Oirat

Oirat dialects are generally considered an entirely different language from standard (Khalkh) Mongolian, still definitely in the Mongolic language family, due to things like a higher amount of grammar-specific clauses, different vowel functionality, etc. Linguists and born Mongolians, alike, tend to consider them more of a dialect, however.

Thus, if Oirat was to appear anywhere on Memrise, should it be considered Mongolian, or an Other Language? At least, in the official sense, which is highly unlikely, but still worth consiering. I know that a community course already placed Kalmyk, one of these dialects, as separate from Mongolian. That has had 400 years worth of development separate from other Oirat dialects, though, so it’s understandable why.

Just curious. I’d hope to stay in Ulaangom for a while (as it is Western Mongolia, Oirats are a bit more common) & get the resources together to teach Dörvöd Oirat, anyway, so it’s kinda selfish for a community-course sense, too :stuck_out_tongue:

P.S: anyone can contribute to this, not just Memrise staff!