Survey of the grammatical treatment of embedded Dative/locative clauses in Mongolian

1. Poppe (Grammar of Written Mongolian) 1954

Poppe was writing about a conservative form of the written Mongolian language which is no longer in use. One feature of this language is that modern Dative/locative is rendered as  ᠳᠤᠷ, which I have rendered into Cyrillic as д.

Poppe has the following to say about what he calls the "Dativus Temporalis" (508).

Dativus Temporalis

The temporal dative (dativus temporalis or dativus temporis) indicates the time during or at which an action takes place. This answers the question "when?"

....

A particular case of the temporal dative is the dative-locative of the nomen futuri or nomen perfecti. The former of these verbal nouns indicates an uncompleted action during which an action is or will be performed (e.g., "when he is" or "when he will be here"); the latter indicates the completed past during which the action has been performed (e.g., "when he did something"). Such constructions act as the Latin ablativus absolutus or as subordinate temporal clauses in modern European languages.

Poppe goes into more detail at the section on Nominal Constructions in the Dative-Locative (651):

Nominal constructions in the dative-locative correspond, in the meaning, to temporal subordinate clauses of European languages and to the Latin ablativus absolutus. They are translated into English as "When the person concerned did (or will do) something..."

The action of such constructions is expressed by a verbal noun in the dative-locative. When the actor of the construction is the same as the grammatical subject of the whole period, the action is indicated by a dative-locative with the reflexive-possessive suffix.

The actor is put in the genitive (or in relatively rare cases, under the influence of the Colloquial, in the accusativus actoris...), when he is not the same as the subject of the whole sentence.

The actor in the accusative:

ᠮᠠᠨᠤ ᠨᠥᠬᠥᠷ ᠢ ᠬᠣᠲᠠ ᠳᠤᠷ ᠢᠷᠡᠬᠦ ᠳᠦᠷ ᠲᠡᠭᠦᠨ ᠦ ᠣᠯᠠᠨ ᠲᠠᠨᠢᠯ ᠪᠠᠢᠭᠰᠠᠨ ᠠᠵᠤᠭᠤ᠃

manu nökör-i qota-dur irekü-dür tegün-ü olan tanil bayiɣsan aǰuɣu
Манай нөхөрийг хотод ирэхэд түүниий олон танил байсан ажуу

When our friend came to town, there were many acquaintances of his there.

The actor in the genitive:

ᠮᠠᠨᠤ ᠨᠥᠬᠥᠷ ᠦᠨ ᠢᠷᠡᠬᠦ ᠳᠦᠷ ᠪᠢᠳᠡ ᠪᠦᠭᠦᠳᠡ ᠪᠠᠶᠠᠰᠪᠠ᠃

manu nökör-ün irekü-dür bida bügüde mašida bayasba
Манай нөхрийн ирэхэд бид бүгд машид баясав.

When our friend came to town, all of us were very glad.

The actor is the subject of the whole sentence:

ᠪᠢ ᠬᠣᠲᠠ ᠳᠤᠷ ᠢᠷᠡᠬᠦ ᠳᠡᠭᠡᠨ ᠰᠤᠷᠭᠠᠭᠤᠯᠢ ᠳᠤᠷ ᠣᠷᠣᠮᠤᠢ᠃

bi qota-dur irekü-degen surɣaɣuli-dur oromui
Би хотод ирэхдээ сургуульд ормуй.

When I come to town, I shall enter school.

Takeaways:

• Poppe works within a traditional grammatical system using Latinate terminology.
• Poppe draws a parallel between the use of the Dative/locative on nouns to indicate a location in time and the use of Dative/locative on verbal nouns to similarly indicate a point in time.
• He mentions the use of different cases for the subject of the embedded clause, and the use of the reflexive suffix when the subject of the embedded clause is the same as that of the whole sentence.

2. Qingge'ertai (蒙古语语法) 1991

Qingge'ertai worked within the Inner Mongolian grammatical tradition. In the section on Verbal Nouns or Participles (known in Chinese as 形动词 xíngdòngcí), he discusses their use in a nominal function (形动词的静词性 xíngdòngcí de jìngcíxìng) for each grammatical case. His classification of such forms when followed by the Dative/locative is as follows. (Any errors in translation are my own.)

1) 形动词的向位格可以表示与某种性质特征有关的行为。
(The Dative/locative of the verb can express the relationship of actions to certain characteristics)

2) 表示具有行为意义的原因（是一种两个动词之间的因果关系）。
(Expresses the cause of actions - a causal relationship between two verbs)

3) 表示具有行为意义的时机。
(Expresses the time of actions)

4) 表示具有行为意义的境地。
(Expresses the place of actions)

5) 表示具有行为意义的依存条件。
(Expresses the dependent conditions of actions)

6) 形动词的向位格可以构成一种比较结构。

Takeaways:

• Qingge'ertai's classification includes an interesting range of uses for Dative/locative clauses. All but a few are perfectly acceptable in Khalkha.
• These need to be taken into account when considering the uses of Dative/locative clauses in Mongolian.

3. Kullmann and Tserenpil (Mongolian Grammar) 2005

Kullman and Tserenpil do not treat Dative/locative forms in a unified way. They are mainly covered at "Conjunctions" and "Adverbials". In addition, the Dative/locative of a verb can also occur where a noun has been dropped.

Coordinating Conjunctions

We could present a twofold classification in original and derived conjunctions, but for the following reasons we don't do that: conjunctions that look superficially like original conjunctions (e.g. "бөгөөд", "болон", etc.) would have to be strictly classed as 'derived' because of their origin of "verb + VDS". So, it's difficult to draw proper lines between 'original' and 'derived'. To us, it seemed more important that the following conjunctions serve as conjunctions today.

Subordinating Conjunctions

With this list, our main concern was to look at those verbs or analytical constructions that serve as conjunctions today. We'll not talk again about the sVDS's in general, but only consider those sVDS's and postpositions that appear in an analytical construction.

Proword-Conjunctions

All of the following conjunctions contain a proword (mostly a demonstrative proword). That's why we call them 'proword-conjunctions'. Such conjunctions refer to something which was mentioned before (either one or more sentences). Therefore, such conjunctions are usually placed at the beginning of a new sentence.

Adverbials

Adverbials, (Latin 'ad verbum' = 'to the word/verb'), describe the conditions under which the action, which is expressed in the sentence, takes place. It is difficult to draw a line between adverbials and adverbial clauses. [...]

Adverbials can be divided into the following semantic groups:

1. Local adverbials (place)
2. Temporal adverbials (time
3. Modal adverbials (mode; way of behaving)
4. Causal adverbials (reason)
5. Final adverbials (intention)
6. Conditional adverbials (condition)
7. Concessive adverbials (concession)

Where a noun has been dropped

If a noun is dropped and replaced by нь, the Dative/locative on the original noun will transfer to the verb.

Takeaways:

• In addition to the use of -хад for expressing time, Kullmann and Tserenpil also introduce usages like байхад, харин and тэгэхэд.
• The category of 'adverbials of cause' adds an extra dimension to that of 'time'.
• Kullmann and Tserenpil also note the case behaviour of subjects in clauses (differential subject marking) and the use of reflexives when the verb in the subordinate clause is the same as that of the whole sentence.

Problems:

• While a grammar rather than a textbook, Kullmann-Tserenpil is still heavily oriented towards the language learner. While it retains an emphasis on morphological and syntactic criteria at a basic level, for larger units of syntax this approach breaks down. In particular, the conjunctions are a heterogeneous collection of forms, including words and structures that connect non-predicate parts (for instance "N and N") as well as those connecting predicate parts (Sentence + Sentence). Treating -хад (an NDS followed by a case ending) as variant of үед 'at a time, when' is one result this approach.

4. Juha A. Janhunen (Mongolian) 2012

Janhunen deals with this construction at a couple of sections. One is at Quasiconverbs.

Quasiconverbs may be defined as complex verbal forms with a converbial function and a morphologically transparent structure. Formally, quasiconverbs are case forms of participles used as action nouns. ... In the complex sentence, quasiconverbs have normally a role basically identical with that of disjunct converbs, linking verbs with different subjects. Like the disjunct converbs they can, however, be rendered conjunct by adding the reflexive possessor marker, which then allows them to be used in same-subject constructions.

...In the quasiconverbs, ... case forms have somewhat more specialized functions than with regular nominals. Thus, the quasiconverbs in the Dative/locative case have normally a temporal function (time:'when?')...'

The system of quasiconverbs

Temporal: The temporal quasiconverbs are formed by adding the dative ending -e.d to the participle markers, as in -ir- 'to come': PART FUT DAT ir-h-e.d 'when (s/he) comes': PART HAB DAT ir-deg-t 'when (s/he) always comes', PART FUT DAT ir-sen-d 'when (s/he) had come'.

(Janhunen claims that the form based on the imperfective participle (-хад, -хдаа) is only 'theoretical' since it would be formally (though not functionally) identical with the perfective converb in -g.AAd. This appears to be incorrect as such forms do occur in Mongolian. However, none of the sources consulted here make reference to them.) Two examples of such forms are:

Сэржамц удирдагч хүнтэй танилцаж байгаадаа өөрөөрөө бахархаж байв.

Serjamts udirdagch khüntei taniltsaj baigaadaa öörööroo bakharkhaj baiv.

Serjamts was proud of himself for gettng to know a leading person.

Ерөнхий сайд У. Хүрэлсүх Ерөнхий сайд Абэ Шинзо-тай дахин уулзаж байгаадаа баяртай байгаагаа илэрхийлэв.

Yörönkhii said U. Khürelsükh Yörönkhii Abe Shinzo-tai dakhin uulzaj baigaadaa bayartai baigaagaa ilerkhiilev.

Prime Minister Khürelsükh said that he was pleased to meet Prime Minister Abe Shinzo again.

Janhunen also makes clear that there are other uses of participial case forms:

It should be noted that the participial case forms attested in the quasiconverbial constructions can also occur in other contexts, as when required by the verb itself (verbal rection). In such contexts, participles can take also other adverbial case endings, including those of the possessive and directive. Syntactically, however, it is useful to distinguish the quasiconverbial uses from the other occurrences of participial case forms which do not serve the purpose of verb chaining.

Janhunen gives (within the context of conjoint/disjunct constructions) an example at Referative constructions where a participle is followed by a Dative/locative in what is clearly not a temporal form. He notes that '... in the conjunct type, the subject is expressed by the reflexive suffix, added to the nominalized predicate.'

Takeaways:

• Janhunen divides Dative/locative clauses between a rather semantically-based category of grammaticalised expressions that he calls 'quasiconverbs' (with a temporal meaning) and Dative/locative clauses governed by the verb or adjective ('verbal rection').
• Apart from one example elsewhere in the book, Janhunen goes no further in discussing the uses of Dative/locative clauses.

5. Dagdangiin Batchuluun (A Contrastive Grammar of Mongolian and English) 2013

Batchuluun's contrastive grammar, written from the point of view of language teaching and learning, attempts to compare and contrast the two languages within existing grammatical frameworks. Regrettably, differences in grammatical frameworks result in strained comparisons, mismatches, and gaps. 'Verb + Dative/locative' forms are almost completely ignored, with only one explicit mention at VERBALS. There is also a cursory mention at CONJUNCTIONS.

VERBALS

Verbals are non-finite forms of a verb. They are verbs that act like nouns and name actions and processes. In a sentence a verbal can be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

There are three kinds of verbals: infinitives, gerunds and participles.

Completely equating terminology between the two languages, Batchuluun notes that Mongolian has only two of the three types: 'infinitives' and 'participles'.

Infinitive

Infinitives are non-finite verb forms which name action without referring to a tense, person, or number.

Batchuluun notes the difference of opinion among Mongolian grammarians over the form that should be regarded as the infinitive: the verb stem (e.g. яв- 'to go'), or the verb form with the suffix -х (явах). It is in discussing the 'verb form + suffix -х' that Batchuluun makes the only explicit reference to 'verb + Dative/locative case' in the entire book:

Participles

Batchuluun adopts the traditional category of 'participles' in Mongolian, which covers noun-determining suffixes (Noun Determining Suffixes NDS⇪), adjective-determining suffixes (such as -маар 'want to'), and verb-connecting suffixes (such as аад⁴, -ж, -бч, -магц⁴ 'as soon as', -вал/бал⁴, and many others). Dative-locative forms of verbs are not covered.

CONJUNCTIONS

Batchuluun mentions the use of the Verb + Dative/locative to indicate time ('when') as follows:

The subordinators in English are classified as follows:

TIME: when -х үед, -д, -т...

No examples are given.

However, there are numerous examples through the book of Dative/locative clauses as translations of English sentences. A large selection is shown below:

Problems:

• The cursory coverage illustrates a major blind spot in the contrastive method. Cases are covered at the section on nouns but almost completely ignored at the section on verbs.
• While the Dative/locative form of 'participles' is ignored in analysing and contrasting Mongolian with English, ironically many -хад expressions are found as translations of English sentences.

6. T. Uranchimeg (Mongolian Language Handbook) 2007

Uranchimeg does not deal with 'Verb + Dative/locative' as a specific grammatical format. However, she does cover the uses of -санд⁴, -гүйд, -хад⁴, -хдаа⁴ in two separate sections: "Conversation" and "Use of Suffixes".

Conversation

The Conversation section deals with congratulations, expressing thanks, asking forgiveness, and expressing condolences, with all examples in the past tense (-сан⁴ or -аагүй⁴).

7. Bayarmaa Khalzaa (Mongolian Language for Beginners) 2012, (Mongolian Language for Intermediate Students) 2011

Bayarmaa's approach is functional. There is no formal identification of 'Verb + Dative/locative' as a specific construction; examples are focused on use in actual speech.

Uses of the 'Verb + Dative/locative' can be divided into three: 1) expressions of thankfulness, asking for forgiveness, and congratulations, 2) use in the meaning 'when, while', and 3) use as an object of the verb.

Expressions of thankfulness, asking for forgiveness, and congratulations

Нийлмэл өгүүлбэр (Complex Sentence -- When)

Object of the Verb "хүрэх"

Takeaways:

• The treatment is largely the same as Uranchimeg.
• The use of reflexives (where subjects are the same) and of -ыг / -ийг on the subject of the subordinate clause, along with other rules, are spelt out by example or explicit comment.

8. Summing up

Following Janhunen, Dative/locative clauses can roughly be divided into two types:

• Clauses where the verb or adjective governs (requires) the dative case. In such cases, the Dative/locative can be considered a core case, like the Nominative and Accusative. Such verbs include туслах 'to help', хүрэх 'to touch, reach', халаглах 'to regret', харамсах 'to regret', баярлах 'to rejoice', гэмших 'to regret', итгэх 'to believe', гайхах 'to be surprised', уурлах 'to be angry', оролцох 'to participate', and many others. The form дуртай/дургүй 'like/dislike' and some other also require the Dative/locative. Use of a reflexive suffix to indicate that the matrix sentence has the same subject as the clause will depend on the semantics of the verb.
• Clauses where the Dative/locative clause has been semi-grammaticalised with a temporal meaning ('when'). No matter what the tense of the final verb, the verb in the clause will normally be in the -х form. A reflexive suffix can be used to indicate that the subject of the matrix sentence and that of the clause are identical.

However, this is clearly inadequate as an explanation of the range of uses of Dative/locative clauses. Several other common patterns exist, including:

• Clauses with the sense of 'easy to', 'difficult to', 'good at', etc. It is relatively rare to use a reflexive indicating 'same subject' in such clauses since in most cases the statement is a generalisation. (However, these can possibly be classed under 'quasiconverbs' of time.)
• Clauses indicating cause. The most common type of clause indicating cause are those expressing gratitude. These are possibly conditioned by the verb баярлах 'to rejoice', on which баярлалаа 'thank you' is based, but the pattern appears to have become fixed in expressing gratitude, regret, or apologies. It mostly occurs in the past tense and seldom takes the reflexive suffix.

From Qingge'ertai we learn that Dative/locative clauses have other uses, as well. These appear to have a narrower range of application than those listed above but are nevertheless valid uses of Dative/locative clauses. Our selection of grammars and textbooks, mostly written in English, is clearly insufficient to fully describe the range of uses of Dative/locative clauses in Mongolian.

(The uses of the Dative/locative are relevant to this later post on Switch Reference in Mongolian, qv.)

9. Works cited

Batchuluun, Dagdangiin. 2013 A Contrastive Grammar of Mongolian and English Ulaanbaatar: Soyombo Printing Company.

Bayarmaa Khalzaa 2017, Mongolian Language for Intermediate Students, Ulaanbaatar: Lingo Lab.

Janhunen, Juha A. 2012 Mongolian (London Oriental and African language library 19.) Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Poppe, Nikolas 1954 Grammar of Written Mongolian (Fifth unrevised printing 2006, Porta Linguarum Orientalium Neue Serie 1. Originally published 1954) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Qingge'ertai. 1991 蒙古语语法 (A Grammar of the Mongolian Language) Huhhot: Inner Mongolian People's Publishing.

Tserenpil, D., Kullmann, R. 2005 Mongolian Grammar (Монгол хэлний хэлзүй ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠬᠡᠯᠡ ᠦ ᠵᠦᠢ) Third revised edition, Ulaanbaatar. (4th revised edition appeared in 2008, 5th revised edition appeared in 2015.)

Uranchimeg, T. 2007 Mongolian Language Handbook: For Learners of the Mongolian Language (Revised edition) (Монгол Хэл Сурах Гарын Авлага: Гадаадыинханд зориулав) Ulaanbaatar.