title: Bully (video game)

text: "Bully: Scholarship Edition" was released on 4 March 2008 for Wii and Xbox 360, and 21 October 2008 for Windows. According to Metacritic, the Wii and Xbox 360 versions received "generally favorable reviews", while the PC version received "mixed or average reviews". "IGN" gave the Wii version an 8/10, while the Xbox 360 version received 8.7/10. 1UP.com gave the Wii version an A− grade and the Xbox 360 version a B− grade. Gameplasma gave the Wii version a 9/10. The PC version, however, received mixed reviews ranging from a "Good" rating of 7.8 from IGN to a C− from 1UP.com who called it "[a] shoddy, untimely port that, inexplicably – considering its ridiculously long port time – feels like a rush job." GameSpot later rated it with a "fair" rating of 6.0, calling it "[a] lazy porting job [which] hinders "Bully"s classic classroom hijinks".


title: Bully (video game)

text: The Xbox 360 version of "Bully: Scholarship Edition" was found to be unstable on some players' consoles, resulting in glitches, crashes and performance issues. On 20 March, a patch was released, but there were reports claiming that the problems continued or worsened. When the Windows 10 version was released in July 2015, many users reported constant crashes and errors; many of these problems were addressed by an unofficial patch released by a fan.


title: Bully (video game)

text: "Bully"s title and gameplay was the subject of controversy among parents and educators who noted the adult content in previous Rockstar games, including the "" "Hot Coffee" minigame controversy. Groups such as Bullying Online and Peaceaholics criticized the game for glorifying or trivializing school bullying, although they raised their objections before the game was released to the public. The player may also choose to kiss select girls and boys in the game, which the ESRB was aware of when rating the product. Classification boards generally restricted "Bully" to a teenage audience: the United States-based Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) classified the game with a T rating, the British Board of Film Classification gave it a 15 rating, the Australian Classification Board rated it M, and the New Zealand OFLC restricted it to persons 13 years of age and over.


title: Bully (video game)

text: "Bully" was banned in Brazil. In April 2008, a Brazilian judge prohibited the commerce and import of the game. The decision was based on findings by the state psychology society which stated that the game would be potentially harmful to teenagers and adults. On June 23, 2016, however, the game was officially rereleased in Brazil.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Whilst British Labour MP Keith Vaz argued that "Bully" be banned or reclassified as rated 18 in the UK before its publication, the game was released rated 15. Currys and PC World, both owned by DSG International, said that they did not wish to sell the game in the UK because it is "not appropriate for Currys' family-friendly image". The statement lists what Currys believes is "the explicit link between violence and children" as the reason behind the ban. Despite this decision, other high street retailers including Game, HMV and Virgin Megastores announced intentions to stock the game.


title: Bully (video game)

text: Prior to both the ESRB's rating and the release of "Bully", Jack Thompson filed a lawsuit attempting to have the game banned from store shelves in Florida. Thompson declared the game a "nuisance" and "Columbine simulator". Thompson's petition, filed with the 11th Judicial Circuit Court, asked for Wal-Mart and Take-Two Interactive to furnish him with an advance copy of "Bully" so he could have "an independent third party" play the game and determine if it would constitute a public nuisance in the state of Florida, in which case it could be banned. Take-Two Interactive offered to bring in a copy and let both the judge and Thompson view the game in the judge's chambers on 12 October 2006. On 13 October 2006, Judge Ronald Friedman subsequently ruled in favor of shipping the game, noting that there was no content in the game that was not already on late night television. Thompson responded to the ruling with a fiery speech directed at the judge. When given a preview build, the mainstream American media took a generally positive view of the game. Press coverage described the game as free-form, focusing on building a social network and learning new skills from classes, with strictly enforced punishments for serious misbehaviour.


title: Bully (video game)

text: In November 2006, Michael Pachter, managing director of research for Wedbush Morgan Securities, predicted that "Bully" would not sell well enough over the upcoming holidays to warrant a sequel. However, when his prediction turned out to be untrue, Pachter apologized to Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, calling the sequel a "possibility".


title: Bully (video game)

text: During the development of "Bully: Scholarship Edition", Mad Doc Studios was acquired by Rockstar in April 2008 and renamed to Rockstar New England. As Rockstar New England, the studio finished off "Bully: Scholarship Edition" as well as assisted Rockstar's other studios in supporting the for "Grand Theft Auto IV", and in support of "Red Dead Redemption". Near the end of this period, Rockstar had greenlit early production on "Bully 2" at Rockstar New England. Rockstar New England had created a vision for "Bully 2" that aligned with Rockstar's larger direction in developing games with higher prestige, which had started with "GTA IV", "Red Dead Redemption" and "L.A. Noire", incorporating new narratives and technology to make it a more character-driven game. According to former Rockstar New England employees speaking to "Game Informer", the entire studio of between 50 and 80 employees had been working on "Bully 2" at one point, developing it as an open-world game with a map three times the size from the original "Bully" and approaching the size of the world in ""; while the map did not have the scale of "GTA IV", the developers were planning several deep systems that would make the map feel bigger, such as having many more buildings that could be entered on the map. Rockstar New England also planned to incorporate more artificial intelligence in the game so that player choices would have more impact later in the game. Several other new technology systems were developed by the studio, which ended up in games such as "Max Payne 3" and "Red Dead Redemption 2".


title: Bully (video game)

text: By around 2009, Rockstar New England had developed a playable vertical slice of the game in place with working versions of these new systems which they presented to Rockstar as a project milestone. Former developers stated this had about six to eight hours of content, consistent with other Rockstar projects, and was about two to three years from a final version. Though Rockstar did not state anything directly, something had changed in the studio's attitude according to former developers, leading up to Rockstar laying off about 10% of Rockstar New England in June 2009, and in 2010 they started pulling staff working on "Bully 2" onto supporting projects from other Rockstar studios, effectively cancelling further development on "Bully 2".


title: Bully (video game)

text: Rumors and comments related to "Bully 2" still persisted after this point. In November 2009, The Gaming Liberty interviewed musician Shawn Lee, who scored "Bully", and was asked if he was scoring any more games in the near future; he responded, "Yes. It looks like I will be doing the soundtrack for "Bully 2" in the not so distant future".


title: Bully (video game)

text: In November 2011, in an interview with Gamasutra, Rockstar executive Dan Houser revealed that the studio might focus on a sequel for "Bully" after the release of "Max Payne 3". "Contrary to a lot of people, we like to take a little bit of time at the end of a game before starting a sequel, so we can wait for the excitement or disappointment and everything else of the experience to shake down and really see what we should do in the next game," he said. "So we knew that we didn't want to start doing the "Bully" sequel instantly at that second with Rockstar Vancouver even though it is a property that, like "Max Payne", we adore and might come back to in the future. There was just no impetus to do that then. So we said, 'You can do "Max Payne", and then we will see what we can do with "Bully"."


title: Bully (video game)

text: In July 2012, Rockstar Vancouver was merged into Rockstar Toronto, and the staff was offered to join a different Rockstar studio.


title: Bully (video game)

text: In September 2013, Dan Houser said he had many different ideas for a "Bully" sequel. To date, this is the last official comment on a "Bully" sequel.


title: Bully (video game)

text: On 28 August 2017, concept art rumoured to be from the development of a sequel leaked online; it purported to show new characters and a run-down suburban home along with a few other bits of art; Rockstar Games did not comment.


title: Bully (video game)

text: In July 2019, a Rockstar New England ex-employee revealed that Rockstar had worked on a sequel for several months before shutting it down in 2009. He claimed to have worked on various game mechanics in the scrapped project and stated that the story would have featured Jimmy living with his mother and step-siblings in his stepfather's mansion during summer vacation.


title: Bully (video game)

text: In October 2019, "Video Games Chronicle" published a story based on inside sources corroborating that Rockstar had indeed worked on "Bully 2" for eighteen months before cancelling it. Production of the game however began in May 2010, shortly after "Red Dead Redemption" was released, and eventually was discontinued sometime before the end of 2013 as the project did not get much traction in the studio. During this time, a reported small slice of a working game was built using the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE). According to these sources, the studio had worked out some of the story but were not sure what period of time it would cover. One source confirmed the ex-employee's claims that the story began with Jimmy spending summer vacation with his mother and stepfamily. Rockstar Games refused to comment on this topic.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Carrie is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by Kimberly Peirce. It is the third film adaptation and a remake to the 1976 adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 novel of the same name and the fourth film in the "Carrie" franchise. The film was produced by Kevin Misher, with a screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The film stars Chloë Grace Moretz as the titular character Carrie White, alongside Julianne Moore as Margaret White. The cast also features Judy Greer, Portia Doubleday, Gabriella Wilde, Ansel Elgort and Alex Russell. The film is a modern re-imagining of King's novel about a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother, who uses her telekinetic powers with devastating effect after falling victim to a cruel prank at her senior prom.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: The film held its world premiere at the Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles on October 7, 2013, and was released in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Screen Gems on October 18. The film received mixed reviews, with critics calling it "unnecessary" and criticizing the lack of originality and scares, though they praised the modern updates and cast. It grossed $84 million worldwide at the box office.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Disturbed religious fanatic Margaret White sits alone in her home on her bed and gives birth to a baby girl. She intends to kill the infant but changes her mind.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Years later, her daughter Carrie, a shy, unassertive girl, nears her graduation from Ewen High School in Maine. While showering after the gym at school, Carrie experiences her first menstrual period. Never having been taught to prepare for this, she believes she is bleeding to death and runs out of the shower yelling for help. The other girls ridicule her by throwing tampons and pads at her. Longtime bully Christine "Chris" Hargensen records everything on her smartphone and uploads it to YouTube. The school's physical education teacher Miss Rita Desjardin, comforts Carrie and sends her home with Margaret, who believes menstruation is a sin. Margaret demands that Carrie abstain from showering with the others. When Carrie refuses, Margaret hits her in the forehead with a Bible and locks her in her "prayer closet". As Carrie screams to be let out, a crack appears on the door, and the crucifix in the closet begins to bleed. Carrie begins to experience more signs over the oncoming days that point to her having telekinesis. She researches her abilities, learning to harness them.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Miss Desjardin threatens the girls who teased Carrie with an ultimatum: either endure boot-camp-style detention for their behavior or be suspended from school, prohibiting them from attending prom; Chris is the only one who refuses to take part in detention and is suspended from school after denying the allegation and refusing to give up her smartphone. Sue Snell regrets her part in the incident. To make amends, she asks her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to take Carrie to the prom. Carrie accepts Tommy's invitation and makes a prom dress at home. Her mother, Margaret, forbids Carrie to attend. Asking her mother to relent, Carrie manifests her telekinesis. Margaret believes this power comes from the Devil and is proof that Carrie has been corrupted by sin. Meanwhile, Chris, her boyfriend Billy Nolan, and his friends plan revenge on Carrie; they obtain pig blood to put in a bucket.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: On Prom Night, Margaret tries to prevent Carrie from going, but Carrie uses her powers to lock her mother in the closet. At the prom, Carrie is nervous and shy, but Tommy kindly puts her at ease. As part of Chris and Billy's plan, Chris's friend, Tina Blake, discreetly slips fake ballots into the voting box, which names Carrie and Tommy as prom queen and king. At home, Sue receives a text from Chris, taunting her about her scheme to humiliate Carrie. Sue drives to the prom, arriving just as Carrie and Tommy are about to be crowned. Billy warns Chris not to tell anyone about the bucket as it is criminal assault; Chris agrees to say nothing. Sue sees the bucket of blood dangling above Carrie and attempts to warn someone. Desjardin locks her out of the gym, suspecting that Sue plans to hurt Carrie.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Chris dumps the blood onto Carrie and Tommy. Nicki plays the "shower video" of Carrie on the large screens above the stage, inciting laughter from some in the audience. Carrie pushes Miss Desjardin with her powers when Desjardin attempts to help her. The bucket falls onto Tommy's head, killing him. Enraged, Carrie takes her revenge and uses her telekinesis to kill nearly every student and staff, but spares Desjardin. An electrical wire merges with leaking water, and a fire breaks out. As the school burns to the ground, Carrie walks away, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Chris and Billy attempt to drive away, but Carrie crashes the car, killing Billy. Chris attempts to run Carrie over, but Carrie lifts the car and throws it at a gas station, killing Chris, who's face goes through the windshield. Carrie tips over an electric power pole, exploding and setting the car on fire.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Carrie arrives home and takes a bath and changes into her nightgown afterward. Carrie tearfully tells Margaret about the prank. Carrie and Margaret embrace and Margaret recounts Carrie's conception. After having shared a bed platonically with her husband, they yielded to temptation one night, and, after praying for strength, Carrie's father "took" Margaret, who enjoyed the experience. After the talk, Margaret stabs Carrie in the back with a knife. She declares that she must kill Carrie in order to prevent the Devil from possessing her again and attacks Carrie, but Carrie kills her with many sharp tools. She becomes hysterical and makes stones rain from the sky to crush the house. When Sue arrives, a furious Carrie lifts her with her powers but senses that Sue is pregnant with a baby girl. Carrie protects Sue and throws her out of the house to safety as the house collapses and sinks, apparently killing Carrie as well.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: After giving her testimony in court regarding the prom incident, Sue visits Carrie and Margaret's grave, which has been vandalized to read "CARRIE WHITE BURNS IN HELL", and places white roses by the headstone. As she leaves, the gravestone begins to break, and Carrie's enraged scream is heard.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: In May 2011, representatives from MGM and Screen Gems announced that the two companies were producing a film remake of "Carrie". The two studios hired "" playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to write a screenplay that delivers "a more faithful adaption" of King's novel. Aguirre-Sacasa previously adapted King's work "The Stand" into a comic book in 2008. Reshoots were ordered, as the screenplay was re-written by Lawrence D. Cohen, who also wrote the original film.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Upon hearing of the new adaptation, King remarked: "The real question is why, when the original was so good?" He also suggested Lindsay Lohan for the main role and stated that "it [the film] would certainly be fun to cast". Actress Sissy Spacek, who played Carrie in the 1976 adaptation, expressed an opinion on the choice of Lohan for the character of Carrie White, stating that she "was like, 'Oh my God, she's really a beautiful girl' and so I was very flattered that they were casting someone to look like me instead of the real Carrie described in the book. It's gonna be real interesting". In March 2012, the role of Carrie White was offered to Chloë Grace Moretz, who accepted the role.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Kimberly Peirce directed the film, while Moore starred as Margaret White and Gabriella Wilde played Sue Snell. Alex Russell and Ansel Elgort were cast in key roles, and Judy Greer played the gym teacher Miss Desjardin.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Sony held a "First Look" event at the New York Comic Con on October 13, 2013, that allowed attendees to view the film prior to the release date. The event was followed by a panel session with several members of the cast and crew.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Trailers for the film included a phone number that offered promotions to the caller, as well as a recording of a simulated encounter with characters from the film.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 14, 2014. The Blu-ray features an alternative opening and ending and nine deleted scenes.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: In the alternative opening, a young Carrie has a discussion with her teenage neighbor, who is sun-bathing, over the fact that Margaret believes that women with breasts are sinful. Margaret catches them in the conversation and believes that the neighbor is offending Carrie, not before the neighbor's mother disagrees with her. Suddenly, stones begin to rain only on the White household. Margaret, believing it is a sign from God, takes shelter inside her home with a distressed Carrie.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: In the alternative ending, the cracking gravestone and the court speech are not present. After placing the roses on Carrie's grave, Sue suddenly feels pain from her pregnancy and begins to go into labor. Sue is in the hospital and is preparing to give birth to her baby. As she struggles to give birth, Carrie's bloody hand suddenly emerges and grabs Sue's arm. Sue screams loudly as she wakes up in her own bedroom with her mother comforting her and telling her that her nightmare is over. A subliminal frame image of Carrie's bloodied arm is seen grabbing onto Sue's arm as Sue continues to scream in her room.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 50% approval rating with an average rating of 5.49/10 based on 187 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "It boasts a talented cast, but Kimberly Peirce's 'reimagining' of Brian De Palma's horror classic finds little new in the Stephen King novel -- and feels woefully unnecessary". On Metacritic, it scored a 53 out of 100 based on 34 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Kevin C. Johnson of the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" gave the film a favorable review: "Long before the blood starts spilling, it's clear the new team has mostly nailed it. The reboot is as good a "Carrie" remake as possible, though it's not truly a scary movie; the film takes its time living up to its R rating". Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" also gave the film a favorable review: "In a way, the new Carrie is almost too easy to enjoy. Everything discordant and all the nagging weirdness and strange feelings surrounding the original have been smoothed down, and what we're left with is a well-made, highly satisfying and not particularly deep high school revenge movie". Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film a positive review: "The acting's strong; in addition to Moretz and Moore, Judy Greer is a welcome presence in the Betty Buckley role of the sympathetic gym instructor. But something's missing from this well-made venture. What's there is more than respectable, while staying this side of surprising". Joe Neumaier of the New York "Daily News" gave it three out of five stars: "With the exception of some appearances by social media, "Carrie" doesn't try to hip up King's basic, often slow story. And while De Palma's version is fondly recalled as a high-blood-mark of the 1970s, this new take seems to linger a bit more on the bugaboos of overparenting and bullying while underplaying Mama's fanaticism. Peirce only glancingly lets her heroine have a mild discovery-of-powers moment that feels 'X-Men'-ish". In a positive review on Roger Ebert's website, Matt Zoller Seitz awarded the film three out of four stars, praising the portrayal of Carrie and Margaret's relationship and the feelings of sympathy Carrie manages to evoke, although he criticizes the representation of Chris as "exaggeratedly evil". Seitz ultimately concludes by stating: "The first "Carrie" was horror. This is tragedy". A. A. Dowd of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a C− rating, criticizing Moretz's Carrie as "too adjusted, coming across less like the 'very peculiar girl' King described in his novel and more like the stealth babe of some nottie-to-hottie teen romance". Dowd lamented on the film as a whole: "It's a strange thing to say about a movie so obsessed with the red stuff, but this Carrie is bloodless".


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: Sony estimated the revenue for the opening weekend of "Carrie" as between $16 million and $18 million, while others estimated a bigger margin of $24 million to $28 million due to the Halloween season. However, the final takings totaled $16.1 million and the film was ranked at number 3 behind "Gravity" and "Captain Philips", both of which were in their second and third weeks, respectively. By the end of the week, the film managed to gross $20.1 million. In week two, the film slipped 62.8% to sixth place with $5.9 million and 43.2% to ninth place in its third week with $3.4 million.


title: Carrie (2013 film)

text: At the end of its run, the film has grossed $35.3 million in North America and $49.5 million in other countries for a worldwide gross of $84.8 million. It is the 67th highest-grossing film of 2013 in the United States.


title: Ganapath

text: Ganapath is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Vikas Bahl and produced by Good Co. Production and Pooja Entertainment. The film stars Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon with Amitabh Bachchan in an extended special appearance.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population of 1,004,456, an increase of 55,344 (5.8%) from the 949,113 counted in 2010. Located in the Hudson Valley, Westchester covers an area of , consisting of six cities, 19 towns, and 23 villages. Established in 1683, Westchester was named after the city of Chester, England. The county seat is the city of White Plains, while the most populous municipality in the county is the city of Yonkers, with 211,569 residents per the 2020 U.S. Census.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The annual per capita income for Westchester was $67,813 in 2011. The 2011 median household income of $77,006 was the fifth-highest in New York (after Nassau, Putnam, Suffolk, and Rockland counties) and the 47th highest in the United States. By 2014, the county's median household income had risen to $83,422. Westchester County ranks second in the state after New York County for median income per person, with a higher concentration of incomes in smaller households. Simultaneously, Westchester County had the highest property taxes of any county in the United States in 2013.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County is one of the centrally located counties within the New York metropolitan area. The county is positioned with New York City, plus Nassau and Suffolk counties (on Long Island, across Long Island Sound), to its south; Putnam County to its north; Fairfield County, Connecticut to its east; and Rockland County and Bergen County, New Jersey across the Hudson River to the west. Westchester was the first suburban area of its scale in the world to develop, due mostly to the upper-middle-class development of entire communities in the late 19th century and the subsequent rapid population growth.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County has numerous road and mass transit connections to New York City, and the county is home to the headquarters of large multinational corporations including IBM, Mastercard, PepsiCo, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Westchester County high school students often feature prominently as winners of the International Science and Engineering Fair and similar STEM-based academic awards.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: At the time of European contact in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Native American inhabitants of present-day Westchester County were part of the Algonquian peoples, whose name for themselves was Lenape, meaning "the people". They called the region Lenapehoking, which consisted of the area around and between the Delaware and Hudson Rivers. Several different tribes occupied the area, including The Manhattans, and the Weckquaesgeek and Siwanoy bands of the Wappinger in the south, and Tankiteke, Sintsink and Kitchawank Wappinger in the north.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The first European explorers to visit the Westchester area were Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 and Henry Hudson in 1609. Dutch settlers began arriving in the 1620s, followed by settlers from England in the 1640s. Westchester County was one of the original twelve counties of the Province of New York, created by an act of the New York General Assembly in 1683. At the time it included present-day Bronx County, and abutted then-Dutchess County to the north. By 1775, Westchester was the richest and most populous county in the colony of New York. Although the Revolutionary War devastated the county, recovery after the war was rapid. In 1788, five years after the end of the war, the county was divided into 20 towns. In 1798, the first federal census recorded a population of 24,000 for the county.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Two developments in the first half of the 19th century—the construction of the first Croton Dam and Aqueduct, and the coming of the railroad—had enormous impacts on the growth of Westchester. The Croton Dam and Aqueduct was begun in 1837 and completed in 1842; now a National Historic Landmark, the Croton Aqueduct is considered one of the great engineering achievements of the 19th century. In the 1840s, the first railroads were built in Westchester, and included the New York and Harlem Railroad, the Hudson River Railroad, and the New York and New Haven Railroad. The railroads often determined the growth of a town, and the population shifted from Northern to Southern Westchester. By 1860, the total county population was 99,000, with the most populated city being Yonkers.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The period following the American Civil War enabled entrepreneurs in the New York area to create fortunes, and many built large estates, such as Lyndhurst, in Westchester. During the latter half of the 19th century, Westchester's transportation system and labor force attracted a manufacturing base, particularly along the Hudson River and Nepperhan Creek. In 1874, the western portion of the present Bronx County was transferred to New York County, and in 1895 the remainder of the present Bronx County was also transferred to New York County. These would later split from Manhattan to form a county.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: During the 20th century, the rural character of Westchester would transform into the suburban county known today. The Bronx River Parkway, completed in 1925, was the first modern, multi-lane limited-access roadway in North America. The development of Westchester's parks and parkway systems supported existing communities and encouraged the establishment of new ones, transforming the development pattern for Westchester. With the need for homes expanding after World War II, multistory apartment houses appeared in the urbanized areas of the county, while the market for single-family houses continued to expand. By 1950, the total county population was 625,816. Major interstate highways were constructed in Westchester during the 1950s and 1960s. The establishment of these roadways, along with the construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge, led to further growth in the county.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County is located in the New York metropolitan area and Downstate New York, north of New York City and south of Upstate New York. It shares its southern boundary with New York City and its northern border with Putnam County. It is bordered on the west side by the Hudson River and on the east side by the Long Island Sound and Fairfield County, Connecticut. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (14%) is water.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Where Pelham Manor meets Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, the southern border of Westchester is just under from Columbus Circle in Manhattan. At over , Pelham Bay Park is the largest of New York City's parks, forming a substantial buffer between suburban Westchester and the urban Bronx, while Van Cortlandt Park to the west acts as a similar buffer.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester's Long Island Sound shore is generally rocky, interspersed with tidal mud flats, marshes and wetlands, as well as several natural and artificially-maintained sand beaches. Municipal and county owned parks provide access to beaches, nature preserves and passive and active waterfront recreational facilities. Several large harbors lie along the shore including Milton Harbor in Rye, Mamaroneck Harbor, Larchmont Harbor, and Echo Bay, and the upper and lower harbors in southern New Rochelle.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: A number of islands can be found off the Long Island Sound shore, most of which are located in New Rochelle. Davids Island, the former location of the U.S. Army's Fort Slocum, is currently unoccupied but is slated for use as passive parkland; Glen Island, currently a Westchester Parks Department run beach and park, was one of the first amusement parks in the country serving as a summer resort at the turn of the twentieth century; Huckleberry Island is largely undeveloped, and has one of the largest rookeries in western Long Island Sound; Echo Island is owned and used by a private yacht club; Execution Rocks is the site of a 19th-century lighthouse listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Columbia, Pea, and Goose Islands are undeveloped; Clifford, Harrison and Tank Islands are part of the "Five Islands Park" and nature preserve; while Oak and Pine Islands are used as private residences.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The widest section of the Hudson River, at , is found between the Westchester and Rockland County shorelines immediately north of Croton Point. In Colonial times, this area was called the Tappan Zee or Sea. The Hudson River is tidal and brackish through Westchester and contains a small number of estuarine marshes. Two bridges span the Hudson in Westchester: the Bear Mountain Bridge crosses at Cortlandt and the Tappan Zee Bridge at Tarrytown. Municipal, county and state-owned parks provide access to waterfront landmarks and sites, including Croton Point in Croton, Kingsland Point in Sleepy Hollow and JFK Memorial Marina in Yonkers.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The Hudson River waterfront in Westchester is in a transitional period, converting from primarily industrial uses to mixed residential, commercial, retail, and recreational uses. This transformation is most notable in Yonkers, Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Ossining, and Peekskill, where redevelopment projects are in various stages of design and completion. In 2004, the county began a project to create Westchester RiverWalk, a walkway along the Hudson River of which will provide pedestrian access between New York City and Putnam County. 32.9 miles of the route are complete and accessible.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: At , the highest elevation in the county is a U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey benchmark known as "Bailey" in Mountain Lakes Park near the Connecticut state line. The lowest elevation is sea level, along both the Hudson and Long Island Sound.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County is divided into six primary drainage basins or watersheds: the Upper and Lower Long Island Sound; and the Bronx, Upper Hudson, Lower Hudson, and Croton River basins. Within these primary drainage basins are approximately 60 smaller basins, or subwatersheds. The principal streams draining the southern part of the county include Beaver Swamp Brook, Blind Brook, Bronx River, Hutchinson River, Mamaroneck River, Saw Mill River, Sheldrake River, Stephenson Brook and Tibbetts Brook. The primary streams draining the central part of the county include Byram River, Kisco River, Mianus River, Mill River, Pocantico River and Silvermine River. The principal streams draining the northern part of the county include Dickey Brook, Furnace Brook, Hallocks Mill Brook, Hunter Brook, Muscoot River, Peekskill Hollow Brook, and Titicus River. The county contains several major reservoirs; The Croton system and the Kensico Reservoir are important components of the New York City water supply system. The system is a series of interconnected reservoirs and lakes in northern Westchester and Putnam Counties that provide 10% of New York City's water under normal conditions and up to 30% in times of drought. The components of the system include the New Croton Reservoir, the Cross River Reservoir, the Titicus Reservoir, the Amawalk Reservoir, and the Muscoot Reservoir. Other major reservoirs are the Kensico and Byram Lake Reservoir, while there are a number of smaller reservoirs throughout the county.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The Westchester County Department of Planning divides the county into North, Central and South sub-regions.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The rock that underlies Manhattan and Westchester is chiefly gneiss and mica-schist, with layers of dolomitic marble and serpentine.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The climate of Westchester County is primarily a humid subtropical climate (Koppen "Cfa"), with higher elevations bordering on a humid continental climate. Winters are cold, wet, and occasionally snowy throughout the county, with more snow inland in higher elevations. Summers are hot inland but cooler towards the coast, with somewhat of a relative dryness in the early part of summer. Precipitation is plentiful and in some elevated areas reaches over 50 inches. Snowfall is more common in Westchester than in New York City, with the exception of the southeast of the county where snowfall is often between 20 and 25 inches. In January, inland areas have a low of 21–26 °F and a high of 34–37 °F while coastal areas have a low of 27–30 °F and a high of 38–41 °F. In the summer, this effect is much milder. Coastal areas, including Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, Rye, and Port Chester have highs of 81–83 °F and lows of 68–73 °F, while inland highs will be 84–87 °F and lows will be 65–70 °F. Winds can be heavy, especially by the coast.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: As of 2010, there were 949,113 residents at an average density of 807 per square mile (312/km). The racial makeup of the county was 57.4% non-Hispanic White, 15.6% African American, 0.4% Native American, 5.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 7.6% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.8% of the population. 71.7% spoke only English at home, while 14.4% spoke Spanish, 3.5% Italian, 1.1% Portuguese and 1.1% French at home.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: There were 337,142 households, of which 34% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. Of all households 25.7% were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.21.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Age distribution was 25% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 14% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.30 males.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: According to census data, the per capita income for the county in 1999 was $36,726. The American Community Survey lists Westchester in 2011 with the median household income of $77,006, the 47th highest in the country. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 6.4% of families and 8.7% (2003) of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.53% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: At the American Community Survey's 2018 estimates 967,612 people inhabited the county, up 18,499 from 2010's census. 53.1% of the county was non-Hispanic white, 16.6% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian or Alaska Native, 6.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.5% from two or more races, and 25.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race. 25.6% of the population were foreign-born. 4.2% of the population was West Indian.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: From 2014 to 2018 there were 375,852 housing units and 347,332 households. The owner-occupied housing rate was 61.3% and the median monthly owner costs of a house were $3,398 with a mortgage and $1,426 without. The median gross rent in 2018 was $1,493, up $517 from the monthly owner cost without a mortgage. The average persons per household in 2018 was 2.71 and 33.3% of residents spoke a language other than English at home. 21.9% of Westchester was under 18 and 17.1% were aged 65 and older.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County's median income was $92,758 and the per capita income was $54,572. The Census Bureau reported 65.4% of the county's residents aged 16 and older were employed in the civilian labor force, and 59.5% of women worked in the labor force. 8.3% of the county lived below the poverty line from 2014 to 2018.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: According to the 2020 American Community Survey, the county's Latino population was: 5.12% Puerto Rican, 4.46% Dominican, 4.14% Mexican, 2.73% Ecuadorian, 1.73% Guatemalan, 1.26% Colombian.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: As of 2000, several different expatriate populations lived in Westchester County. Notable French communities are located in Larchmont, Mamaroneck, and New Rochelle; while Scarsdale, Tarrytown and Bronxville are the preferred locations for Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: In March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the state government ordered a one square mile "containment zone" in the northern part of the city of New Rochelle. Part of New Rochelle is adjacent to the Bronx, where the majority of New York State's COVID-19 positive cases were (as of May 8, 350,000 out of 20 million residents). As of April 22 there were a total of 25,276 cases, 838 deaths, and 9,371 recoveries. As of May 22, 2020, there were between 30 and 35,000 cases going both by COVID-19 testing and serological samples, constituting the highest number of highest per capita infections in the world: 3% out of 1 million residents.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Cities in Westchester have many well established sub-areas within the municipal boundaries. Many of these are similar to hamlets and date back to as early as the late 1600s such as Cooper's Corners in New Rochelle. These areas also include some of the first planned communities in the country such as New Rochelle's Residence Park, Rochelle Park and Heights and Sutton Manor.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Any land area in the county that is not contained in one of the cities is in a town. A town may have from zero to multiple villages. The largest city in the county by population is Yonkers with over 211,000 residents. The city with the highest population density is Mount Vernon with a density of 15,564 individuals per square mile.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The towns of Harrison, Mount Kisco, and Scarsdale are coterminous with the village of the same name. Two villages are split between two towns: Briarcliff Manor crosses the border between Ossining town and Mount Pleasant, and Mamaroneck village straddles the boundary between Mamaroneck town and Rye town.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: With the exception of the towns of Rye, Pelham, Harrison, Mount Kisco, and Scarsdale, all the towns contain area and residents which do not belong to any village. These areas may contain communities referred to as hamlets, or "unincorporated areas". Hamlets have no legal status and depend upon the town for all municipal government and services. There are also areas called census-designated places (CDPs), which are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. A CDP may or may not correspond to a hamlet.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Because some municipalities have the same name, it is often necessary to indicate whether one is referring to the city, town, village, or hamlet. For example, the town of Rye is completely separate from the city of Rye. Pelham is the name of a town and also of a village in the town. The village of Mamaroneck is located partially in the town of Mamaroneck and partially in the town of Rye, but has nothing to do with the city of Rye.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Zip codes in Westchester often are not coterminous with the actual municipality borders, causing mailing addresses to sometimes differ from the actual municipal location in which a property resides. For instance, the zip codes for Bronxville, Larchmont, Rye, and Scarsdale contain large areas that lie outside of those municipalities.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Due to its proximity to New York City, many Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Westchester county, including:


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Tech Valley is a marketing name for the eastern part of New York State, including the Hudson Valley and the Capital District. The term originated in 1998 to promote the Greater Albany metropolitan area as a competitor to regions such as Silicon Valley and Boston. It has since grown to represent the counties in New York between IBM's Westchester County plants in the south and the Canada–U.S. border to the north.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County has also developed a burgeoning biotechnology sector in the 21st century, with over $1 billion in planned private investment as of 2016, spurring "Westchester Magazine" to nickname the county "Biochester". In April 2017, county officials unveiled plans for an 80-acre, 3 million square-foot biotechnology hub to be built with US$1.2 billion in private investment on vacant land adjacent to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla; the bioscience center, a public-private partnership, is anticipated to create 12,000 new jobs and include over 2.25 million square feet of biotechnology research space.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County contains 48 public school districts, nearly 120 private college-preparatory and parochial schools, and 15 colleges and universities. Many public and private high schools are continuously ranked among the best in New York State and the United States. Public schools in the county are largely funded by local property taxes, and the median annual property tax bill for Westchester County residents was $13,842 in 2013, the highest in the United States. According to the 2018 rankings provided by the education website Niche, taking into account public comments, 28 of the top 100 school districts in the state of New York were located in Westchester County.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The Timothy Knapp House, built around 1670, is the oldest standing building in Westchester. Philipse Manor Hall and the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow are also among the oldest, built around 1682 and 1685 respectively. Philipse Manor Hall is located in Getty Square, Yonkers, and is operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County is served by the Westchester Library System, established in 1958. The system comprises 38 public libraries and 25 college and special libraries in the county. The Westchester Library Association is an organization which advocates on behalf of libraries and their personnel and support systems within Westchester County.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: There are 14 sites on Westchester County's African American Heritage Trail. The Trail was created in 2004.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The Westchester County Government is headed by County Executive George Latimer, a Democrat. The district attorney is Miriam E. Rocah, and the county clerk is Timothy C. Idoni.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The Westchester County Board of Legislators is the legislative branch of Westchester County. Currently, there are fifteen Democrats, one Republican, and one Conservative who caucuses with the Republicans. The current Chair of the Board is Legislator Catherine Borgia.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County generally leans toward the political left. It last voted for the Republican nominee for president in 1988.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Historically, Westchester County was a classic "Yankee Republican" county. It supported Republican presidential candidates in all but two elections from 1896 to 1988. The only exceptions were 1912, when the GOP was divided between William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt, and 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson won a national landslide and swept every county in New York. However, it swung Democratic in the early 1990s—much like other New York City suburbs. In the most recent national elections, Westchester voters tended to be far more Democratic than the national average. In fact, Westchester, after New York City and Albany County, has produced the biggest margins for statewide Democrats in recent years. Democratic voters are mainly concentrated in the more populated southern and central parts of the county. More than 63 percent of Westchester County voters voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race, the seventh-highest percentage of any New York county.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Currently, all three U.S. congressional representatives from Westchester County are Democrats. and represent most of the county. Jones' district covers most of the county's central and northwestern portions, including White Plains, Chappaqua, and Tarrytown, and reaches into Rockland County. Bowman's district is based in the Bronx, but includes most of the southern half of the county, including Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Rye. The northeastern portion of the county is represented by , a former advisor to Bill Clinton, who was elected in 2012, defeating Republican incumbent Nan Hayworth. Maloney's district includes the towns of Bedford, Somers, Pound Ridge, North Salem, Lewisboro, and a portion of North Castle.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: However, Republicans remain competitive with Democrats in state and local elections. For instance, it voted for Republican George Pataki, by a margin of 23.07% against Democratic candidate, Carl McCall in the gubernatorial race of 2002, and by 26.22% in 1998. Pataki hails from Westchester; he previously served as mayor of Peekskill and represented part of the county in the state Assembly and state Senate prior to being elected governor.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: In 1998, County Executive Andrew Spano became just the second Democrat to hold the post in at least a half-century. In 2006, county legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins defeated 20-year incumbent Nicholas Spano for a seat in the New York State Senate in a rematch of the 2004 race, which she had lost by only 18 votes. His brother, Assembly Member Mike Spano, switched parties in July 2007 to become a Democrat. District attorney Janet DiFiore also switched parties from Republican to Democratic in August 2007. In 2009, Republican Rob Astorino ousted three-term county executive Andy Spano, who had the endorsement of the New York Conservative Party, winning in a landslide. Astorino became the first Republican county executive since Andrew O'Rourke left the post in 1997. In 2011, the GOP broke the Democratic two-thirds majority in the county legislature by picking up two seats. However, two of the Democrats formed a coalition with the Republicans to control the board, with a Republican becoming vice-chair. In 2017 Democrats gained three seats to take outright control of the board. In 2019 Democrats gained two seats and in 2020 the last remaining Republican switched parties to become a Democrat. As of the 2021 elections the current composition is fifteen Democrats, one Republican and one Conservative.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County was the home of U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who occupied the Kykuit mansion near the hamlet of Pocantico Hills.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The county is also home to 42nd U.S. President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who live in Chappaqua. Former First Lady Barbara Bush grew up in Rye.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Former U.S. President Donald Trump owns a home in Bedford. The 230-acre Seven Springs estate was acquired by Trump in 1996.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: There are currently 42 local police agencies located in Westchester County. These agencies frequently work with one another and with other agencies, including county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies responsible for protecting Westchester County.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County has a wide array of emergency services and is the home to 58 municipal fire departments, one federal fire department, 42 ambulance services, three Haz-Mat teams, a volunteer technical rescue team, a fire academy and a fire investigations unit. Each department has career, volunteer or a combination of personnel. Westchester County Department of Emergency Services operates the main dispatching system for EMS and fire departments, located in Valhalla. The department also provides numerous support services for the various agencies throughout the county.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The Career Chief's Association, a cooperative of career fire departments, also operates the Special Operations Task Force. The force consists of six squad companies that can be rapidly assembled for a major hazardous materials incident, CBRNE event, collapse or confined space rescue, or other incident requiring a large number of HazMat or rescue technicians. Over 700 firefighters, police officers and EMS providers were trained to be part of this effort and serve over half the population of Westchester County including Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Scarsdale, Eastchester, and the Fairview, Hartsdale, and Greenville Fire Departments in the Town of Greenburgh.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The combination of the county's numerous roadways and bridges, proximity to New York City, and the county's large population all lead to substantial traffic enforcement and busy local courts.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Transportation routes have been responsible for the county's development patterns, with city and town growth being most pronounced along these corridors. There are five mostly north–south corridors and three which traverse the county in the east–west direction. The north–south routes are (going from west to east): S. Route 9/Albany Post Rd/Broadway Corridor, the Saw Mill River Parkway Corridor, the Sprain Brook Parkway, the Hutchinson River Parkway, and the I-95/New England Thruway. The east–west corridors are, from south to north: the Cross County Parkway, the Cross Westchester Expressway/I-287, and the U.S. 202 corridor.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: The Tappan Zee Bridge bridges the Hudson River between Tarrytown in Westchester and South Nyack in Rockland County; costing $4 billion, it was constructed during 2013–2017 to replace an earlier bridge at the same location and was renamed the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge upon its opening. About upstream, the Bear Mountain Bridge crosses the Hudson between Cortlandt and Orange County.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County Airport serves the county, and is adjacent to White Plains. Bus service is provided by the Bee-Line Bus System (owned by the Westchester County Department of Public Works and Transportation) within Westchester and to/from the Bronx, Manhattan, and Putnam County. Additionally, the MTA Bus Company runs to and from Getty Square in Yonkers to Midtown Manhattan. The Hudson Link operates express bus routes from city centers and train stations in Tarrytown and White Plains to Nyack, Nanuet, Spring Valley in Rockland County on the opposite side of the Hudson River.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Additionally, NY Waterway operates a water ferry service between Ossining in Westchester and Haverstraw in Rockland County.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Amtrak serves Croton-Harmon, New Rochelle, and Yonkers. Commuter rail service in Westchester is provided by Metro-North Railroad (operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority). Metro-North operates three lines in the county; west to east, they are the Hudson, the Harlem, and the New Haven lines. These are former operations of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads (and their successors, Penn Central and Conrail), each of which stops in the Bronx between Westchester and Manhattan.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: Westchester County has been the home of many novelists, including Washington Irving. His most famous work is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", which is set at the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow among other locations in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The story has inspired a variety of works, including the 2013 television series "Sleepy Hollow", set in the modern village.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: In the "X-Men" multimedia series, the X-Mansion is located on the Titicus Reservoir, on (fictional) Graymalkin Lane, outside of Salem Center. At the mansion, Professor Charles Xavier runs the Xavier "School for Gifted Youngsters" to educate mutant children and keeps a headquarters for the X-Men.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: One of the most successful films shot in the county was the 1988 film "Big". While the majority of the film takes place in New York City, the amusement park scenes were filmed in Rye Playland in Westchester.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: American singer and songwriter Loudon Wainwright III recorded a song titled "Westchester County" for his 1983 LP record "Fame and Wealth". It recounts his postwar upbringing in Bedford, Westchester County, New York.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: In print media, the area is a frequent setting of the Nero Wolfe detective stories by Rex Stout, which ran from 1934 to 1975. An early documented mention of Westchester County is in the Trixie Belden series (which ran from 1948 to 1986). The series was set in Sleepyside-on-Hudson, a fictional village in the Hudson Valley. The original author, Julie Campbell Tatham, modeled the fictional Crabapple Farm in Sleepyside after her own home at Wolf Hollow on Glendale Road in Ossining. She also mentioned it in her last work in the series: Cherry Ames, Country Doctor's Nurse. Westchester is the primary setting and residence of the main characters in "The Clique" young adult novel series by Lisi Harrison. In Edward Lewis Wallant's novel "The Pawnbroker", the main character Sol Nazerman lives in Mount Vernon.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: In television, an early broadcast media presentation of Westchester County was on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961–1966), whose main characters live in New Rochelle. Much was made of their suburban setting and Rob's separate world from New York City. The 1970s sitcom "Maude" was set in Tuckahoe. In the final season of the American sitcom "Friends", the characters Monica and Chandler moved from New York City to live in Westchester. In the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother", Future Ted and his family live in Westchester. In the AMC show "Mad Men", Ossining is home to main characters Don Draper and his family. From season 4, Don lives in Manhattan and Betty lives with Henry Francis and the children in Rye. The animated show "Big Mouth" is also set in Westchester County, where creator Nick Kroll grew up.


title: Westchester County, New York

text: E. L. Doctorow's novel Ragtime, and the subsequent musical adaptation Ragtime: The Musical, are both partially set in New Rochelle. The town serves as a setting that represents the affluence of white suburbanites in the early stages of the 20th century.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found within the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord of all vertebrates.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF is produced by specialised ependymal cells in the choroid plexus of the ventricles of the brain, and absorbed in the arachnoid granulations. There is about 125 mL of CSF at any one time, and about 500 mL is generated every day. CSF acts as a shock absorber, cushion or buffer, providing basic mechanical and immunological protection to the brain inside the skull. CSF also serves a vital function in the cerebral autoregulation of cerebral blood flow.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF occupies the subarachnoid space (between the arachnoid mater and the pia mater) and the ventricular system around and inside the brain and spinal cord. It fills the ventricles of the brain, cisterns, and sulci, as well as the central canal of the spinal cord. There is also a connection from the subarachnoid space to the bony labyrinth of the inner ear via the perilymphatic duct where the perilymph is continuous with the cerebrospinal fluid. The ependymal cells of the choroid plexus have multiple motile cilia on their apical surfaces that beat to move the CSF through the ventricles.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: A sample of CSF can be taken from around the spinal cord via lumbar puncture. This can be used to test the intracranial pressure, as well as indicate diseases including infections of the brain or the surrounding meninges.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Although noted by Hippocrates, it was forgotten for centuries, though later was described in the 18th century by Emanuel Swedenborg. In 1914, Harvey Cushing demonstrated that CSF is secreted by the choroid plexus.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: There is about 125–150 mL of CSF at any one time. This CSF circulates within the ventricular system of the brain. The ventricles are a series of cavities filled with CSF. The majority of CSF is produced from within the two lateral ventricles. From here, CSF passes through the interventricular foramina to the third ventricle, then the cerebral aqueduct to the fourth ventricle. From the fourth ventricle, the fluid passes into the subarachnoid space through four openings the central canal of the spinal cord, the median aperture, and the two lateral apertures. CSF is present within the subarachnoid space, which covers the brain, spinal cord, and stretches below the end of the spinal cord to the sacrum. There is a connection from the subarachnoid space to the bony labyrinth of the inner ear making the cerebrospinal fluid continuous with the perilymph in 93% of people.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF moves in a single outward direction from the ventricles, but multidirectionally in the subarachnoid space. Fluid movement is pulsatile, matching the pressure waves generated in blood vessels by the beating of the heart. Some authors dispute this, posing that there is no unidirectional CSF circulation, but cardiac cycle-dependent bi-directional systolic-diastolic to-and-from cranio-spinal CSF movements.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF is derived from blood plasma and is largely similar to it, except that CSF is nearly protein-free compared with plasma and has some different electrolyte levels. Due to the way it is produced, CSF has a higher chloride level than plasma, and an equivalent sodium level.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF contains approximately 0.3% plasma proteins, or approximately 15 to 40 mg/dL, depending on sampling site. In general, globular proteins and albumin are in lower concentration in ventricular CSF compared to lumbar or cisternal fluid. This continuous flow into the venous system dilutes the concentration of larger, lipid-insoluble molecules penetrating the brain and CSF. CSF is normally free of red blood cells and at most contains fewer than 5 white blood cells per mm (if the white cell count is higher than this it constitutes pleocytosis and can indicate inflammation or infection).


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: At around the third week of development, the embryo is a three-layered disc, covered with ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. A tube-like formation develops in the midline, called the notochord. The notochord releases extracellular molecules that affect the transformation of the overlying ectoderm into nervous tissue. The neural tube, forming from the ectoderm, contains CSF prior to the development of the choroid plexuses. The open neuropores of the neural tube close after the first month of development, and CSF pressure gradually increases.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: As the brain develops, by the fourth week of embryological development three swellings have formed within the embryo around the canal, near where the head will develop. These swellings represent different components of the central nervous system: the prosencephalon, mesencephalon and rhombencephalon. Subarachnoid spaces are first evident around the 32nd day of development near the rhombencephalon; circulation is visible from the 41st day. At this time, the first choroid plexus can be seen, found in the fourth ventricle, although the time at which they first secrete CSF is not yet known.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: The developing forebrain surrounds the neural cord. As the forebrain develops, the neural cord within it becomes a ventricle, ultimately forming the lateral ventricles. Along the inner surface of both ventricles, the ventricular wall remains thin, and a choroid plexus develops, producing and releasing CSF. CSF quickly fills the neural canal. Arachnoid villi are formed around the 35th week of development, with arachnoid granulations noted around the 39th, and continuing developing until 18 months of age.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: The subcommissural organ secretes SCO-spondin, which forms Reissner's fiber within CSF assisting movement through the cerebral aqueduct. It is present in early intrauterine life but disappears during early development.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: The brain produces roughly 500 mL of cerebrospinal fluid per day, at a rate of about 25 mL an hour. This transcellular fluid is constantly reabsorbed, so that only 125–150 mL is present at any one time.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF volume is higher on a mL per kg body weight basis in children compared to adults. Infants have a CSF volume of 4 mL/kg, children have a CSF volume of 3 mL/kg, and adults have a CSF volume of 1.5–2 mL/kg. A high CSF volume is why a larger dose of local anesthetic, on a mL/kg basis, is needed in infants. Additionally, the larger CSF volume may be one reason as to why children have lower rates of postdural puncture headache.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Most (about two-thirds to 80%) of CSF is produced by the choroid plexus. The choroid plexus is a network of blood vessels present within sections of the four ventricles of the brain. It is present throughout the ventricular system except for the cerebral aqueduct, and the frontal and occipital horns of the lateral ventricles. CSF is also produced by the single layer of column-shaped ependymal cells which line the ventricles; by the lining surrounding the subarachnoid space; and a small amount directly from the tiny spaces surrounding blood vessels around the brain.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF is produced by the choroid plexus in two steps. Firstly, a filtered form of plasma moves from fenestrated capillaries in the choroid plexus into an interstitial space, with movement guided by a difference in pressure between the blood in the capillaries and the interstitial fluid. This fluid then needs to pass through the epithelium cells lining the choroid plexus into the ventricles, an active process requiring the transport of sodium, potassium and chloride that draws water into CSF by creating osmotic pressure. Unlike blood passing from the capillaries into the choroid plexus, the epithelial cells lining the choroid plexus contain tight junctions between cells, which act to prevent most substances flowing freely into CSF. Cilia on the apical surfaces of the ependymal cells beat to help transport the CSF.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Water and carbon dioxide from the interstitial fluid diffuse into the epithelial cells. Within these cells, carbonic anhydrase converts the substances into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions. These are exchanged for sodium and chloride on the cell surface facing the interstitium. Sodium, chloride, bicarbonate and potassium are then actively secreted into the ventricular lumen. This creates osmotic pressure and draws water into CSF, facilitated by aquaporins. Chloride, with a negative charge, moves with the positively charged sodium, to maintain electroneutrality. Potassium and bicarbonate are also transported out of CSF. As a result, CSF contains a higher concentration of sodium and chloride than blood plasma, but less potassium, calcium and glucose and protein. Choroid plexuses also secrete growth factors, iodine, vitamins B, B, C, folate, beta-2 microglobulin, arginine vasopressin and nitric oxide into CSF. A Na-K-Cl cotransporter and Na/K ATPase found on the surface of the choroid endothelium, appears to play a role in regulating CSF secretion and composition.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Orešković and Klarica hypothesise that CSF is not primarily produced by the choroid plexus, but is being permanently produced inside the entire CSF system, as a consequence of water filtration through the capillary walls into the interstitial fluid of the surrounding brain tissue, regulated by AQP-4.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: There are circadian variations in CSF secretion, with the mechanisms not fully understood, but potentially relating to differences in the activation of the autonomic nervous system over the course of the day.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Choroid plexus of the lateral ventricle produces CSF from the arterial blood provided by the anterior choroidal artery. In the fourth ventricle, CSF is produced from the arterial blood from the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (cerebellopontine angle and the adjacent part of the lateral recess), the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (roof and median opening), and the superior cerebellar artery.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF returns to the vascular system by entering the dural venous sinuses via arachnoid granulations. These are outpouchings of the arachnoid mater into the venous sinuses around the brain, with valves to ensure one-way drainage. This occurs because of a pressure difference between the arachnoid mater and venous sinuses. CSF has also been seen to drain into lymphatic vessels, particularly those surrounding the nose via drainage along the olfactory nerve through the cribriform plate. The pathway and extent are currently not known, but may involve CSF flow along some cranial nerves and be more prominent in the neonate. CSF turns over at a rate of three to four times a day. CSF has also been seen to be reabsorbed through the sheathes of cranial and spinal nerve sheathes, and through the ependyma.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: The composition and rate of CSF generation are influenced by hormones and the content and pressure of blood and CSF. For example, when CSF pressure is higher, there is less of a pressure difference between the capillary blood in choroid plexuses and CSF, decreasing the rate at which fluids move into the choroid plexus and CSF generation. The autonomic nervous system influences choroid plexus CSF secretion, with activation of the sympathetic nervous system decreasing secretion and the parasympathetic nervous system increasing it. Changes in the pH of the blood can affect the activity of carbonic anhydrase, and some drugs (such as furosemide, acting on the Na-Cl cotransporter) have the potential to impact membrane channels.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF pressure, as measured by lumbar puncture, is 10–18 cmHO (8–15 mmHg or 1.1–2 kPa) with the patient lying on the side and 20–30 cmHO (16–24 mmHg or 2.1–3.2 kPa) with the patient sitting up. In newborns, CSF pressure ranges from 8 to 10 cmHO (4.4–7.3 mmHg or 0.78–0.98 kPa). Most variations are due to coughing or internal compression of jugular veins in the neck. When lying down, the CSF pressure as estimated by lumbar puncture is similar to the intracranial pressure.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Hydrocephalus is an abnormal accumulation of CSF in the ventricles of the brain. Hydrocephalus can occur because of obstruction of the passage of CSF, such as from an infection, injury, mass, or congenital abnormality. Hydrocephalus without obstruction associated with normal CSF pressure may also occur. Symptoms can include problems with gait and coordination, urinary incontinence, nausea and vomiting, and progressively impaired cognition. In infants, hydrocephalus can cause an enlarged head, as the bones of the skull have not yet fused, seizures, irritability and drowsiness. A CT scan or MRI scan may reveal enlargement of one or both lateral ventricles, or causative masses or lesions, and lumbar puncture may be used to demonstrate and in some circumstances relieve high intracranial pressure. Hydrocephalus is usually treated through the insertion of a shunt, such as a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt, which diverts fluid to another part of the body.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a condition of unknown cause characterized by a rise in CSF pressure. It is associated with headaches, double vision, difficulties seeing, and a swollen optic disc. It can occur in association with the use of vitamin A and tetracycline antibiotics, or without any identifiable cause at all, particularly in younger obese women. Management may include ceasing any known causes, a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor such as acetazolamide, repeated drainage via lumbar puncture, or the insertion of a shunt such as a ventriculoperitoneal shunt.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF can leak from the dura as a result of different causes such as physical trauma or a lumbar puncture, or from no known cause when it is termed a spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak. It is usually associated with intracranial hypotension: low CSF pressure. It can cause headaches, made worse by standing, moving and coughing, as the low CSF pressure causes the brain to "sag" downwards and put pressure on its lower structures. If a leak is identified, a beta-2 transferrin test of the leaking fluid, when positive, is highly specific and sensitive for the detection for CSF leakage. Medical imaging such as CT scans and MRI scans can be used to investigate for a presumed CSF leak when no obvious leak is found but low CSF pressure is identified. Caffeine, given either orally or intravenously, often offers symptomatic relief. Treatment of an identified leak may include injection of a person's blood into the epidural space (an epidural blood patch), spinal surgery, or fibrin glue.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: CSF can be tested for the diagnosis of a variety of neurological diseases, usually obtained by a procedure called lumbar puncture. Lumbar puncture is carried out under sterile conditions by inserting a needle into the subarachnoid space, usually between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae. CSF is extracted through the needle, and tested. About one third of people experience a headache after lumbar puncture, and pain or discomfort at the needle entry site is common. Rarer complications may include bruising, meningitis or ongoing post lumbar-puncture leakage of CSF.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Testing often includes observing the colour of the fluid, measuring CSF pressure, and counting and identifying white and red blood cells within the fluid; measuring protein and glucose levels; and culturing the fluid. The presence of red blood cells and xanthochromia may indicate subarachnoid hemorrhage; whereas central nervous system infections such as meningitis, may be indicated by elevated white blood cell levels. A CSF culture may yield the microorganism that has caused the infection, or PCR may be used to identify a viral cause. Investigations to the total type and nature of proteins reveal point to specific diseases, including multiple sclerosis, paraneoplastic syndromes, systemic lupus erythematosus, neurosarcoidosis, cerebral angiitis; and specific antibodies such as aquaporin-4 may be tested for to assist in the diagnosis of autoimmune conditions. A lumbar puncture that drains CSF may also be used as part of treatment for some conditions, including idiopathic intracranial hypertension and normal pressure hydrocephalus.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Lumbar puncture can also be performed to measure the intracranial pressure, which might be increased in certain types of hydrocephalus. However, a lumbar puncture should never be performed if increased intracranial pressure is suspected due to certain situations such as a tumour, because it can lead to fatal brain herniation.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Some anaesthetics and chemotherapy are injected intrathecally into the subarachnoid space, where they spread around CSF, meaning substances that cannot cross the blood–brain barrier can still be active throughout the central nervous system. Baricity refers to the density of a substance compared to the density of human cerebrospinal fluid and is used in regional anesthesia to determine the manner in which a particular drug will spread in the intrathecal space.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Various comments by ancient physicians have been read as referring to CSF. Hippocrates discussed "water" surrounding the brain when describing congenital hydrocephalus, and Galen referred to "excremental liquid" in the ventricles of the brain, which he believed was purged into the nose. But for some 16 intervening centuries of ongoing anatomical study, CSF remained unmentioned in the literature. This is perhaps because of the prevailing autopsy technique, which involved cutting off the head, thereby removing evidence of CSF before the brain was examined.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: The modern rediscovery of CSF is credited to Emanuel Swedenborg. In a manuscript written between 1741 and 1744, unpublished in his lifetime, Swedenborg referred to CSF as "spirituous lymph" secreted from the roof of the fourth ventricle down to the medulla oblongata and spinal cord. This manuscript was eventually published in translation in 1887.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Albrecht von Haller, a Swiss physician and physiologist, made note in his 1747 book on physiology that the "water" in the brain was secreted into the ventricles and absorbed in the veins, and when secreted in excess, could lead to hydrocephalus. François Magendie studied the properties of CSF by vivisection. He discovered the foramen Magendie, the opening in the roof of the fourth ventricle, but mistakenly believed that CSF was secreted by the pia mater.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: Thomas Willis (noted as the discoverer of the circle of Willis) made note of the fact that the consistency of CSF is altered in meningitis. In 1869 Gustav Schwalbe proposed that CSF drainage could occur via lymphatic vessels.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: In 1891, W. Essex Wynter began treating tubercular meningitis by removing CSF from the subarachnoid space, and Heinrich Quincke began to popularize lumbar puncture, which he advocated for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. In 1912, a neurologist William Mestrezat gave the first accurate description of the chemical composition of CSF. In 1914, Harvey W. Cushing published conclusive evidence that CSF is secreted by the choroid plexus.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: During phylogenesis, CSF is present within the neuraxis before it circulates. The CSF of Teleostei fish is contained within the ventricles of the brains, but not in a nonexistent subarachnoid space. In mammals, where a subarachnoid space is present, CSF is present in it. Absorption of CSF is seen in amniotes and more complex species, and as species become progressively more complex, the system of absorption becomes progressively more enhanced, and the role of spinal epidural veins in absorption plays a progressively smaller and smaller role.


title: Cerebrospinal fluid

text: The amount of cerebrospinal fluid varies by size and species. In humans and other mammals, cerebrospinal fluid, produced, circulating, and reabsorbed in a similar manner to humans, and with a similar function, turns over at a rate of 3–5 times a day. Problems with CSF circulation leading to hydrocephalus occur in other animals.


title: Mongolian language

text: Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the ethnic Mongol residents of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. In Mongolia, Khalkha Mongolian is predominant, and is currently written in both Cyrillic and traditional Mongolian script. In Inner Mongolia, the language is dialectally more diverse and is written in the traditional Mongolian script. However, Mongols in both countries often use the Latin script for convenience on the Internet.


title: Mongolian language

text: In the discussion of grammar to follow, the variety of Mongolian treated is the standard written Khalkha formalized in the writing conventions and in grammar as taught in schools, but much of what is to be said is also valid for vernacular (spoken) Khalkha and for other Mongolian dialects, especially Chakhar Mongolian.


title: Mongolian language

text: Some classify several other Mongolic languages like Buryat and Oirat as varieties of Mongolian, but this classification is not in line with the current international standard.


title: Mongolian language

text: Mongolian is a language with vowel harmony and a complex syllabic structure compared to other Mongolic languages, this syllablic structure allows clusters of up to three consonants syllable-finally. It is a typical agglutinative language that relies on suffix chains in the verbal and nominal domains. While there is a basic word order, subject–object–predicate, ordering among noun phrases is relatively free, as grammatical roles are indicated by a system of about eight grammatical cases. There are five voices. Verbs are marked for voice, aspect, tense and epistemic modality/evidentiality. In sentence linking, a special role is played by converbs.


title: Mongolian language

text: Modern Mongolian evolved from Middle Mongol, the language spoken in the Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries. In the transition, a major shift in the vowel-harmony paradigm occurred, long vowels developed, the case system changed slightly, and the verbal system was restructured. Mongolian is related to the extinct Khitan language. It was believed that Mongolian was related to Turkic, Tungusic, Korean and Japonic languages but this view is now seen as obsolete by a majority of (but not all) comparative linguists. These languages have been grouped under the Altaic language family and contrasted with the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area. However, instead of a common genetic origin, Clauson, Doerfer, and Shcherbak proposed that Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic languages form a language "Sprachbund", rather than common origin. Mongolian literature is well attested in written form from the 13th century but has earlier Mongolic precursors in the literature of the Khitan and other Xianbei peoples. The Bugut inscription dated to 584 CE and the Inscription of Hüis Tolgoi dated to 604–620 CE appear to be the oldest substantial Mongolic or Para-Mongolic texts discovered.


title: Mongolian language

text: Mongolian is the official national language of Mongolia, where it is spoken (but not always written) by nearly 3.6 million people (2014 estimate), and the official provincial language (both spoken and written forms) of Inner Mongolia, China, where there are at least 4.1 million ethnic Mongols. Across the whole of China, the language is spoken by roughly half of the country's 5.8 million ethnic Mongols (2005 estimate) However, the exact number of Mongolian speakers in China is unknown, as there is no data available on the language proficiency of that country's citizens. The use of Mongolian in Inner Mongolia, has witnessed periods of decline and revival over the last few hundred years. The language experienced a decline during the late Qing period, a revival between 1947 and 1965, a second decline between 1966 and 1976, a second revival between 1977 and 1992, and a third decline between 1995 and 2012. However, in spite of the decline of the Mongolian language in some of Inner Mongolia's urban areas and educational spheres, the ethnic identity of the urbanized Chinese-speaking Mongols is most likely going to survive due to the presence of urban ethnic communities. The multilingual situation in Inner Mongolia does not appear to obstruct efforts by ethnic Mongols to preserve their language. Although an unknown number of Mongols in China, such as the Tumets, may have completely or partially lost the ability to speak their language, they are still registered as ethnic Mongols and continue to identify themselves as ethnic Mongols. The children of inter-ethnic Mongol-Chinese marriages also claim to be and are registered as ethnic Mongols so they can benefit from the preferential policies for minorities in education, healthcare, family planning, school admissions, the hiring and promotion, the financing and taxation of businesses, and regional infrastructural support given to ethnic minorities in China. In 2020, the Chinese government required three subjects — language and literature, politics, and history — to be taught in Mandarin in Mongolian-language primary and secondary schools in the Inner Mongolia since September, which caused widespread protests among ethnic Mongol communities. These protests were quickly suppressed by the Chinese government.


title: Mongolian language

text: Mongolian belongs to the Mongolic languages. The delimitation of the Mongolian language within Mongolic is a much disputed theoretical problem, one whose resolution is impeded by the fact that existing data for the major varieties is not easily arrangeable according to a common set of linguistic criteria. Such data might account for the historical development of the Mongolian dialect continuum, as well as for its sociolinguistic qualities. Though phonological and lexical studies are comparatively well developed, the basis has yet to be laid for a comparative morphosyntactic study, for example between such highly diverse varieties as Khalkha and Khorchin.


title: Mongolian language

text: The status of certain varieties in the Mongolic group—whether they are languages distinct from Mongolian or just dialects of it—is disputed. There are at least three such varieties: Oirat (including the Kalmyk variety) and Buryat, both of which are spoken in Russia, Mongolia, and China; and Ordos, spoken around Inner Mongolia's Ordos City.


title: Mongolian language

text: There is no disagreement that the Khalkha dialect of the Mongolian state is Mongolian. Beyond this point, however, agreement ends. For example, the influential classification of Sanžeev (1953) proposed a "Mongolian language" consisting of just the three dialects Khalkha, Chakhar, and Ordos, with Buryat and Oirat judged to be independent languages.


title: Mongolian language

text: On the other hand, Luvsanvandan (1959) proposed a much broader "Mongolian language" consisting of a Central dialect (Khalkha, Chakhar, Ordos), an Eastern dialect (Kharchin, Khorchin), a Western dialect (Oirat, Kalmyk), and a Northern dialect (consisting of two Buryat varieties). Additionally, the "Language Policy in the People’s Republic of China: Theory and Practice Since 1949", states that Mongolian can be classified into four dialects: the Khalkha dialect in the middle, the Horcin-Haracin dialect in the East, Oriat-Hilimag in the west, and Bargu-Buriyad in the north.


title: Mongolian language

text: Some Western scholars propose that the relatively well researched Ordos variety is an independent language due to its conservative syllable structure and phoneme inventory. While the placement of a variety like Alasha, which is under the cultural influence of Inner Mongolia but historically tied to Oirat, and of other border varieties like Darkhad would very likely remain problematic in any classification, the central problem remains the question of how to classify Chakhar, Khalkha, and Khorchin in relation to each other and in relation to Buryat and Oirat. The split of into before *i and before all other reconstructed vowels, which is found in Mongolia but not in Inner Mongolia, is often cited as a fundamental distinction, for example Proto-Mongolic , Khalkha , Chakhar 'year' versus Proto-Mongolic , Khalkha , Chakhar 'few'. On the other hand, the split between the past tense verbal suffixes - in the Central varieties v. - in the Eastern varieties is usually seen as a merely stochastic difference.


title: Mongolian language

text: In Inner Mongolia, official language policy divides the Mongolian language into three dialects: Southern Mongolian, Oirat, and Barghu-Buryat. Southern Mongolian is said to consist of Chakhar, Ordos, Baarin, Khorchin, Kharchin, and Alasha. The authorities have synthesized a literary standard for Mongolian in whose grammar is said to be based on Southern Mongolian and whose pronunciation is based on the Chakhar dialect as spoken in the Plain Blue Banner. Dialectologically, however, western Southern Mongolian dialects are closer to Khalkha than they are to eastern Southern Mongolian dialects: e.g. Chakhar is closer to Khalkha than to Khorchin.


title: Mongolian language

text: Besides Mongolian, or "Central Mongolic", other languages in the Mongolic grouping include Dagur, spoken in eastern Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and in the vicinity of Tacheng in Xinjiang; the Shirongolic subgroup Shira Yugur, Bonan, Dongxiang, Monguor, and Kangjia, spoken in Qinghai and Gansu regions; and the possibly extinct Moghol of Afghanistan.


title: Mongolian language

text: As for the classification of the Mongolic family relative to other languages, the Altaic theory (which is increasingly less well received among linguists) proposes that the Mongolic family is a member of a larger Altaic family that would also include the Turkic and Tungusic, and usually Koreanic languages and Japonic languages as well.


title: Mongolian language

text: Juha Janhunen (2003: 179) lists the following Mongol dialects, most of which are spoken in Inner Mongolia.


title: Mongolian language

text: In Juha Janhunen's book titled "Mongolian", he groups the Mongolic language family into 4 distinct linguistic branches:


title: Mongolian language

text: The Shirongolic branch of the Mongolic languages, part of a Gansu–Qinghai Sprachbund, is made up of roughly 7 languages, grouped in the following way:


title: Mongolian language

text: The Common Mongolic (or Central Mongolic) branch of the Mongolic languages is made up of roughly 6 languages, grouped in the following way:


title: Mongolian language

text: The following description is based primarily on the Khalkha dialect as spoken in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital. The phonologies of other varieties such as Ordos, Khorchin, and even Chakhar, differ considerably. This section discusses the phonology of Khalkha Mongolian with subsections on Vowels, Consonants, Phonotactics and Stress.


title: Mongolian language

text: The standard language has seven monophthong vowel phonemes. They are aligned into three vowel harmony groups by a parameter called ATR (advanced tongue root); the groups are −ATR, +ATR, and neutral. This alignment seems to have superseded an alignment according to oral backness. However, some scholars still describe Mongolian as being characterized by a distinction between front vowels and back vowels, and the front vowel spellings 'ö' and 'ü' are still often used in the West to indicate two vowels which were historically front. The Mongolian vowel system also has rounding harmony.


title: Mongolian language

text: Length is phonemic for vowels, and each of the seven phonemes occurs short or long. Phonetically, short has become centralized to the central vowel .


title: Mongolian language

text: In the following table, the seven vowel phonemes, with their length variants, are arranged and described phonetically. The vowels in the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet are:


title: Mongolian language

text: Khalkha also has four diphthongs: historically but are pronounced more like ; e.g. ой in () 'dog', ай in () sea', уй in () 'to cry', үй in () 'factory', эй in () 'necessary'. There are three additional rising diphthongs (иа), (уа) (эй); e.g. иа in () 'individually', уа in () 'barracks'.


title: Mongolian language

text: This table below lists vowel allophones (note that short vowels allophones in non-initial positions are used interchangeably with schwa):


title: Mongolian language

text: For historical reasons, these have been traditionally labeled as "front" vowels and "back" vowels. Indeed, in Mongolian romanizations, the vowels and are often conventionally rendered as and , while the vowels and are expressed as and . However, for modern Mongolian phonology, it is more appropriate to instead characterize the two vowel-harmony groups by the dimension of tongue root position. There is also one neutral vowel, , not belonging to either group.


title: Mongolian language

text: All the vowels in a noncompound word, including all its suffixes, must belong to the same group. If the first vowel is −ATR, then every vowel of the word must be either or a −ATR vowel. Likewise, if the first vowel is a +ATR vowel, then every vowel of the word must be either or a +ATR vowel. In the case of suffixes, which must change their vowels to conform to different words, two patterns predominate. Some suffixes contain an archiphoneme that can be realized as ; e.g.


title: Mongolian language

text: Other suffixes can occur in being realized as , in which case all −ATR vowels lead to and all +ATR vowels lead to ; e.g.


title: Mongolian language

text: Mongolian also has rounding harmony, which does not apply to close vowels. If a stem contains (or ), a suffix that is specified for an open vowel will have (or , respectively) as well. However, this process is blocked by the presence of (or ) and ; e.g. 'came in', but 'inserted'.


title: Mongolian language

text: The pronunciation of long and short vowels depends on the syllable's position in the word. In word-initial syllables, there is a phonemic contrast in vowel length. A long vowel has about 208% the length of a short vowel. In word-medial and word-final syllables, formerly long vowels are now only 127% as long as short vowels in initial syllables, but they are still distinct from initial-syllable short vowels. Short vowels in noninitial syllables differ from short vowels in initial syllables by being only 71% as long and by being centralized in articulation. As they are nonphonemic, their position is determined according to phonotactic requirements.


title: Mongolian language

text: The following table lists the consonants of Khalkha Mongolian. The consonants enclosed in parentheses occur only in loanwords.


title: Mongolian language

text: A rare feature among the world's languages, Mongolian lacks the voiced lateral approximant, and the voiceless velar plosive ; instead, it has a voiced alveolar lateral fricative, , which is often realized as voiceless . In word-final position, (if not followed by a vowel in historical forms) is realized as . The occurrence of palatalized consonant phonemes seems to be restricted to words that contain [−ATR] vowels. Aspirated consonants are preaspirated in medial and word-final contexts, devoicing preceding consonants and vowels. Devoiced short vowels are often deleted.


title: Mongolian language

text: The maximal syllable is CVVCCC, where the last C is a word-final suffix. A single short vowel rarely appears in syllable-final position. If a word was monosyllabic historically, *CV has become CVV. is restricted to codas (else it becomes ), and and do not occur in codas for historical reasons. For two-consonant clusters, the following restrictions obtain:


title: Mongolian language

text: Clusters that do not conform to these restrictions will be broken up by an epenthetic nonphonemic vowel in a syllabification that takes place from right to left. For instance, 'two', 'work', and 'neutral' are, phonemically, , , and respectively. In such cases, an epenthetic vowel is inserted to prevent disallowed consonant clusters. Thus, in the examples given above, the words are phonetically , , and . The phonetic form of the epenthetic vowel follows from vowel harmony triggered by the vowel in the preceding syllable. Usually it is a centralized version of the same sound, with the following exceptions: preceding produces ; will be ignored if there is a nonneutral vowel earlier in the word; and a postalveolar or palatalized consonant will be followed by an epenthetic , as in .


title: Mongolian language

text: Stress in Mongolian is nonphonemic (does not distinguish different meanings) and thus is considered to depend entirely on syllable structure. But scholarly opinions on stress placement diverge sharply. Most native linguists, regardless of which dialect they speak, claim that stress falls on the first syllable. Between 1941 and 1975, several Western scholars proposed that the leftmost heavy syllable gets the stress. Yet other positions were taken in works published between 1835 and 1915.


title: Mongolian language

text: Walker (1997) proposes that stress falls on the rightmost heavy syllable unless this syllable is word-final:


title: Mongolian language

text: A "heavy syllable" is defined as one that is at least the length of a full vowel; short word-initial syllables are thereby excluded. If a word is bisyllabic and the only heavy syllable is word-final, it gets stressed anyway. In cases where there is only one phonemic short word-initial syllable, even this syllable can get the stress:


title: Mongolian language

text: More recently, the most extensive collection of phonetic data so far in Mongolian studies has been applied to a partial account of stress placement in the closely related Chakhar dialect. The conclusion is drawn that di- and trisyllabic words with a short first syllable are stressed on the second syllable. But if their first syllable is long, then the data for different acoustic parameters seems to support conflicting conclusions: intensity data often seems to indicate that the first syllable is stressed, while F0 seems to indicate that it is the second syllable that is stressed.


title: Mongolian language

text: The grammar in this article is also based primarily on Khalkha Mongolian. Unlike the phonology, most of what is said about morphology and syntax also holds true for Chakhar, while Khorchin is somewhat more diverse.