Goal: Exchange New Year greetings.
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Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keepLunar New Year at the family's
February in Ulaanbaatar: twenty-five degrees below zero, and the whole city smells of steamed buuz. Dulmaa has come from Arkhangai to spend Tsagaan Sar, the Lunar New Year, with the family.
This morning everyone put on their best clothes. One by one we held out our arms under Dulmaa's arms, supported her elbows and asked her the New Year question: "Are you at peace?"
Then Temuulen greeted me the same way, very seriously, and went straight back to the buuz.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| Цагаан сар | Tsagaan Sar, the Lunar New Year (literally: the white month) |
| сар шинэ | the new month, the New Year |
| амар | peaceful, at ease |
| шинэлэх | to celebrate the New Year |
| золгох | to greet each other for the New Year, holding each other's arms |
| ээлж | turn |
| ахмад | elder, senior |
| хадаг | ceremonial silk scarf |
At Tsagaan Sar the everyday Сайн байна уу? gives way to an older greeting. The adjective амар means "peaceful, at ease", so the question asks whether the other person is at peace as the new year begins.
The grammar is the one you have used since lesson 11: an adjective, байна, and the question particle уу. The answer repeats the predicate, as always in Mongolian.
The verb шинэлэх is built on шинэ (new): "to celebrate the New Year", almost "to new-year". In the progressive –ж байна of lesson 43, the question is literally "Are you new-yearing nicely?"
You hear this question during all the days of visiting that follow the first day. Ask it back with the pronoun: Та сайхан шинэлж байна уу?
In the formal greeting, золгох, the younger person asks and the elder, the ахмад, answers. So children greet their parents, and everyone greets the eldest of the family, here Dulmaa. золгох takes the comitative: эмээтэй золгох, to greet Grandma.
To call or address a person, Mongolian adds the particle аа / оо / ээ / өө after the name or title, written separately: Ээж ээ! (Mother!), Аав аа! (Father!), Багш аа! (Teacher!). Its vowel follows the word, as usual.
To wish someone a good festival, use the polite imperative of шинэлэх:
| Mongolian | Literally | When |
|---|---|---|
| Амар байна уу? | Are you at peace? | the first greeting, younger to elder |
| Амар байна. | I am at peace. | the answer |
| Сайхан шинэлж байна уу? | Are you celebrating well? | during the festival days |
| Сар шинэдээ сайхан шинэлээрэй! | Celebrate your new month well! | a wish, before or during the festival |
In сар шинэдээ, "in your new month", you can see the dative-locative and the reflexive possessive of lesson 82.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Mongolian greetings · Mongolian etiquette and gestures · Politeness and address
In the золгох greeting the two people hold out their arms. The younger one places both arms under the elder's arms, palms up, and supports the elder's elbows from below; the elder rests the forearms on top and kisses the younger lightly on the cheeks. Some people hold a хадаг, a ceremonial silk scarf, across their hands. Today the greeting is kept mostly for Tsagaan Sar, and husband and wife do not greet each other this way.
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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