Goal: Use honorific words.
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Today Bat took Nomin and me to visit Samdan, an old friend of Dulmaa's. He is eighty-five, a retired teacher, and he lives in a ger on the edge of the city.
On the way Nomin gave me a lesson in the car. With an elder, a few everyday words change: you do not ask about his age but about the "shadow" of his years, and an elder does not simply eat, he dines.
I was nervous, but Samdan laughed at my careful sentences and poured my tea himself.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| хүндэтгэлийн үг | respectful word, honorific |
| бие | body; health (Таны бие сайн уу? How is your health?) |
| нас сүүдэр | age, years (respectful) |
| нас сүүдэртэй | aged … (respectful: наян нас сүүдэртэй, eighty years old) |
| зооглох | to dine, to eat (respectful) |
| зоог | meal (respectful) |
| өргөө | residence, the home of an honoured person |
| хүндтэй | respected, honoured |
| хаан | khan, king |
| дулаахан | nice and warm, cosy |
| жижигхэн | little, small |
| гайгүй | all right, not bad |
| хэрэглэх | to use |
Mongolian keeps a small set of respectful words (хүндэтгэлийн үг). They replace an everyday word when you speak to or about an elder or a person of high standing. The grammar does not change at all: the endings are the same, only the word is different.
| Everyday word | Respectful word | In use |
|---|---|---|
| нас (age) | нас сүүдэр (years) | наян нас сүүдэртэй (eighty years old) |
| идэх (to eat) | зооглох (to dine) | хоолоо зооглож байна (is having a meal) |
| хоол (meal) | зоог (meal) | зоогийн газар (restaurant) |
| гэр (home) | өргөө (residence) | хааны өргөө (the khan's residence) |
To ask after an elder, Mongolian does not ask about the person but about the body. Таны бие сайн уу? is more respectful than a plain greeting, and it is the question to ask anyone who has been ill. The same word comes back in Samdan's answer, Бие гайгүй дээ ("I'm all right"), because бие is also the ordinary word for one's own health.
For a young person you ask хэдэн настай (lesson 23). For an elder, say нас сүүдэртэй, "having the shadow of … years", a respectful image of the years a person has lived.
зооглох replaces идэх when the person eating deserves respect. Its noun зоог gives the ordinary word for a restaurant, зоогийн газар, a place where you are served like an honoured guest.
өргөө is the residence of a khan, a lama or a respected elder. It belongs to formal and written style; in conversation people usually say танайх ("your place"). Said warmly, as Nomin says it, it is a compliment, and a modest host may laugh it off: Миний гэр өргөө биш ээ.
Respectful words lift up the other person, so you do not use them about yourself. Talking about his own age, Samdan uses the plain word: Би наян таван настай. And however hungry you are, you never say that you yourself зооглох: for your own meals the verb is идэх.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Politeness and address: та, чи and гуай · Mongolian greetings
Four more respectful words you will hear: нэр becomes алдар (Таны алдар хэн бэ? "What is your name?"), эхнэр becomes гэргий (wife), унтах becomes нойрсох (Сайхан нойрсоорой! "Sleep well!"), and ирэх becomes морилох, the verb inside Тавтай морилно уу! ("Welcome!").
Elderly people are also addressed as өвөө (grandfather) and эмээ (grandmother) by people who are not their grandchildren at all. It is warm and respectful at the same time.
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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