорвуд horwu + d → horwud	in/on the cabinet
			тосод tos + d → tosod	in the oil
Instrumental	-aar, -eer, -oor	Added to words ending in consonants (except j, q, x) according to vowel harmony	сарпаар sarp + aar → sarpaar	using chopsticks
			лэкээр lek + eer → lekeer
			топоор topoor + oor → topooroor	using an axe
	-ier	Added to words ending in j, q, x	онкиэр onq + ier → onqier	using a knife
			оржиэр orj + ier → orjier
	-ar, -er, -or	Added according to vowel harmony to words ending in short vowels	дангаар danga + ar → dangaar	using smoke
			галиэр gali + er → galier	using fire
			мориэр mori + er → morier	using a horse
			новуор nowu + or → nowuor	using a dog
	-yaar, -yeer	Added according to vowel harmony to words ending in long vowels and diphthongs	чолоояар qoloo + yaar → qolooyaar	using a stone
			касоояар kasoo + yaar → kasooyaar	using iron
Ablative	Same as instrumental case		The ablative form is sometimes -aas, -ees, -oos, -ies, -as, -es, -os, -yaas, -yees.
Comitative	-tii	Added to the word stem	акаатий akaa + tii → akaatii	together with older brother
			эвээтий ewee + tii → eweetii	together with mom
Terminative	-qaar, -qeer	Added to the word stem according to vowel harmony	соочаар soo + qaar → sooqaar	up to the armpits
			сакчаар sak + qaar → sakqaar	up to the ankles

Personal reflexive relationship suffixes

Pronoun	Number	Marker	Example	Meaning
1st	Singular	mini	жакмини jakmini	my stuff/thing
			хороомини horoomini	my finger
	Plural (exclusive)	-maani	себмаани sebmaani	our teacher
	Plural (inclusive)	-naani	себнаани sebnaani	our teacher
2nd	Singular	-xini	васкалшини waskalxini	your clothing
	Plural	-taani	гэритаани geritaani	your home
3rd	Singular	-ini	агини agini	his brother
		-yini	экээйини ekeeyini	his sister
	Plural	-inaani	этэвуйнаани eteewuinaani	their grandmother
		-yinaani	ачайинаани aqaayinaani	their father

Imperative verb suffixes

Pronoun	Number	Volitional	Imperative	Prohibitive
1st	Singular	-яа -yaa		-гаан, -гээн -gaan, -geen
				-гаамини -gaamini
				-гэмини -geemini
	Plural (exclusive)			-гаамани -gaamaani
				-гээмани -geemaani
	Plural (inclusive)			-гааннаани -gaannaani
				-гээннаани -geennaani
2nd	Singular	-гаание -gaanie	(word stem)	-гааншини -gaanxini
		-геение -geenie		-гээншини -geenxini
	Plural	-гаантие -gaantie	-ту -tu	-гаантаани -gaantaani
		-геентие -geentie		-геентаани -geentaani
3rd	Singular & plural		-тгай -tgai	-гаанини -gaanini
				-гээнини -geenini

Declarative verb suffixes

Time	Suffix	Example	Meaning
Present future tense	-bei	идбей (иден) idbei (iden)	(he) will eat
	-n	яобей (явун) yaobei (yawun)	(she) will go
Past tense	-sen	идсен idsen	(she) ate
		яосен yaosen	(he) went

Pronouns' verb suffixes

Present future tensse

Pronoun	Number	Marker	Example	Meaning
1st	Singular	-wei(-w)	Би харивей. Bi hariwei(hariw).	I return.
		-nbi	Би харинби. Bi harinbi.	I return.
	Plural (exclusive)	-waa	Баа хариваа. Baa hariwaa.	We return.
		-nbaa	Баа харинбаа. Baa harinbaa.	We return.
	Plural (inclusive)	-wdaa	Бид харивдаа. Bid hariwdaa.	We return.
		-ndaa	Бид хариндаа. Bid harindaa.	We return.
2nd	Singular	-beixi(-bxi)	Ши харибейши. Xi haribeixi.	You return.
		-nxi	Ши харинши. Xi harinxi.	You return.
	Plural	-beitaa (-btaa)	Таа харибейтаа. Taa haribeitaa (haribtaa).	You return.
		-ntaa	Таа харинтаа. Taa harintaa.	You return.

Past tense

Pronoun	Number	Marker	Example	Meaning
1st	Singular	-senbi	Би харисенби. Bi harisenbi.	I returned.
	Plural (exclusive)	-senbaa	Баа харисенбаа. Baa harisenbaa.	We returned.
	Plural (inclusive)	-sendaa	Бид харисэндаа. Bid harisendaa.	We returned.
2nd	Singular	-senxi	Ши харисенши. Xi harisenxi.	You returned.
	Plural	-sentaa	Таа харисентаа. Taa harisentaa.	You returned.

Adverb suffixes

Suffix	Notes	Example	Meaning
-j	Indicates parallel actions	Ийчиж ужсенби. iiqij ujsenbi.	I went to see (it).
-jie (dii)	Indicates that two actions are performed simultaneously	Саожие (дий) усвулжьжабей. Saojie (dii) uswuljjabei.	(She) sits while talking.
-aar, -eer, -oor	Indicates that the behavior occurred successively	Гараар ирсэн. Garaar irsen.	(He) came out.
		Энкуер яосэн. Enkuer yaosen.	(She) ate it.
-jii	Signifies the end of the act	Ужьжий яосэн. Ujjii yaosen.	(He) left after reading (it).
		Иджий яо! Idjii yao!	Let's eat and (then) go.
-n ...-n	Indicates behaviors that occur together	Гуйн кариен яосэн. Guin karien yaosen.	(He) jumped and bounced away.
-mkii,-mklii	Indicates that the behavior occurs immediately	Мадемький (мэдемький) ичсэн. Medemkii (medemklii) iqsen.	(She) went as soon as (she) knew it.
-mder	Indicates that the behavior occurs immediately	Медемдерь (меднмкьлий) ичсэн. Medemder (medemklii) iqsen.	(She) went as soon as she knew it.
-wueter	Indicates readiness	Елвуетерь медсен. Elwueter medsen.	(She) will know as soon as (he) says it.
-aajaar, -eejeer (-eejaar), -oojaar	Indicates simultaneous act	Бариежаараа алдсэн. Bariejaaraa aldsen.	(He) grabbed it and let it go.
-rsaar, rseer	Indicates continuation and recurrence of behavior	Элерсеерь араан болсен. Elerseer araan bolsen.	How many times have you said it?
-aas, -ees, -oos	Express the condition of the behavior	Элеесшини укубей. Eleesxini ukubei.	If you say so, I'll give it to you.
-tgai q	Indicates concessive act	Учийкэн аатгай чукаатий. Uqiiken aatgai qukaatii.	Small but wise.
-worg, -wuar	Indicates the act to follow	Хийвуерь тортсен. Hiiwuer tortsen.	(She) decided to do (it).
-gaanie, -geenie	Expresses purpose	Уйгеени игсен. Uigeenie igsen.	(He) went to see (it).
-tel	Indicates behavioral boundaries	Яотельмини аасен. Yaotelmini aasen.	(He'll) be there until (she) leaves.
-tlaa(-tlaanie), tlee(-tleenie)	Expresses choice	Элтлеение хиисехдь уль денген. Eltleenie hiisehd ul dengen.	It's better to do (so).
-maak(-maaken), meek(-meken)	Indicates the proximity of behavior	Ванамаак (ванамаакен) болсен. Wanamaak (wanamaaken) bolsen.	(It's) about to fall.

Personal pronouns

	1st Person			2nd Person		3rd Person
	singular	plural		singular	plural	singular	plural
		exclusive	inclusive
Nominative	бий bii	биэде biede	баа baa	ший xii	таа taa	инг ing	аанг aang
Genitive	миний minii	биэдний biednii	мааний maanii	шиний xinii	тааний taanii	иний inii	ааний aanii
Dative	намд namd	биэдендэ biedende	маандэ maande	шамд xamd	таандэ taande	ямд (инд) yamd (ind)	аандэ aande
Accusative	намий namii	биэдний biednii	мааний maanii	шамий xamii	тааний taanii	ямий yamii	ааний aanii
Ablative	намаасэ namaase	биэденаас biedenaas	маанаас maanaas	шамаасэ xamaase	таанаас taanaas	ямаас yamaas	аанаас aanaas
Instrumental	намаарэ namaare	биэдэнаар biedenaar	маанаар maanaar	шамаарэ xamaare	таанаар taanaar	ямаар yamaar	аанаар aanaar
Comitative	намтий namtii	биэдентий biedentii	маантий maantii	шамтий xamtii	таантий taantii	ямтий yamtii	аантий aantii

Lexicon

It is estimated that out of Dagur's entire language vocabulary, over half is Mongolic in origin. Additionally, while Dagur has over 50% common Mongolic vocabulary, it has borrowed 5 to 10% of its words from Chinese, as well as 10% of its words from Manchu, and a small number vocabulary borrowed from Evenki and Russian – leaving about 20% vocabulary that is specific to Dagur only.

Middle Mongol words

Dagur retains quite a few archaic Mongolic words, and although they are not commonly found in the modern Mongolic languages, they do appear in Middle Mongol sources, like the Hua-Yi yiyu and The Secret History of the Mongols. These words include:

• tergul ~ terwul (тэргул ~ тервул) ‘road’ (in Mongol *jam)
• najir (нажийр) ‘summer’ (Mongol *jun)
• xeky (хэкый) ‘head’ (Mongol *tologai)
• sorby (сорбый) ‘staff’ (Mongol *tayag)
• kasoo (касоо) ‘iron’
• saur (саур) ‘spade’
• ogw (огв) ‘brain’
• basert (басерть) ‘kidney’
• twalcig (твалциг) ‘knee’
• kataa (катаа) ‘salt’
• warkel (варкэль) ‘clothes’
• el- (эл-) ‘to say’ (cf. Mongol *kele-)

Numerals

All basic numerals are of Mongolic origin.

	English	Classical Mongolian	Dagur (Hailar)	Dagur (Qiqihar)
1	One	Nigen	Нэкэн Neken	Neke
2	Two	Qoyar	Хойир Hoir	Hoyir
3	Three	Ghurban	Гуарбан Guarban	Guarbe
4	Four	Dorben	Дурубун Durbun	Durbu
5	Five	Tabun	Таавун Taawun	Taawu
6	Six	Jirghughan	Жиргөө Jirwoo	Jirgoo
7	Seven	Dologhan	Долөөн Doloon	Doloo
8	Eight	Naiman	Найман Naiman	Naime
9	Nine	Yisun	Йсэн Isen	Yise
10	Ten	Arban	Харбан Harban	Harbe

Bibliography

• Chuluu, Üjiyediin (1994), Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Dagur (PDF), Sino-Platonic Papers, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
• Engkebatu (2001): Cing ulus-un üy-e-dü dagur kele-ber bicigdegsen jokiyal-ud-un sudulul. Kökeqota: Öbür monggol-un yeke surgaguli-yin keblel-ün qoriy-a.
• Namcarai; Qaserdeni (1983), Daγur kele ba mongγul kelen-ü qaričaγulul, Öbür mongγul-un arad-un keblel-ün qoriy-a, OCLC 45024952
• Oyunčimeg, ed. (2004), Mongγul sudulul-un nebterkei toli, Kökeqota: Öbür mongγul-un arad-un keblel-ün qoriy-a, ISBN 978-7-204-07745-8, OCLC 67279589
• Sengge (2004): Daγur kele. In: Oyunčimeg 2004: 616-617.
• Sengge (2004a): Daγur kelen-ü abiy-a. In: Oyunčimeg 2004: 618.
• Sengge (2004b): Daγur kelen-ü üges. In: Oyunčimeg 2004: 619.
• Sengge (2004c): Daγur kelen-ü kele ǰüi. In: Oyunčimeg 2004: 618-622.
• Tsumagari, Toshiro (2003): Dagur. In: Janhunen, Juha (ed.) (2003): The Mongolic languages. London: Routledge: 129-153.
• Yu, Wonsoo, Jae-il Kwon, Moon-Jeong Choi, Yong-kwon Shin, Borjigin Bayarmend, Luvsandorj[in] Bold (2008): A study of the Tacheng dialect of the Dagur language. Seoul: Seoul National University Press

External links

• Unicode Manchu/Sibe/Dagur Fonts and Keyboards
• Learning Dagur (in Chinese)