著者

藤田 淑子

雑誌

東京女子大学言語文化研究 (ISSN:09187766)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.18, pp.39-55, 2010-03-01

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Mongolian language is said to be one of the easiest languages to master for Japanese people,for there is a close resemblance between the two languages in regards to word order. However,its sounds are very different from Japanese ones. The purpose of this thesis is to research the Mongolian phonology with the help of a Mongolian consultant and audio materials.Among the various dialects in the vast region of Mongolia, the major one is Khalkha Mongolian spoken in Mongolia, which uses Cyrillic alphabet for writing. This study is about Khalkha Mongolian, which is the official language in Mongolia.Mongolian phonology is a little bit more complicated than Japanese. There are seven cardinal short vowels in Mongolian, whereas Japanese has five. About half of the authors of the Mongolian language textbooks for beginners write the pronunciation in five katakanas.However, it is hard to describe the seven sounds with the five letters. Concerning the consonants, there are some strongly aspirated consonants in Mongolian. It is hard to distinguish where the place of the articulation of the sound is, because Japanese does not have that kind of aspiration.