Darkhad (also "Darkhat") is a dialect in-between Central Mongolian and Oirat still variously seen as closer to Oirat or as a dialect of Khalkha Mongolian with some Oirat features. However, it seems to have substantially assimilated to the Khalkha dialect since it first was described by Sanà ¾eev, and some classificational differences seem to be due to what historical (or even ideal) state got classified. Ethnologue reports a population of without providing a date. Speakers live mainly in the west of Lake Khövsgöl in the sums Bayanzürkh, Ulaan-Uul and Rinchinlkhümbe in the Khövsgöl Province of Mongolia.
In contrast to Oirat, it has and and a diphthongized equivalent of *ai. However, monophthongized reflexes of *ai can be encountered and more so in older language material, so it can be assumed that due to Khalkha influence. Somewhat similar developments can be observed for other vowels, but as at least and can get palatalized, it is problematic whether palatalized consonants or fronted vowels have to be considered as phonemes. It patterns with the Oirat dialects of the Mongolian state in that it retains *Ã Ân and sometimes has *b > . It doesn't have the Khalkh and in non-first syllables, as these merged with and .
Person inflections as in Oirat or Buryat are getting lost, but used to be present. There are both voluntatives (irrespective of number) in âÂÂja/-ji as in Khalkha and âÂÂsu for first person singular as in Oirat and Buryat, e.g. âÂÂletâÂÂs burn itâ and 'I shall enter', but the latter form is rare. The benedictive âÂÂkti is actively used as holds for Buryat, e.g. âÂÂPlease, come with usâÂÂ. Next to the normal concessive in âÂÂg/-k âÂÂs/he mayâÂÂ, there is also a concessive - that marks an order to a third person. The other, fairly unremarkable modal verbal suffixes are the imperative, prescriptive, optative and dubitative. The inventory of indicative finite verbal suffixes contains the usual reflexes of Written Mongolian â¨-namâ©, â¨-luó-aâ©, â¨-ðuquiâ© and â¨-baâ©, the last one being rare as usual. There is a fifth suffix, (possibly from â¨-ðu orkiðuquiâ©), probably expressing some kind of perfect aspect meaning, that is peculiar to Darkhad, e.g. âÂÂhas sentâÂÂ. The participles are the same as in Common Mongolic. However, a thorough analysis of the function of these items in contrast to each other has not been conducted. The converbs are not very particular, but the earliest texts of Darkhad still have a conditional (as in Buryat and Middle Mongolian) next to . Furthermore, it used to be possible to negative them with reflexes of â¨ügeiâ© as in Buryat. Instead of â¨-maóÃÂaâ© âÂÂas soon asâÂÂ, â¨-nsarâ© is used.
The case system is the same as in Khalkha, and Oirat plurals like âÂÂmud are absent. The pronouns are the same as Khalkha, but a paradigm of the first person plural exclusive without nominative is attested for the old stages of Darkhat (as would hold for Khalkha in the 1930s and still holds for Oirat).