Moghol language

Template:Short description {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other Moghol (or Mogholi; Template:Langx) is a critically endangered and possibly extinct Mongolic language spoken in the province of Herat, Afghanistan, in the villages of Kundur and Karez-i-Mulla. The speakers were the Moghol people, who numbered 2,000 members in the 1970s. They descend from the remnants of Genghis Khan's Mongol army stationed in Afghanistan in the 13th century.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 1970s, when the German scholar Michael Weiers did fieldwork on the language, few people spoke it, most knew it passively and most were older than 40. It is unknown if there are still speakers of the language,<ref name=Weiers>Weiers, Michael. 2003. "Moghol," The Mongolic Languages. Ed. Juha Janhunen. Routledge Language Family Series 5. London: Routledge. Pages 248–264.</ref> and it is listed as dormant by Ethnologue.<ref name="e18">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The language has been strongly influenced by Persian in its phonology, morphology and syntax, causing Weiers to state that it has the appearance of a "true Inner Asian creole language".<ref name=Weiers/>

Phonology

Moghol's phonology is influenced by Persian. It has a system of six vowel qualities with no length contrast: {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref name="Weiers" />

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar/ Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Approximant			Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Trill			Template:IPA link			Template:IPA link

/ɦ/ may range between voiced [ɦ] and voiceless [h].

Script

Historically, the Moghol language was written using the Perso-Arabic script.<ref>Mogholi alphabet is in Omniglot shown: https://www.omniglot.com/writing/mogholi.htm</ref> Extant Moghol literature included Islamic texts, poetry, Mogholi-Persian vocabularies, and Mogholi grammars.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

ح	چ	ج	ث	ت	پ	ب	ا
ش	س	ژ	ز	ر	ذ	د	خ
ق	ف	غ	ع	ظ	ط	ض	ص
ی	و	ه	ن	م	ل	گ	ک

Grammar

Moghol grammar shows substantial influence from Persian languages, having borrowed even word classes not found in other Mongolic languages: the parts of speech are nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, adverbs and conjunctions.

Nouns are marked for number and case. Verbs are marked for person, number, tense-aspect and mood. Adjectives inflect for the comparative and superlative degree with the Persian suffixes -tar and -tariin, but not for number and case.

Vocabulary

Pronouns

The Moghol personal pronouns are:<ref name=Weiers/>

person	singular	plural
1st	lang}}	lang}} ~ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (inclusive); {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (exclusive)
2nd	lang}}	tå ~ tåd
3rd	i ~ ih	tid ~ tit

The demonstrative pronouns are:<ref name=Weiers/>

• {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ~ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ‘this’
• inat ~ enad ‘these’
• mun ~ munah ‘that’
• munat ~ mutah ~ mutat ‘those’

The interrogative pronouns are:<ref name=Weiers/>

• emah ~ imah ~ imas ‘what’
• ken ~ kiyan ‘who’
• kenaiki ‘whose’
• emadu ~ imadu ~ emaji ~ imaji ~ emagalah ‘why’
• emaula- ‘to do what’
• ked ~ keddu ‘how much’
• keja ‘when’
• oshtin ‘how’

The reflexive pronouns are:<ref name=Weiers/>

• {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ‘self’
• {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ‘for oneself’
• {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ‘self’

Numerals

The Moghol numerals are Janhunen (2003):

	English gloss	Moghol<ref name=Weiers/>	Proto-Mongolic<ref>Janhunen, Juha. 2003. The Mongolic Languages, p.16. Routledge Language Family Series 5. London: Routledge.</ref>	Modern Mongolian
1	one	nikah ~ nika/n	*nike/n	neg
2	two	qeyår ~ qiar	*koxar ~ *koyar	khoyor
3	three	ghorbån ~ qurban	*gurba/n	gurav
4	four	dorbån ~ durba/n	*dörbe/n	döröv
5	five	tåbun ~ tabun	*tabu/n	tav
6	six	åsun ~ essun ~ jurghan ~ shish	*jirguxa/n	zurgaa
7	seven	dålån ~ húft	*doluxa/n	doloo
8	eight	sålån ~ húshtu	*na(y)ima/n	naym
9	nine	tåsån ~ no	*yersü/n	yös
10	ten	arbån ~ arban ~ dá	*xarba/n	arav

Sample

Weiers noted down the following poem by the Moghol poet Abd Al-Qadir.

Weiers' Moghol text:

English translation from Weiers' German:

Another Moghol poem or song of Abd Al-Qadir written in Arabic alphabet (from Weiers):

Weiers' Moghol text:

English translation from Weiers' German:

See also

• Nikudari

Further reading

• G. J. Ramstedt. 1906. "Mogholica. Beiträge zur kenntnis der moghol-sprache in Afghanistan." JSFOu 23-4.
• Louis Ligeti. 1954. "Le lexique moghol de R. Leech," AOH 4.
• Л. Лигети. 1954. "О монгольских и тюркиских языках и диалектах Афганистана," AOH 4.
• Sh. Iwamura and H. F. Schurmann. 1954. "Notes on Mongolian Groups in Afghanistan," Silver Jubilee Volume of the Zinbun-Kagaku-Kenkyusyo, Kyoto University. Kyoto University.
• Shinobu Iwamura. 1961. The Zirni Manuscript: A Persian-Mongolian Glossary and Grammar. Kyoto University.
• H. F. Schurmann. 1962. The Moghols of Afghanistan. Mouton & Co.
• Michael Weiers. 1972. Die Sprache der Moghol der Provinz Herat in Afghanistan (Sprachmaterial, Grammatik, Wortliste). Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.