Goal: Name and quote.
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Now hear it and say it
This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.
Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keepWords with interesting names
Oyuunaa's homework this week: find five Mongolian names and explain what they mean. Easy, I think: I live with a family full of names.
Nomin is a deep blue precious stone. Temuulen comes from a verb that means to strive for something, which suits a boy who wants to be a wrestler. Even the capital has a meaning: Ulaanbaatar, the Red Hero.
Then I start seeing words everywhere, on signs, on doors, on bus tickets. And Nomin has a surprise for me about my own name.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| гэдэг | called, named (literally "which people say") |
| гэсэн | which says, which means |
| утга | meaning (ямар утгатай вэ? what does it mean?) |
| үнэт чулуу | precious stone |
| тэмүүлэх | to strive for, to aspire to |
| зорилго | goal (зорилготой, with a goal) |
| баатар | hero (Улаанбаатар, "the Red Hero") |
| самбар | board, sign |
| тамхи татах | to smoke |
| хориглох | to forbid (хориглоно, it is forbidden) |
| хөгжмийн зэмсэг | musical instrument |
| адилхан | alike, the same |
| сонсогдох | to sound, to be heard |
| лимбэ | the Mongolian flute |
гэдэг is the habitual of гэх (to say): "what people say". In front of a noun it means "called, named, known as":
It is the habitual participle of lesson 104 in action: a name is what people always say.
To explain a word, give the word, then гэдэг нь, then the explanation:
гэсэн (said) in front of a noun points to the exact words: a sign that says something, a word that means something.
| Word | Points to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| гэдэг | the usual name of someone or something | Болд гэдэг хүн, a man called Bold |
| гэсэн | the words written, said or meant | "Гарц" гэсэн самбар, a sign saying "Exit" (гарц, exit) |
Notice үүнийг, the accusative of энэ: the thing named is in the accusative. And for a quick "What is X?", Лимбэ гэж юу вэ? is enough.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Complex sentences: гэж, гэдэг · Mongolian names
Mongolian names usually mean something. Бат is "firm", Болд "steel", Ганбаатар "steel hero", Цэцэг "flower", Оюунаа comes from оюун (mind), Сараа from сар (moon). Some old names were chosen to fool evil spirits who might want to harm a child: Нэргүй "no name", Хүнбиш "not a person". Even the capital changed its name: until 1924 it was called Хүрээ, and since then Улаанбаатар. Ask Mongolian friends what their names mean: it is a wonderful conversation starter.
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Lesson done? Train your ear
This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.
Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keep