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Mongolian
vowels are short or long. The short vowels are;
a a as
the “u” in “but”
э e as
the “e” in “den”
и i as
the ”i” in “tin”
о o as
the “o” in the British “hot”
ө ö as
the “o” in “money”
ү ü as
the “ou” in “source”
Long
vowels are doubled short vowels;
aa aa as
the “a” in “bar”
ээ ee as
the “ei” in “deign”
ий ii as
the “ee” in “teem”
оo oo as
the “o” in “horn”
өө öö as
the “e” in “fern”
уу uu as
the “o” in “bone”
үү üü as
the “oo” in “soon”
The
single vowel “y” is also long;
ы y as the “i” in “ill”
It is
important to emphasise long vowels since the length differentiates meaning, eg
tsas/ tsaas (snow/paper) üd/üüd (noon/door).
Some
vowels can start with a y sound (long from in brackets):
я ya as
the “ya” in “yard” (yaa/яа)
е ye as the “ye” in “yes”
ё yo as the “ya” in “yacht” (yoo/ёо)
е yö as
the “yea” in “yearn”
ю yu as the “yo” in “yoyo” (yuu/юу)
ю yü as
the “you” in “you” (yüü/юү)
Vowels
may combine to form dipthongs:
ай ai as
the “eye” in “eyes”
эй ei as
the “ay” in “pay”
иа ia as
the “ia” in “fiat”
ио io as
the “io” in “senior”
иу iu as
the “iu” in “union”
ой oi as
the “oi” in “boy”
уа ua as
the “ua” in “wonder”
уай uai as
the “uai” in “wine”
уй ui as
the “ui” in “week”
үй üi as
the “oui” in “Louis”
Words
ending in the letters ь are written in the pronunciation guide with a short unstressed i
after a short or long stressed vowel , eg ail(аль) , goiv (говь), and surguuil (сургууль) “school”.
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