Přízvuk a větná intonace

Stress and intonation

Word stress

In Mongolian, stress is usually on the first syllable: МОН-гол, ХОТ-ын, НОМ-ыг. It is weaker than English stress, and long vowels and diphthongs in later syllables also stand out, because they are held longer: унтаа sounds like "un-TAA" to an English ear. The safe recipe is to give every long vowel its full length and not to push hard on any one syllable.

Short vowels get weak

Short vowels after the first syllable are reduced, sometimes almost lost: Монгол is close to "MONG-gl", харсан (saw) close to "khars'n". Spelling keeps the vowels, so do not let them mislead you into saying every syllable fully. This is the single biggest difference between how Mongolian looks and how it sounds.

Long vowels change meaning

A doubled vowel letter is a long vowel, and length alone can separate two words:

Short	Long
ул (sole of a shoe)	уул (mountain)
сур (learn!)	суур (base, foundation)

Hold the long vowel about twice as long as the short one. English speakers, who hear length as a by-product of stress, tend to shorten long vowels in unstressed positions: ширээ (table) must end in a full "ee".

Sentence melody

• Statements fall at the end: Би оюутан. - I'm a student.
• Yes/no questions end in the particle уу / үү (or юу / юү after a long vowel or diphthong), which usually carries a rise: Та сайн байна уу? - How are you? (literally "Are you well?")
• Questions with a question word end in вэ / бэ and fall rather than rise: Энэ юу вэ? - What is this?

Because the question particle does the work, the melody matters less than in English, but a flat or falling уу can sound curt. Listen to how hosts greet guests at a ger during Tsagaan Sar: Амар байна уу? - Are you at peace?, the traditional greeting, said with a gentle rise on the last word.