Mongolian Vowels in Non-initial Syllables and the Phonological Rules

Abstract

Phonological changes of Mongolian vowels in non-initial syllables are common phenomena widely found in Mongolian dialects. The changes mainly include: elision of short vowels at the end of open syllables, centralization of short vowels in non-initial syllables, shortening length of short vowels in non-initial syllables, insertion of vowels; elision of vowels in the middle of the words and vowel leveling. This paper gives a detailed overview of these phonological rules as well as the results and motivations of the changes.