The Moghol Alphabet

Q: What is the Moghol language?

Moghol (ISO 639-3: mhj) [1] is a critically endangered Mongolic language spoken by fewer than 200 people in Herat province, western Afghanistan. It is the sole surviving Mongolic language of the Middle East region and is descended from Mongol soldiers who settled in Afghanistan during the 13th-century Mongol conquests under Genghis Khan and his successors.

Q: Is Moghol related to Mongolian?

Yes — Moghol belongs to the Mongolic language family [3] , making it a direct relative of Mongolian. Moghol preserves some archaic features of Middle Mongolian that have changed in the main Mongolian dialect area. UiT Norway [3] and ELAR [2] document these historical features for comparative Mongolic linguistics.

Q: Why is Moghol critically endangered?

Moghol is critically endangered [1] because its speakers, isolated in Herat province for centuries, have gradually shifted to the dominant Persian (Dari) language of Afghanistan. With fewer than 200 speakers remaining — most of them elderly — and no official status or written tradition, Moghol faces extinction within decades without active documentation and revitalisation efforts.

Q: Where is Moghol spoken?

Moghol is spoken in Herat province , western Afghanistan [1] , specifically in a small number of villages in the vicinity of Herat city. The Moghol community is surrounded by Persian (Dari) and Pashto speakers. The Endangered Languages Project [1] identifies the Herat region as the sole remaining location of Moghol speech.

Q: Does Moghol have a writing system?

Moghol has no official writing system [1] . It has always been an oral language within its community, while Persian script was used for any written communication. Academic researchers use a Latin transcription system with special characters to record Moghol phonology in linguistic publications. ELAR [2] archives transcribed Moghol texts using this academic notation alongside audio recordings.

Q: What archaic Mongolian features does Moghol preserve?

Moghol [2] is of special interest to historical linguists because its isolation since the 13th century has allowed it to preserve features of Middle Mongolian that have since changed in the main Mongolian dialect area. ELAR [2] and UiT Norway [3] document these archaic features, including certain vowel qualities, grammatical endings and vocabulary items that disappeared from standard Mongolian centuries ago.

Q: What influence has Persian had on Moghol?

Moghol [2] has borrowed a large number of words from Persian (Dari) over its seven centuries of isolation in Afghanistan, reflecting the community's bilingualism with the dominant language of Herat. ELAR [2] documents this Persian influence in its field recordings of Moghol, which show a language that retains Mongolic grammatical structure while incorporating substantial Persian vocabulary alongside the native Mongolic lexicon.

Q: Who has documented the Moghol language?

Early documentation of Moghol was carried out by Wladimir Lentz in the 1930s. In recent decades, field documentation has been conducted by linguists working with the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) [2] at SOAS University of London, which holds audio recordings and transcribed texts. UiT The Arctic University of Norway [3] contributes comparative research situating Moghol within the Mongolic family, and the Endangered Languages Project [1] maintains an overview of its endangerment status and documentation resources.

Moghol Language at a Glance

Moghol (also Mogholi, ISO 639-3: mhj) is a critically endangered Mongolic language ^[1] spoken in Herat province, western Afghanistan. With fewer than 200 remaining speakers, Moghol is classified as one of the world's most severely endangered languages by the Endangered Languages Project
The Moghol people are believed to be the descendants of Mongol soldiers who settled in the Herat region following the Mongol conquests of the 13th century ^[2]. Over centuries, the community became isolated from the rest of the Mongolic-speaking world, preserving archaic features of Mongolian that have been lost elsewhere
Moghol has no official writing system ^[1]. Academic researchers use a Latin transcription system that employs special characters such as Č, Š, Ž, Ŋ, Ö and Ü — following conventions used for other Mongolic and Turkic language transcriptions. The language is surrounded by Persian-speaking communities and has borrowed many Persian words
The Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) ^[2] at SOAS University of London holds field documentation of Moghol, including audio recordings and transcribed texts that preserve the spoken language. This archival work is critical given the extremely small number of remaining speakers
UiT The Arctic University of Norway ^[3] conducts comparative research on the Mongolic language family, including Moghol, situating this critically endangered language within the broader family that includes Mongolian, Kalmyk and the other Mongolic languages of Inner Asia and Afghanistan
Moghol is notable for retaining features of Middle Mongolian that were lost in the main Mongolian dialect area ^[2], including certain vowels and grammatical structures. Its documentation is a priority for linguists studying the internal diversity of the Mongolic branch

Moghol Vowels (Latin Transcription)

Moghol has 7 vowel phonemes in academic transcription ^[2]: A, E, I, O, Ö, U, Ü. The presence of front rounded vowels Ö and Ü reflects Moghol's Mongolic heritage, shared with Mongolian (Ө, Ү) and other Mongolic languages.

The Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) ^[2] holds audio documentation of Moghol vowels, which are critical for understanding how the vowel system of Middle Mongolian has evolved in this isolated Mongolic community of Afghanistan.

[AH]

[EH]

[EE]

[OH]

[EU]

[OO]

[UE]

Moghol Consonants (Latin Transcription)

Moghol consonants include the voiced velar fricative Ɣ, the uvular stop Q and the velar nasal Ŋ ^[2], all characteristic of the Mongolic consonant inventory. These sounds connect Moghol to its Mongolian ancestor despite centuries of separation.

UiT The Arctic University of Norway ^[3] compares Moghol consonants with other Mongolic languages to trace the phonological changes that have occurred in the isolated Afghan Mongolic community over seven centuries.

[B]

[CH]

[D]

[G]

[GH]

[H]

[Y]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[NG]

[P]

[Q]

[R]

[S]

[SH]

[T]

[V]

[W]

[Z]

[ZH]

[B]

as in "bat"

[CH]

as in "church"

[D]

as in "dog"

[G]

as in "go"

[GH]

voiced velar fricative

[H]

as in "hat"

[Y]

palatal approximant

[K]

as in "key"

[L]

as in "lamp"

[M]

as in "man"

[N]

as in "not"

[NG]

velar nasal, as in "sing"

[P]

as in "pen"

[Q]

uvular stop

[R]

as in "run"

[S]

as in "sun"

[SH]

as in "ship"

[T]

as in "top"

[V]

as in "van"

[W]

as in "wet"

[Z]

as in "zoo"

[ZH]

as in "measure"

[CH]

[ch]

[GH]

[gh]

[NG]

[ng]

[EU]

[eu]

[SH]

[sh]

[UE]

[ue]

[ZH]

[zh]

[CH]

ch sound (uppercase)

[ch]

ch sound (lowercase)

[GH]

voiced velar fricative (uppercase)

[gh]

voiced velar fricative (lowercase)

[NG]

velar nasal (uppercase)

[ng]

velar nasal (lowercase)

[EU]

front rounded vowel (uppercase)

[eu]

front rounded vowel (lowercase)

[SH]

sh sound (uppercase)

[sh]

sh sound (lowercase)

[UE]

high front rounded vowel (uppercase)

[ue]

high front rounded vowel (lowercase)

[ZH]

zh sound (uppercase)

[zh]

zh sound (lowercase)

[zero]

[one]

[two]

[three]

[four]

[five]

[six]

[seven]

[eight]

[nine]

Complete Moghol Transcription Alphabet

The complete academic Latin transcription alphabet used in Moghol language documentation. With fewer than 200 speakers ^[1], preserving Moghol's phonological system through this transcription is crucial for the historical record.

The Endangered Languages Project ^[1], ELAR ^[2] and UiT Norway ^[3] together support the documentation and study of Moghol as a unique and critically endangered branch of the Mongolic language family.

[AH]

[B]

[CH]

[D]

[EH]

[G]

[GH]

[H]

[EE]

[Y]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[NG]

[OH]

[EU]

[P]

[Q]

[R]

[S]

[SH]

[T]

[OO]

[UE]

[V]

[W]

[Z]

[ZH]

Expand All Collapse All

What is the Moghol language?

Is Moghol related to Mongolian?

Why is Moghol critically endangered?

Where is Moghol spoken?

Does Moghol have a writing system?

What archaic Mongolian features does Moghol preserve?

What influence has Persian had on Moghol?

Who has documented the Moghol language?

References:

[1] Endangered Languages Project, Google & First Peoples Worldwide. "Moghol — Endangered Language Documentation" — the Project catalogues Moghol (Mogholi, ISO 639-3: mhj), a critically endangered Mongolic language of Herat province, Afghanistan, with fewer than 200 remaining speakers, classifying it among the world's most severely endangered languages. Retrieved from Endangered Languages Project
[2] Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR), SOAS University of London. "Moghol Language Documentation" — ELAR holds documentation of Moghol (Mogholi), a critically endangered Mongolic language of Afghanistan descended from the troops of Genghis Khan who settled in the region, providing field recordings and transcriptions that preserve the academic Latin transcription used by linguists to study this language. Retrieved from Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR)
[3] UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Department of Language and Culture. "Mongolic Language Research — Moghol" — UiT conducts comparative research on Altaic-related language families, including the Mongolic branch, with scholarly work situating Moghol of Afghanistan within the broader Mongolic language family and documenting its endangered status. Retrieved from UiT The Arctic University of Norway