ABSTRACT
I must preface this chapter by pointing out that I do not claim to have more than a superficial knowledge of Mongolian. My excuse for attempting to reconstruct the phonetic structure of pre-thirteenth century Mongolian is that, so far as I am aware, this is the first attempt of its kind, and it may be easier for me, after attempting to do the same thing for pre-eighth century Turkish, to pick out the essential points which have to be examined than it would be for an expert Mongolist approaching the subject for the first time. But I quite realize that I am not well qualified for the task, and I do not put this forward as more than a first approach to the subject.
