[5.1] nigen üdür is used here as in the sense of ‘one day’ or ‘one time’.
[duwa suqur dobun mergen degüü-luge-ben] Here we see the use of two case suffixes working in conjunction. The first, lüge is the comitative or ‘sociative’ case and means ‘with’. The second suffix, ben is a reflexive suffix which refers back to the noun qualified, therefore the phrase means ‘duwa suqur, together with his younger brother’
[burqan-qaldun deger-e gharba] Here we see yet another use of deger-e. In §1.2 we saw it used as an adjective as in ‘High Heaven’ or ‘Heaven above’. But here it appears as a postposition qualifying the pronoun burqan-qaldun. Postpositions are relatively rare in SVO and VSO languages, where prepositions are the norm, however for SOV languages like Mongolian, Japanese and Korean postpositions are found in abundance. The meaning of deger-e in this instance is that of ‘on top’ or ‘upon’.
This sentence demonstrates the basic SOV order of Mongolian
[gharba] This is the verb ghar- ‘to go out’ ‘to climb’ + the past-tense verb suffix -ba.
Translation: One day, Duwa Suqur and his younger brother Dobun Mergen climbed up on top of Burqan Qaldun
[5.2] [duwa suqur burqan-qaldun degerece qaraju]
There are two things to note here. Firstly, the the fusion of deger-e and the ablative suffix -ece to form an independent word meaning ‘from the top’ or ‘from above’. The second is the use of the converbal suffix -ju on the verb qara- Converbs, sometimes known also as coordinating gerunds or conditional verbs, are dependent on the main finite verb of the sentence and serve to add to its meaning. In this particular case, the finite verb to which qara- is subordinate comes not at the end of this section, but at the end of Duwa Suqur’s speech in §6 with the finite verb irebe. Verbs in -ju are usually translated as ‘-ing’ so for here the meaning is ‘looking’.
[tünggelik ghoroqan qurughu]
tünggelik might be related to tungghalagh ‘clear, transparent etc.’ (see vocab. Above) In any case this is the name of a river. As for qurughu it’s usual meaning is ‘finger’. Its use here is either in the sense of a postposition meaning ‘along’ or as in ‘a finger of the tünggelik river’ i.e. a tributary of the tünggelik.
[nigen bülüg irgen]
As well as being a numeral, nigen also serves as an indefinite article, here its meaning is ‘a certain’, as in ‘a certain group of people’.
[negüjü oruju aisuqui qaraju üjejü] The final part of §5.2 demonstrates one of the most interesting features of Classical Mongolian, the use of numerous converbs and verbal nouns in quick succession. This is primarily a poetic device used for purposes of both adornment and rhythm. A literal translation of segment §5.2 would be something like ‘Duwa Suqur Burqan-Qaldun ontop-of looking, tünggelik river along, a certain group (of) people nomadising, coming, approaching, looking, seeing’ which is then continued into the next section. The use of recurring converbs in such a way creates a special undulating rhythm which would no-doubt have captivated listeners.
Translation: Looking out from the top of Burqan Qaldun, Duwa Suqur could see a certain detachment of people moving along a tributary of the Tünggelik river.
Section Translation: One day, Duwa Suqur and his younger brother Dobun Mergen climbed up on top of Burqan Qaldun. Looking out from the precipice Duwa Suqur could see a certain detachment of people moving along a tributary of the Tünggelik river.
