Mongolian script

The classical or traditional Mongolian script,[lower-alpha 1] also known as the Qudum Moñgol bičig,[lower-alpha 2] was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946. It is traditionally written in vertical lines Top-Down, right across the page. Derived from the Old Uyghur alphabet, Mongolian is a true alphabet, with separate letters for consonants and vowels. The Mongolian script has been adapted to write languages such as Oirat and Manchu. Alphabets based on this classical vertical script are used in Inner Mongolia and other parts of China to this day to write Mongolian, Xibe and experimentally, Evenki.

Mongolian script
ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ
Example text
Type
LanguagesMongolian language
Manchu language (obsolete)
Daur language (obsolete)
Evenki language (experimentally)
CreatorTata-tonga
Time period
ca.1204 – present
Parent systems
Child systems
Manchu alphabet
Oirat alphabet (Clear script)
Buryat alphabet
Galik alphabet
Evenki alphabet
Xibe alphabet
DirectionTop-to-bottom
ISO 15924Mong, 145
Unicode alias
Mongolian

Computer operating systems have been slow to adopt support for the Mongolian script, and almost all have incomplete support or other text rendering difficulties.

History

The Stele of Yisüngge, with the earliest known inscription in the Mongolian script.[1]:33

The Mongolian vertical script developed as an adaptation of the Old Uyghur alphabet for the Mongolian language.[2]:545 From the seventh and eighth to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Mongolian language separated into southern, eastern and western dialects. The principal documents from the period of the Middle Mongol language are: in the eastern dialect, the famous text The Secret History of the Mongols, monuments in the Square script, materials of the Chinese–Mongolian glossary of the fourteenth century, and materials of the Mongolian language of the middle period in Chinese transcription, etc.; in the western dialect, materials of the Arab–Mongolian and Persian–Mongolian dictionaries, Mongolian texts in Arabic transcription, etc.[3]:1–2 The main features of the period are that the vowels ï and i had lost their phonemic significance, creating the i phoneme (in the Chakhar dialect, the Standard Mongolian in Inner Mongolia, these vowels are still distinct); inter-vocal consonants γ/g, b/w had disappeared and the preliminary process of the formation of Mongolian long vowels had begun; the initial h was preserved in many words; grammatical categories were partially absent, etc. The development over this period explains why the Mongolian script looks like a vertical Arabic script (in particular the presence of the dot system).[3]:1–2

Eventually, minor concessions were made to the differences between the Uyghur and Mongol languages: In the 17th and 18th centuries, smoother and more angular versions of the letter tsadi became associated with [dʒ] and [tʃ] respectively, and in the 19th century, the Manchu hooked yodh was adopted for initial [j]. Zain was dropped as it was redundant for [s]. Various schools of orthography, some using diacritics, were developed to avoid ambiguity.[2]:545

Traditional Mongolian is written vertically from top to bottom, flowing in lines from left to right. The Old Uyghur script and its descendants, of which traditional Mongolian is one among Oirat Clear, Manchu, and Buryat are the only known vertical scripts written from left to right. This developed because the Uyghurs rotated their Sogdian-derived script, originally written right to left, 90 degrees counterclockwise to emulate Chinese writing, but without changing the relative orientation of the letters.[4][1]:36

The reed pen was the writing instrument of choice until the 18th century, when the brush took its place under Chinese influence.[5]:422 Pens were also historically made of wood, reed, bamboo, bone, bronze, or iron. Ink used was black or cinnabar red, and written with on birch bark, paper, cloths made of silk or cotton, and wooden or silver plates.[6]:80–81

Reed pens
Ink brushes

Mongols learned their script as a syllabary, dividing the syllables into twelve different classes, based on the final phonemes of the syllables, all of which ended in vowels.[7]

The script remained in continuous use by Mongolian speakers in Inner Mongolia in People's Republic of China. In the Mongolian People's Republic, it was largely replaced by the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet, although the vertical script remained in limited use. In March 2020, the Mongolian government announced plans to increase the use of the traditional Mongolian script and to use both Cyrillic and Mongolian script in official documents by 2025.[8][9][10]

Names

The traditional Mongolian script is known by a wide variety of names. Because of its similarity to the Old Uyghur alphabet, it became known as the Uigurjin Mongol script.[lower-alpha 3] During the communist era, when Cyrillic became the official script for the Mongolian language, the traditional script became known as the Old Mongol script,[lower-alpha 4] in contrast to the New script,[lower-alpha 5] referring to Cyrillic. The name Old Mongol script stuck, and it is still known as such among the older generation, who didn't receive education in the new script.

Overview

The traditional or classical Mongolian alphabet, sometimes called Hudum 'traditional' in Oirat in contrast to the Clear script (Todo 'exact'), is the original form of the Mongolian script used to write the Mongolian language. It does not distinguish several vowels (o/u, ö/ü, final a/e) and consonants (syllable-initial t/d and k/g, sometimes ǰ/y) that were not required for Uyghur, which was the source of the Mongol (or Uyghur-Mongol) script.[4] The result is somewhat comparable to the situation of English, which must represent ten or more vowels with only five letters and uses the digraph th for two distinct sounds. Ambiguity is sometimes prevented by context, as the requirements of vowel harmony and syllable sequence usually indicate the correct sound. Moreover, as there are few words with an exactly identical spelling, actual ambiguities are rare for a reader who knows the orthography.

Letters have different forms depending on their position in a word: initial, medial, or final. In some cases, additional graphic variants are selected for visual harmony with the subsequent character.

The rules for writing below apply specifically for the Mongolian language, unless stated otherwise.

Sort orders

  • Traditional: n, q/k, γ/g, b, p, s, š, t, d, l, m, č...[11][12]:7
  • Modern: n, b, p, q/k, γ/g, m, l, s, š, t, d, č...[11][12]:7
  • Other modern orderings that apply to specific dictionaries also exist.[13]

Vowel harmony

Mongolian vowel harmony separates the vowels of words into three groups – two mutually exclusive and one neutral:

  • The back, masculine,[14] hard, or yang[15] vowels a, o, and u.
  • The front, feminine,[14] soft, or yin[15] vowels e, ö, and ü.
  • The neutral vowel i, able to appear in all words.

Any Mongolian word can contain the neutral vowel i, but only vowels from either of the other two groups. The vowel qualities of visually separated vowels and suffixes must likewise harmonize with those of the preceding word stem. Such suffixes are written with front or neutral vowels when preceded by a word stem containing only neutal vowels. Any of these rules might not apply for foreign words however.[3]:11, 39[16]:10[17]:4[13]

Separated final vowels

Two examples of the two kinds of letter separation: with the suffix un ( ) and the final vowel a ( )

A separated final form of vowels a or e is common, and can appear at the end of a word, word stem, or suffix. This form requires a final-shaped preceding consonant and an inter-word gap in between. This gap can be transliterated with a hyphen . In digital typesetting, these forms are triggered by inserting a U+180E MONGOLIAN VOWEL SEPARATOR (HTML ᠎ · MVS) between the consonant and vowel.[3]:30, 77[18]:42[1]:38–39[17]:27[19]:534–535

The presence or lack of a separated a or e can also indicate differences in meaning between different words (compare ᠬᠠᠷ(?) qara 'black' with ᠬᠠᠷᠠ qara 'to look').[20]:3[19]:535

Its form could be confused with that of the identically shaped traditional dative-locative suffix a/e exemplified further down. That form however, is more commonly found in older texts, and more commonly takes the forms of ᠤᠷ tur/tür or ᠤᠷ dur/dür instead.[16]:15[21][1]:46

Separated suffixes

1925 logo of Buryat–Mongolian newspaper ᠪᠤᠷᠢᠶᠠᠳ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯᠤᠨ ᠦᠨᠡᠨ᠃ Buriyad Mongγolun ünen 'Buryat-Mongol truth' with the suffix ᠤᠨ(?) un.

All case suffixes, as well as any plural suffixes consisting of one or two syllables are likewise separated by a preceding and hyphen-transliterated gap. In digital typesetting, this gap is represented by a U+202F NARROW NO-BREAK SPACE (HTML   · NNBSP). A maximum of two case suffixes can be added to a stem.[3]:30, 73[16]:12[21][22][17]:28[19]:534

Single-letter vowel suffixes appear with the final-shaped forms of a/e, i, or u/ü,[3]:30 as in ᠭᠠᠵᠠᠷ(?) γaǰara 'to the country' and ᠡᠳᠦᠷ(?) edüre 'on the day',[3]:39 or ᠤᠯᠤᠰ(?) ulusi 'the state' etc.[3]:23 Multi-letter suffixes most often start with an initial- (consonants), medial- (vowels), or variant-shaped form (medial/variant-shaped u in the two-letter suffix ᠤᠨ(?) un/ün being exemplified in the adjacent newspaper logo).[3]:30[19]:27

Following the graphic compound of a proper name such as that of ᠬᠥᠬᠡᠬᠣᠲᠠ Kökeqota (the city of Hohhot), the vowels of a suffix get determined based on those of the latter part of said compound.[3]:30[1]:44[23]:88

Isolate citation forms

Isolate citation forms for syllables containing o, u, ö, and ü may in dictionaries appear without a final tail as in ᠪᠣ bo/bu or ᠮᠣ mo/mu, and with a vertical tail as in ᠪᠥ / or ᠮᠥ / (as well as in transcriptions of Chinese syllables).[13][1]:39

Notes on letter tables

A dash indicates a non-applicable position for that letter.

Parentheses enclose glyphs or positions whose corresponding sounds are not found in native Mongolian words.

Palatalized phonemes have been excluded. These are conditioned by a following i.[18]:178

Components

Listed in the table below are script components (graphemes) that are recurring, contrasting, or both. The actual use and appearance of these may differ greatly between letterforms of different writing styles, however. For examples to compare between, see § Writing styles further down.

Graphemes (зурлага / зурлагын нэр)[lower-alpha 6][25]:4–5[26]:29–30, 205[27][28]:82–83[1]:36[12]:1[29][30]:20[31]:211–212[32]:10–11[33][34][35]
Appearance Names May appear as / form part of
Image Text(?)
'Crown' / тит(и/э)м tit(i/e)m / ᠲᠢᠲᠢᠮ titim all initial vowels (a, e, i, o, u, ö, ü, ē), and some initial consonants (n, m, l, h, etc).
᠊ᠡ 'Tooth' / ацаг atsag / ᠠᠴᠤᠭ ačuγ a, e, n, ng, q, γ, m, l, d, etc; historically also r.
'Tooth' / шүд shüd / ᠰᠢᠳᠦ sidü
᠊᠊ 'Spine, backbone' / нуруу nuruu / ᠨᠢᠷᠤᠭᠤ niruγu the vertical line running through words.
᠊ᠠ 'Tail' / сүүл süül / ᠰᠡᠭᠦᠯ segül a, e, n, etc. A final connected flourish/swash pointing right.
[...] / орхиц orkhits / ᠣᠷᠬᠢᠴᠠ orkiča separated final a or e.
'Sprinkling, dusting' / цацлага tsatslaga / ᠴᠠᠴᠤᠯᠭ(?) čačulγa lower part of final a or e; the lower part of final g.
'Shin, stick' / шилбэ shilbe / ᠰᠢᠯᠪᠢ silbi i; initial ö and ü; the upper part of final g; ǰ and y, etc.
'Straight shin' / шулуун шилбэ shuluun shilbe / ᠰᠢᠯᠤᠭᠤᠨ ᠰᠢᠯᠪᠢ siluγun silbi
'Long tooth' / урт шүд urt shüd / ᠤᠷᠲᠤ ᠰᠢᠳᠦ urtu sidü
'Shin with upturn' / э(э)тгэр шилбэ e(e)tger shilbe / ᠡᠭᠡᠲᠡᠭᠡᠷ ᠰᠢᠯᠪᠢ egeteger silbi y.
Shin with downturn / матгар шилбэ matgar shilbe / ᠮᠠᠲᠠᠭᠠᠷ ᠰᠢᠯᠪᠢ mataγar silbi ē and w.
Horned shin / өргөстэй шилбэ örgöstei shilbe / ᠥᠷᠭᠡᠰᠦᠲᠡᠢ ᠰᠢᠯᠪᠢ örgesütei silbi r, and historically also the upper part of final g and separated a.
'Looped shin' / гогцоотой шилбэ gogtsootoi shilbe / ᠭᠣᠭᠴᠤᠭᠠᠲᠠᠢ ᠰᠢᠯᠪᠢ γoγčuγatai silbi t and d.
'Hollow shin' / хөндий шилбэ khöndii shilbe / ᠬᠥᠨᠳᠡᠢ ᠰᠢᠯᠪᠢ köndei silbi h and zh.
'Bow' / нум num / ᠨᠤᠮᠤ numu final i, oü, and r; ng, b, p, k, g, etc.
᠊ᠣ 'Belly, stomach,' loop, contour / гэдэс gedes / ᠭᠡᠳᠡᠰᠦ gedesü the enclosed part of oü, b, p, initial t and d, etc.
'hind-gut' / арын гэдэс aryn gedes / ᠠᠷᠤᠶᠢᠨ ᠭᠡᠳᠡᠰᠦ(?) aruyin gedesü initial t and d.
᠊ᠹ Flaglet, tuft / зартиг zartig / ᠵᠠᠷᠲᠢᠭ ǰartiγ / Wylie: 'jar-thig the left-side diacritic of f and z.
[...] / ятгар зартиг yatgar zartig / [...] initial q and γ.
᠊ᠮ 'Braid, pigtail' / гэзэг gezeg / ᠭᠡᠵᠢᠭᠡ geǰige m.
'Horn' / эвэр ever / ᠡᠪᠡᠷ eber
᠊ᠯ 'Horn' / эвэр ever / ᠡᠪᠡᠷ eber l.
'Braid, pigtail' / гэзэг gezeg / ᠭᠡᠵᠢᠭᠡ geǰige
᠊ᠰ 'Corner of the mouth' / зав(и/ь)ж zavij / ᠵᠠᠪᠠᠵᠢ ǰabaǰi s and š.
[...] / сэрээ эвэр seree ever / ᠰᠡᠷᠡᠭᠡ ᠡᠪᠡᠷ serege eber č.
'Fork' / ац ats / ᠠᠴᠠ ača
[...] / жалжгар эвэр jaljgar ever / [...] ǰ.
'Tusk, fang' / соёо soyoo / ᠰᠣᠶᠤᠭ(?) soyuγa


Vowels

Letter[3]:17, 18[2]:546
a a Scholarly/Scientific transliteration[36]
а а Cyrillic transliteration[25][36]
Isolate
Word-initial
Medial
Connected final
(?) Separated final
Ligatures[3]:22–23[2]:546
ba pa Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ба па Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠠ[lower-alpha 7] ᠫᠠ Isolate
ᠪᠠ ᠫᠠ Word-initial
ᠪᠠ ᠫᠠ Medial
ᠪᠠ ᠫᠠ Final
Separated suffixes[note 1]
a Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
а Cyrillic transliteration
(?) Separated suffix-initial
(?) Separated suffix
  • Transcribes Chakhar /ɑ/;[13][37] Khalkha /a/, /ə/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • (?) = connected galik final.[3]:26–28[1]:38–39
  • Medial and final forms may be distinguished from those of other tooth-shaped letters through: vowel harmony (e), the shape of adjacent consonants (see QA-q/k and GA-γ/g below), and position in syllable sequence (n, ng, q, γ, d).[21]
  • The final tail extends to the left after bow-shaped consonants (such as b, p, f, KA-g, and KHA-k), and to the right in all other cases.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur aleph, written twice for isolate and initial forms.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with A using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:17, 18–19[2]:546
e e Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
э э Cyrillic transliteration
Isolate
Word-initial
Medial
Connected final
(?) Separated final
Ligatures[3]:22–23, 24–25[2]:546
be pe ke ge Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
бэ пэ хэ гэ Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠡ ᠫᠡ ᠬᠡ Isolate
ᠪᠡ ᠫᠡ ᠬᠡ Word-initial
ᠪᠡ ᠫᠡ ᠬᠡ Medial
ᠪᠡ ᠫᠡ ᠬᠡ Final
Separated suffixes[note 2]
e Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
э Cyrillic transliteration
Separated suffix-initial
(?) Separated suffix
  • Transcribes Chakhar /ə/;[13][37] Khalkha /i/, /e/, /ə/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • Medial and final forms may be distinguished from those of other tooth-shaped letters through: vowel harmony (a) and its effect on the shape of a words consonants (see QA-q/k and GA-γ/g below), or position in syllable sequence (n, ng, d).[21]
  • = a traditional initial form.[40]:6
  • The final tail extends to the left after bow-shaped consonants (such as b, p, QA-k, and GA-g), and to the right in all other cases.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur aleph.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with E using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:17, 19[2]:546
i Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
и Cyrillic transliteration
Isolate
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
[lower-alpha 8] Medial (syllable-final)
Final
Ligatures[3]:22–23, 24–25[2]:546
bi pi ki gi Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
би пи хи ги Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠢ[lower-alpha 9] ᠫᠢ ᠬᠢ Isolate
ᠪᠢ ᠫᠢ ᠬᠢ Word-initial
ᠪᠢ ᠫᠢ ᠬᠢ Medial
ᠪᠢ ᠫᠢ ᠬᠢ Final
Separated suffixes[note 3]
i Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
и Cyrillic transliteration
(?) Separated suffix-initial
(?) Separated suffix
  • Transcribes Chakhar /i/ or /ɪ/;[13][37] Khalkha /i/, /ə/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • Today often absorbed into a preceding syllable when at the end of a word.
  • Written medially with the single stroke after a consonant, and with two after a vowel (with rare exceptions like ᠨᠠᠮᠠ naima 'eight' or ᠨᠠᠮᠠᠨ naiman 'eight'/tribal name).[3]:31[16]:9, 39[1]:38
  • = a handwritten Inner Mongolian variant on the sequence yi (as in ᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ / ᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ sayin 'good' being written ᠰᠠᠢ sain).[16]:58[1]:38[41]:346
  • Derived from Old Uyghur yodh, preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with I using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:17, 19–20[2]:546
o Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
о Cyrillic transliteration
Isolate
Word-initial
Medial
Final
Ligatures[3]:22–23[2]:546
bo po Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
бо по Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠣ[lower-alpha 10] ᠫᠣ Isolate
ᠪᠣ ᠫᠣ Word-initial
ᠪᠣ ᠫᠣ Medial
ᠪᠣ ᠫᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /ɔ/;[13][37] Khalkha /ɔ/, /ə/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • Undistinguishable from u in native words, except when inferred by its placement.[3]:19[16]:9–10
  • = the final form used in loanwords (as in ᠷᠠᠳᠢᠣ radio).[1]:35[35]
  • Derived from Old Uyghur waw, preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with W using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:17, 19–20[2]:546
u Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
у Cyrillic transliteration
Isolate
Word-initial
Medial
Final
Ligatures[3]:22–23[2]:546
bu pu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
бу пу Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠤ ᠫᠤ Isolate
ᠪᠤ ᠫᠤ Word-initial
ᠪᠤ ᠫᠤ Medial
ᠪᠤ ᠫᠤ Final
Separated suffixes[note 4]
u u un ud uruγu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
у у ун уд уругу Cyrillic transliteration
(?) Suffix
ᠤᠨ(?) ᠤᠳ(?)
ᠤᠷᠤᠭᠤ(?)
  • Transcribes Chakhar /ʊ/;[13][37] Khalkha /ʊ/, /ə/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • Undistinguishable from o in native words, except when inferred by its placement.[3]:19[16]:9–10
  • Derived from Old Uyghur waw, preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with V using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:17, 20[2]:546
ö Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ө Cyrillic transliteration
Isolate
Word-initial
Medial (word-initial syllable)
Medial (subsequent syllables)
Final
Ligatures[3]:22–23, 24–25[2]:546
Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
бө пө хө гө Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠥ ᠫᠥ ᠭᠥ(?) (w/o tail) Isolate
ᠭᠥ(?) (w/ tail)
ᠪᠥ ᠫᠥ ᠭᠥ Word-initial
ᠪᠥ ᠫᠥ ᠭᠥ Medial
ᠪᠥ ᠫᠥ ᠭᠥ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /o/;[13][37] Khalkha /o/[ɵ], /ə/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • Undistinguishable from ü in native words, except when inferred by its placement.[3]:20[16]:9–10
  • = an alternative final form; also used in loanwords.[1]:39
  • The first medial form is used in the first syllable of native words,[2]:546 and in subsequent medial positions of loanwords.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur waw, followed by a yodh in word-initial syllables, and preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with O using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:17, 20[2]:546
ü Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ү Cyrillic transliteration
Isolate
Word-initial
Medial (word-initial syllable)
Medial (subsequent syllables)
Final
Ligatures[3]:22–23, 24–25[2]:546
Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
бү пү хү гү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠦ ᠫᠦ ᠭᠦ(?) (w/o tail)[lower-alpha 11] Isolate
ᠭᠦ(?) (w/ tail)
ᠪᠦ ᠫᠦ ᠭᠦ Word-initial
ᠪᠦ ᠫᠦ ᠭᠦ Medial
ᠪᠦ ᠫᠦ ᠭᠦ Final
Separated suffixes[note 5]
ü ü ün ügei üd Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ү ү үн үгэи үд Cyrillic transliteration
(?) Suffix
ᠦᠨ(?) ᠦᠳ(?)
ᠦᠭᠡᠢ(?)
  • Transcribes Chakhar /u/;[13][37] Khalkha /u/, /ə/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • Undistinguishable from ö in native words, except when inferred by its placement.[3]:20[16]:9–10
  • = an alternative final form; also used in loanwords.[1]:39 Additionally used in native and modern Mongolian ᠰᠦ(?) 'milk' (Classical Mongolian ᠰᠦ(?) or ᠰᠦᠨ sün).[lower-alpha 6]:741, 744[1]:39
  • The first medial form is used in the first syllable of native words,[2]:546 and in subsequent medial positions of loanwords.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur waw, followed by a yodh in word-initial syllables, and preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with U using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[1]:38–39
ē Scholarly/Scientific transliteration[lower-alpha 12]
е Cyrillic transliteration
Isolate
Word-initial
Medial
Final
Example ligatures
Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
фе ке ке Cyrillic transliteration
ᠹᠧ ᠺᠧ ᠻᠧ Isolate
ᠹᠧ ᠺᠧ ᠻᠧ Word-initial
ᠹᠧ ᠺᠧ ᠻᠧ Medial
ᠹᠧ ᠺᠧ ᠻᠧ Final
  • Stands in for e in loanwords,[1]:38[37] as in ᠧᠦᠷᠣᠫᠠ ēüropa / европ yevrop.[35]
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+E using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Consecutive vowels

Doubled vowels[3]:10, 30[16]:59[note 6]
ii oo uu üü Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ии оо уу үү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠤᠤ(?) [lower-alpha 13] Isolate
ᠤᠤ Word-initial
ᠢᠢ ᠣᠣ Medial
ᠤᠤ Final
  • The doubled vowels ii, uu, and üü mark these as long. Medial oo is instead both used in a few words to mark the vowel as short, and to distinguish it from u.[3]:30
Diphthongs[3]:31–32[16]:58[18]:111[1]:41–42
[...]i ai ei ii oi ui üi Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
[...]и аи эи ии ои уи үи Cyrillic transliteration
[lower-alpha 14] ᠠᡳ ᠡᡳ ᠣᡳ Word-initial
ᠠᡳ ᠣᡳ Medial
ᠠᠢ ᠣᠢ Final
Diphthongs, continued[3]:31–32
au ua uua Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ау эү уа ууа Cyrillic transliteration
ᠠᠤ Word-initial
ᠠᠤ Medial
(?) [lower-alpha 15] ᠤᠤ(?) Final

Native consonants

Letter[3]:17, 20–21[2]:546[31]:212–213
n Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
н Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
(?) Medial (syllable-initial)
(?) Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:8
na ne na ne ni no nu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
на нэ на нэ ни но ну нө нү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠨᠠ ᠨᠢ ᠨᠣ ᠨᠥ Isolate
ᠨᠠ ᠨᠢ ᠨᠣ ᠨᠥ Word-initial
ᠨᠠ ᠨᠢ ᠨᠣ Medial
(?) ᠨᠠ ᠨᠢ ᠨᠣ Final
Separated suffixes[note 7]
na ne nu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
на нэ ну нү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠨᠠ ᠨᠤ Suffix-initial
  • Transcribes Chakhar /n/;[13][37] Khalkha /n/, and /ŋ/.[18]:40–42
  • Distinction from other tooth-shaped letters by position in syllable sequence.
  • Dotted before a vowel (attached or separated); undotted before a consonant (syllable-final) or a whitespace.[3]:20[2]:546[17]:6[13] Final dotted n is also found in modern Mongolian words.[1]:37
  • Derived from Old Uyghur nun.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 114[1]:35
  • Produced with N using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:15, 17[2]:546[31]:212–213
ng Scholarly/Scientific transliteration[lower-alpha 12]
нг Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /ŋ/;[13][37] Khalkha /ŋ/.[18]:40–42
  • Transcribes /ng/ in Tibetan /nga/; Sanskrit /ṅa/.[3]:28
  • Derived from Old Uyghur nun-kaph digraph.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 115[1]:35
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+N using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:(12), 17, 22[2]:546[31]:212–213
b Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
б Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:16
ba be bi bo bu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ба бэ би бо бу бө бү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠠ[lower-alpha 7] ᠪᠢ[lower-alpha 9] ᠪᠣ ᠪᠥ Isolate
ᠪᠠ ᠪᠢ ᠪᠣ ᠪᠥ Word-initial
ᠪᠠ ᠪᠢ ᠪᠣ Medial
ᠪᠠ ᠪᠢ ᠪᠣ Final
Separated suffixes[note 8]
ban ben bar ber Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
бан бэн бар бэр Cyrillic transliteration
ᠪᠠᠨ ᠪᠠᠷ Suffixes
  • Transcribes Chakhar /b/;[13][37] Khalkha /p/, /w/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • For Classical Mongolian, Latin v is used only for transcribing foreign words, so most в (v) in Mongolian Cyrillic correspond to б (b) in Classical Mongolian.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur pe.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 115[1]:35
  • Produced with B using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:12, 15, 17, 23[2]:546[31]:212–213
p Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
п Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
() Final
C-V syllables[25]:46
pa pe pi po pu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
па пэ пи по пу пө пү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠫᠠ ᠫᠢ ᠫᠣ ᠫᠥ Isolate
ᠫᠠ ᠫᠢ ᠫᠣ ᠫᠥ Word-initial
ᠫᠠ ᠫᠢ ᠫᠣ Medial
ᠫᠠ ᠫᠢ ᠫᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /p/;[13][37] Khalkha //.[18]:40–42
  • Only at the beginning of Mongolian words (although words with an initial p tend to be foreign).[20]:5[23]:27[13]
  • Transcribes /p/ in Tibetan /pa/.[43]:(ᢒ?) 96, 155, 247[3]:28
  • Galik letter, derived from Mongolian b.[1]:35
  • Produced with P using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

(1/2)

Letter[3]:14, 17, 21[2]:546[31]:212–213
q Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
х Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[3]:15[25]:19
qa qe qa qe qi qo qu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ха хэ ха хэ хи хо ху хө хү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠬᠠ ᠬᠣ Isolate
ᠬᠠ ᠬᠣ Word-initial
ᠬᠠ ᠬᠣ Medial
(?) ᠬᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /x/;[13][37] Khalkha /x/.
  • Distinction from other tooth-shaped letters by position in syllable sequence.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur merged gimel and heth.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113–115[1]:35
  • Produced with H using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

(2/2)

Letter[3]:14, 17, 24–25[2]:546[31]:212–213
k Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
х Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[3]:15[25]:19
ka ke ki ko ku Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ха хэ хи хо ху хө хү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠬᠡ ᠬᠢ ᠬᠥ(?) (w/o tail)[lower-alpha 11] Isolate
ᠬᠥ(?) (w/ tail)[lower-alpha 16]
ᠬᠡ ᠬᠢ ᠬᠥ Word-initial
ᠬᠡ ᠬᠢ ᠬᠥ Medial
ᠬᠡ ᠬᠢ ᠬᠥ Final
Separated suffixes[note 9]
ki kin Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
хи хин Cyrillic transliteration
ᠬᠢ ᠬᠢᠨ Suffixes
  • Transcribes Chakhar /x/;[13][37] Khalkha /x/.
  • Syllable-initially undistinguishable from g.[3]:15, 24[16]:9
  • Derived from Old Uyghur kaph.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113, 115[1]:35
  • Produced with H using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

(1/2)

Letter[3]:14, 17, 21–22[2]:546[31]:212–213
γ Scholarly/Scientific transliteration[lower-alpha 12]
г Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
(?) Medial (syllable-initial)
(?) Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[3]:15[25]:21
γa γe γa γe γi γo γu γö γü Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
га гэ га гэ ги го гу гө гү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠭᠠ ᠭᠣ Isolate
ᠭᠠ ᠭᠣ Word-initial
ᠭᠠ ᠭᠣ Medial
(?) ᠭᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /ɣ/;[13] Khalkha /ɢ/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • Dotted before a vowel (attached or separated); undotted before a consonant (syllable-final) or a whitespace.[3]:21[2]:546[17]:5[13]
  • May turn silent between two adjacent vowels, and merge these into a long vowel or diphthong.[3]:36–37[1]:7 Qaγan (ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ) 'Khagan' for instance, is read as Qaan unless reading classical literary Mongolian. Some exceptions like tsa-g-aan 'white' exist.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur merged gimel and heth.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113–115[1]:35
  • Produced with G using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

(2/2)

Letter[3]:14–15, 17, 24–25[2]:546[31]:212–213
g Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
г Cyrillic transliteration
() Word-initial
(?) Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
(?) Final
C-V syllables[3]:15[25]:21
ge gi go gu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
га гэ ги го гу гө гү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠭᠡ ᠭᠢ ᠭᠥ(?) (w/o tail) Isolate
ᠭᠥ (w/ tail)
ᠭᠡ ᠭᠢ ᠭᠥ Word-initial
ᠭᠡ ᠭᠢ ᠭᠥ Medial
ᠭᠡ ᠬᠢ ᠭᠥ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /g/;[13][37] Khalkha /g/.
  • Syllable-initially undistinguishable from k.[3]:15, 24[16]:9 When it must be distinguished from k medially, it can be written twice (as in ᠥᠭᠭᠦᠭᠰᠡᠨ öggügsen 'given', compared with ᠦᠬᠦᠭᠰᠡᠨ ükügsen 'dead').[16]:59[35]
  • Occurs word-initially with a consonant following it in loanwords, such as ᠭᠱᠠᠨ(?) gšan 'moment' (dotless š example), or ᠭᠷᠠᠮᠮ(?) gramm 'gram'.[3]:15, 32, 34[35] The final form is also found written like the bow-shaped Manchu final k.[44][1]:39
  • May turn silent between two adjacent vowels, and merge these into a long vowel or diphthong.[3]:36–37[1]:7 Deger for instance, is read as deer. Some exceptions like ügüi 'no' exist.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur kaph.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113, 115[1]:35
  • Produced with G using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13, 17, 24[2]:546[31]:212, 214
m Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
м Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:8
ma me ma me mi mo mu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ма мэ ма мэ ми мо му мө мү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠮᠠ ᠮᠢ ᠮᠣ ᠮᠥ Isolate
ᠮᠠ ᠮᠢ ᠮᠣ ᠮᠥ Word-initial
ᠮᠠ ᠮᠢ ᠮᠣ Medial
(?) ᠮᠠ ᠮᠢ ᠮᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /m/;[13][37] Khalkha /m/.[18]:40–42
  • Derived from Old Uyghur mem.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with M using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13, 17[2]:546[31]:212, 214
l Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
л Cyrillic transliteration
() Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:8
la le la le li lo lu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ла лэ ла лэ ли ло лу лө лү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠯᠠ ᠯᠢ ᠯᠣ ᠯᠥ Isolate
ᠯᠠ ᠯᠢ ᠯᠣ ᠯᠥ Word-initial
ᠯᠠ ᠯᠢ ᠯᠣ Medial
(?) ᠯᠠ ᠯᠢ ᠯᠣ Final
Separated suffixes[note 10]
lu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
лу лү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠯᠤ Suffix-initial
  • Transcribes Chakhar /l/;[13][37] Khalkha /ɮ/.[18]:40–42
  • Not occurring word-initially in native words.[16]:10
  • Forms a ligature with a preceding "bow"-shaped consonant in loanwords such as ᠪᠯᠠᠮ(?) blam-a 'lama' from Tibetan བླ་མ་ Wylie: bla-ma.[3]:15, 32[1]:36
  • Derived from Old Uyghur hooked resh.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with L using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13, 17, 23[2]:546[31]:212, 214
s Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
с Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:41
sa se[45] sa se si so su Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
са сэ са сэ си со су сө сү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠰᠠ ᠰᠢ ᠰᠣ ᠰᠥ Isolate
ᠰᠠ ᠰᠢ ᠰᠣ ᠰᠥ Word-initial
ᠰᠠ ᠰᠢ ᠰᠣ Medial
(?) ᠰᠠ ᠰᠢ ᠰᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /s/, or /ʃ/ before i;[16]:58[13] Khalkha /s/, or /ʃ/ before i. Before a morpheme boundary however, there is no change of s to /ʃ/ before an i.[16]:84
  • Derived from Old Uyghur merged samekh and shin.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with S using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13, 17, 23[2]:546[31]:212, 214
š Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ш Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
() Final
C-V syllables[25]:41
ša še ši šo šu šö šü Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ша шэ ши шо шу шө шү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠱᠠ ᠱᠢ ᠱᠣ ᠱᠥ Isolate
ᠱᠠ ᠱᠢ ᠱᠣ ᠱᠥ Word-initial
ᠱᠠ ᠱᠢ ᠱᠣ Medial
ᠱᠠ ᠱᠢ ᠱᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /ʃ/;[13][37] Khalkha /ʃ/.
  • Final š is only found in modern Mongolian words.[3]:15[1]:37
  • Derived from Old Uyghur merged samekh and shin.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113–114[1]:35
  • Produced with X using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13, 17, 23[2]:546[31]:212, 214
t Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
т Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:31
ta te ti to tu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
та тэ ти то ту тө тү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠲᠠ[lower-alpha 17] ᠲᠢ ᠲᠣ ᠲᠥ Isolate
ᠲᠠ ᠲᠢ ᠲᠣ ᠲᠥ Word-initial
ᠲᠠ ᠲᠢ ᠲᠣ Medial
ᠲᠠ ᠲᠢ ᠲᠣ Final
Separated suffixes[note 11]
ta te tu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
та тэ ту тү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠲᠠ ᠲᠤ Suffix-initial
  • Transcribes Chakhar /t/;[13][37] Khalkha /t/.[18]:40–42
  • Syllable-initially undistinguishable from d in native words.[3]:23[16]:9[13]
  • Derived from Old Uyghur taw (initial) and lamedh (medial).[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Positional variants on taw // are used consistently for t in foreign words.[3]:23[1]:37
  • Produced with T using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13, 17, 23[2]:546[31]:212, 214
d Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
д Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
(?) Medial (syllable-initial)
(?) Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:31
da de di do du Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
да дэ ди до ду дө дү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠳᠠ[lower-alpha 17] ᠳᠢ ᠳᠣ ᠳᠥ Isolate
ᠳᠠ ᠳᠢ ᠳᠣ ᠳᠥ Word-initial
ᠳᠠ ᠳᠢ ᠳᠣ Medial
ᠳᠠ ᠳᠢ ᠳᠣ Final
Separated suffixes[note 12]
d da de du Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
д да дэ ду дү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠳᠠ(?) ᠳᠤ(?) Suffix-initial
  • Transcribes Chakhar /d/;[13][37] Khalkha /t/, and //.[18]:40–42
  • Syllable-initially undistinguishable from t in native words.[3]:23[16]:9[13] When it must be distinguished from t medially, it can be written twice, and with both medial forms (as in ᠬᠤᠳᠳᠤᠭ qudduγ 'well', compared with ᠬᠤᠲᠤᠭ qutuγ 'holy').[16]:59[35] Alternatively, a dot can be used to the right of the letter (as in sedkil 'thought').[lower-alpha 6]:680[3]:26
  • The belly-tooth-shaped form is used before consonants (syllable-final), the other before vowels.[16]:58[17]:5
  • Derived from Old Uyghur taw (initial, belly-tooth-shaped medial, and final) and lamedh (other medial form).[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Positional variants on lamedh // are used consistently for d in foreign words.[3]:23 (As in ᠧᠩ dēng / дэн den, ᠳᠡᠳ ded / дэд ded, or ᠡᠳ ed / эд ed).[35]
  • Produced with D using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13, 17[2]:546[31]:212, 214
č Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ч Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
() Final
C-V syllables[25]:38
ča če či čo ču čö čü Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ча чэ чи чо чу чө чү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠴᠠ ᠴᠢ[lower-alpha 18] ᠴᠣ ᠴᠤ[lower-alpha 19] ᠴᠥ Isolate
ᠴᠠ ᠴᠢ ᠴᠣ ᠴᠥ Word-initial
ᠴᠠ ᠴᠢ ᠴᠣ Medial
ᠴᠠ ᠴᠢ ᠴᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /t͡ʃ/;[13][37] Khalkha /t͡ʃʰ/, and /t͡sʰ/ (Mongolian Cyrillic ч, and ц, respectively).[13]:§ 1.2[20]:2
  • In Buryat, a derived letter with two dots on the right was used in places where č was pronounced as š.[47]
  • Derived from Old Uyghur (through early Mongolian) tsade.[16]:59[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with Q using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13, 17, 24[2]:546[31]:212, 214
ǰ Scholarly/Scientific transliteration[lower-alpha 12]
ж Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
() Final
C-V syllables[25]:28
ǰa ǰe ǰa ǰe ǰi ǰo ǰu ǰö ǰü Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
жа жэ жа жэ жи жо жу жө жү Cyrillic transliteration
(?) [lower-alpha 20] ᠵᠠ[lower-alpha 21] ᠵᠢ ᠵᠣ ᠵᠥ Isolate
ᠵᠠ ᠵᠢ ᠵᠣ ᠵᠥ Word-initial
ᠵᠠ ᠵᠢ ᠵᠣ Medial
ᠵᠠ ᠵᠢ ᠵᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /d͡ʒ/;[13][37] Khalkha /d͡ʒ/, and d͡z (Mongolian Cyrillic ж, and з, respectively).[13]:§ 1.2[20]:2
  • Derived from Old Uyghur yodh (initial), and Old Uyghur (through early Mongolian) tsade (medial).[16]:59[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with J using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:14, 17, 24[2]:546[31]:212, 214
y Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
й Cyrillic transliteration
(?) Word-initial
(?)
(?) Medial (syllable-initial)
(?)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:25
ya ye ya ye yi yo yu Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
йа йэ йа йэ йи йо йу йө йү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠶᠠ ᠶᠢ ᠶᠣ ᠶᠥ Isolate
ᠶᠠ ᠶᠢ ᠶᠣ ᠶᠥ Word-initial
ᠶᠠ ᠶᠢ ᠶᠣ Medial
(?) ᠶᠠ ᠶᠢ ᠶᠣ Final
Separated suffixes[note 13]
y yi yin yuγan yügen Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
й йи йин йуган йүгэн Cyrillic transliteration
ᠶᠢ(?) ᠶᠢᠨ(?) Suffixes
ᠶᠤᠭᠠᠨ ᠶᠦᠭᠡᠨ(?)
  • Transcribes Chakhar /j/;[13][37] Khalkha /j/.[18]:40–42
  • The unhooked initial and medial forms are older ones.[2]:545, 546[1]:40
  • Derived from Old Uyghur yodh, through borrowed Manchu hooked yodh.[2]:545[16]:59
  • Produced with Y using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[3]:13–14, 17[2]:546[31]:212, 214
r Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
р Cyrillic transliteration
() Word-initial
Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
Final
C-V syllables[25]:14
ra re ra re ri ro ru Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ра рэ ра рэ ри ро ру рө рү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠷᠠ ᠷᠢ ᠷᠣ ᠷᠥ Isolate
ᠷᠠ ᠷᠢ ᠷᠣ ᠷᠥ Word-initial
ᠷᠠ ᠷᠢ ᠷᠣ Medial
(?) ᠷᠠ ᠷᠢ ᠷᠣ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /r/;[13][37] Khalkha /r/.[18]:40–42
  • Not occurring word-initially except in loanwords.[3]:14 Transcribed foreign words usually get a vowel prepended; transcribing Русь (Russia) results in ᠣᠷᠤᠰ Oros.
  • Derived from Old Uyghur resh.[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113[1]:35
  • Produced with R using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Foreign consonants

A KFC in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, China, with a trilingual sign in Chinese, Mongolian and English
From left to right : Phagspa, Lantsa, Tibetan, Mongolian, Chinese and Cyrillic

Letter[1]:38[25]:44–45
w Scholarly/Scientific transliteration[lower-alpha 12]
в Cyrillic transliteration
[lower-alpha 22] Word-initial
[lower-alpha 23] Medial (syllable-initial)
Medial (syllable-final)
(?) [lower-alpha 24] Final
C-V syllables[25]:45
wa we[lower-alpha 25] Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ва вэ Cyrillic transliteration
(?) [lower-alpha 26] Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /w/;[13][37]
  • Used to transcribe foreign words (originally for v in Sanskrit /va/). Transcribes /w/ in Tibetan ཝ /wa/;[43]:254[3]:28[38]:113 Old Uyghur and Chinese loanwords.[1]:34–35
  • Derived from Old Uyghur bet,[2]:539–540, 545–546[38]:111, 113 and "waw" (before a separated vowel).
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+W using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[25]:45
f Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ф Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial
Final
Ligatures[25]:45
fa fi fo Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
фа фе фи фо фү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠹᠠ ᠹᠧ ᠹᠢ ᠹᠣ ᠹᠦ Isolate
ᠹᠠ ᠹᠧ ᠹᠢ ᠹᠣ ᠹᠦ Word-initial
ᠹᠠ ᠹᠧ ᠹᠢ ᠹᠣ ᠹᠦ Medial
ᠹᠠ ᠹᠧ ᠹᠢ ᠹᠣ ᠹᠦ Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /f/;[13][37]
  • Used to transcribe foreign words.
  • Transcribes /pʰ/ in Tibetan /pʰa/.[43]:96, 247[3]:28
  • Galik letter, derived from Mongolian b.[1]:35
  • Produced with F using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter
g Scholarly/Scientific transliteration[lower-alpha 12]
к Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial
Final
Ligatures
ga gi go Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ка ке ки ко кү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠺᠠ ᠺᠧ ᠺᠢ ᠺᠣ ᠺᠦ(?) (w/ tail)[lower-alpha 27] Isolate
ᠺᠠ ᠺᠧ ᠺᠢ ᠺᠣ ᠺᠦ Word-initial
ᠺᠠ ᠺᠧ ᠺᠢ ᠺᠣ ᠺᠦ(?) (w/ yodh)[lower-alpha 28] Medial
ᠺᠠ ᠺᠧ ᠺᠢ ᠺᠣ ᠺᠦ(?) (w/ tail)[lower-alpha 29] Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /k/;[13][37]
  • Used to transcribe foreign words (originally for g in Tibetan /ga/; Sanskrit /ga/).[43]:87, 244, 251[3]:28
  • Galik letter.[16]:59–60
  • Produced with K using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[25]:46
k Scholarly/Scientific transliteration[lower-alpha 12]
к Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial
Final
Ligatures[25]:46
ka ki ko Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ка ке ки ко кү Cyrillic transliteration
ᠻᠠ ᠻᠧ ᠻᠢ ᠻᠣ ᠻᠦ Isolate
ᠻᠠ ᠻᠧ ᠻᠢ ᠻᠣ ᠻᠦ Word-initial
ᠻᠠ ᠻᠧ ᠻᠢ ᠻᠣ ᠻᠦ Medial
ᠻᠠ ᠻᠧ ᠻᠢ ᠻᠣ ᠻᠦ Final
  • Used to transcribe foreign words (originally for in Tibetan /kʰa/; Sanskrit /kha/).[43]:86, 244, 251[3]:28
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+K using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[25]:46
c Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ц Cyrillic transliteration
[lower-alpha 30] Word-initial
[lower-alpha 31] Medial
[lower-alpha 32] Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /t͡s/;[13][37]
  • Used to transcribe foreign words (originally for tsʰ in Tibetan /tsʰa/; Sanskrit /cha/).[43]:89, 144, 245, 254[3]:28
  • Galik letter, derived from Preclassical Mongolian tsade č/ǰ ~.[1]:35
  • Produced with C using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[25]:46
z Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
з Cyrillic transliteration
[lower-alpha 33] Word-initial
[lower-alpha 34] Medial
[lower-alpha 35] Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /d͡z/;[13][37]
  • Used to transcribe foreign words (originally for dz in Tibetan /dza/; Sanskrit /ja/).[43]:89, 144, 245, 254[3]:28
  • Galik letter, derived from Preclassical Mongolian tsade č/ǰ ~.[1]:35
  • Produced with Z using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[25]:47
h Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
х Cyrillic transliteration
[lower-alpha 36] Word-initial
Medial
Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /h/[x];[13][37]
  • Used to transcribe foreign words (originally for h in Tibetan /ha/, /-ha/; Sanskrit /ha/).[43]:69, 102, 194, 244–249, 255[3]:27–28[16]:59
  • Galik letter, borrowed from the Tibetan alphabet, and preceded by an aleph for initial form.[16]:59–60[2]:545–546[1]:35
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+H using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[25]:47
ž Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ж Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial
Final
  • Transcribes Chakhar /ʐ/;[13][37]
  • Transcribes Chinese r /ɻ/ ([ɻ ~ ʐ];[lower-alpha 37] as in Ri), and used in Inner Mongolia. Always followed by an i.[37]
  • Transliterates /ʒ/ in Tibetan /ʒa/.[43]:254 (紗)
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+R using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter[25]:47
lh Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
лх Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial
Final
  • Transcribes Tibetan lh (as in ᡀᠠᠰᠠ Lhasa).[37][50]
  • Digraph composed of l and h.[23]:30 Transcribes /lh/ in Tibetan ལྷ /lha/.[43]:220[3]:27
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+L using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter
zh Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
з Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial
Final
  • Transcribes zh in the Chinese syllable zhi only, and used in Inner Mongolia.[1]:39[37]
  • Galik letter, borrowed from the Tibetan alphabet.[1]:35
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+Z using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Letter
ch Scholarly/Scientific transliteration
ч Cyrillic transliteration
Word-initial
Medial
Final
  • Transcribes ch in the Chinese syllable chi (as in Chī), and used in Inner Mongolia.[43]:91, 145, 153, 246[3]:28[37]
  • Produced with ⇧ Shift+C using the Windows Mongolian keyboard layout.[39]

Punctuation

Example of word-breaking the name Oyirad 'Oirat', 1604 manuscript

Red (cinnabar) ink is used in many manuscripts, either to symbolize emphasis or respect.[28]:241

Punctuation[3]:28[26]:30[28]:99[36]:3[19]:535–536[35]
Form(s) Name Function(s)
бярга byarga /
ᠪᠢᠷᠭ(?) birγa
Marks start of a book, chapter, passage, or first line
[...]
Цуваа цэг tsuvaa tseg /
ᠴᠤᠪᠠᠭᠠ ᠴᠡᠭ(?) čubaγa čeg
Ellipsis
'Dot' / Цэг tseg /
ᠴᠡᠭ čeg
Comma
'Double-dot' / Давхар цэг davkhar tseg /
ᠳᠠᠪᠬᠤᠷ ᠴᠡᠭ dabqur čeg
Period / full stop
Хос цэг Colon
'Four-fold/quadripartite dot' / Дөрвөлжин цэг dörvöljin tseg /
ᠳᠥᠷᠪᠡᠯᠵᠢᠨ ᠴᠡᠭ dörbelǰin čeg
Marks end of a passage, paragraph, or chapter
Mongolian soft hyphen
Нуруу nuruu /
ᠨᠢᠷᠤᠭᠤ niruγu
Mongolian non-breaking hyphen, or stem extender

Numerals

Examples of numbers 10 and 89: written horizontally on a stamp and vertically on a hillside, respectively

Mongolian numerals are either written from left to right, or from top to bottom.[3]:54[25]:9

0123456789

Examples

Writing styles

As exemplified in this section, the shapes of glyphs may vary widely between different styles of writing and choice of medium with which to produce them. The development of written Mongolian can be divided into the three periods of pre-classical (beginning – 17th century), classical (16/17th century – 20th century), and modern (20th century onward):[lower-alpha 6][3]:2–3, 17, 23, 25–26[16]:58–59[2]:539–540, 545–546[25]:62–63[38]:111, 113–114[18]:40–42, 100–101, 117[1]:34–37[51]:8–11[31]:211–215

  • Rounded letterforms tend to be more prevalent with handwritten styles (compare printed and handwritten arban 'ten').
Blockprinted Pen-written form Modern brushwritten form Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. form semi-modern forms
arban 'ten'
  • Final letterforms with a right-pointing tail (such as those of a, e, n, q, γ, m, l, s, š, and d) may have the notch preceding it in printed form, written in a span between two extremes: from as a more or less tapered point, to a fully rounded curve in handwriting.
  • The long final tails of a, e, n, and d in the texts of pre-classical Mongolian can become elongated vertically to fill up the remainder of a line. Such tails are used consistently for these letters in the earliest 13th to 15th century Uyghur Mongolian style of texts.
Blockprinted Pen-written forms Modern brushwritten forms Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. forms semi-modern forms
ača/eče
un/ün
ud/üd
ba 'and'
  • A hooked form of yodh was borrowed from the Manchu alphabet in the 19th century to distinguish initial y from ǰ. The handwritten form of final-shaped yodh (i, ǰ, y), can be greatly shortened in comparison with its initial and medial forms.
Blockprinted Pen-written forms Modern brushwritten forms Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. forms semi-modern forms
i
yi
yin
sain/sayin 'good'
yeke 'great'
  • The definite status or function of diacritics were not established prior to classical Mongolian. As such, the dotted letters n, γ, and š, can be found sporadically dotted or altogether lacking them. Additionally, both q and γ could be (double-)dotted to identify them regardless of their sound values. Final dotted n is also found in modern Mongolian words. Any diacritical dots of γ and n can be offset downward from their respective letters (as in ᠭᠣᠣᠯ γool and ᠭᠦᠨ(?) ni).
  • When a bow-shaped consonant is followed by a vowel in Uyghur style text, said bow can be found to notably overlap it (see bi). A final b has, in its final pre-modern form, a bow-less final form as opposed to the common modern one:[1]:39
Blockprinted Pen-written forms Modern brushwritten forms Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. forms semi-modern forms
u/ü
bi 'I'
ab (intensifying particle)
  • As in / kü, köke, ǰüg and separated a/e, two teeth can also make up the top-left part of an kaph (k/g) or aleph (a/e) in pre-classical texts. In back-vocalic words of Uyghur Mongolian, qi was used in place of ki, and can therefore be used to identify this stage of the written language. An example of this appears in the suffix taqi/daqi.[18]:100, 117
Blockprinted Pen-written forms Modern brushwritten forms Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. forms semi-modern forms
a/e
luγa
köke 'blue'
ǰüg 'direction'
  • In pre-modern Mongolian, medial ml (ᠮᠯ) forms a ligature: .
  • A pre-modern variant form for final s consisted of a single tail (), derived from Old Uyghur zayin. It tended to be replaced by the mouth-shaped form and is no longer used. An early example of it is found in the name of Gengis Khan on the Stele of Yisüngge: ᠴᠢᠩᠭᠢᠰ Činggis.
Blockprinted Pen-written forms Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. forms semi-modern forms
es()e 'not, no', (negation)
ulus 'nation'
  • The lamedh (t or d) may appear simply as an oval loop or looped shin, or as more angular, with an either closed or open counter (as in daki/deki or dur/dür). As in metü, a Uyghur style word-medial t can sometimes be written with the pre-consonantal form otherwise used for d. Taw was applied to both initial t and d from the outset of the script's adoption. This was done in imitation of Old Uyghur which, however, had lacked the phoneme d in this position.
Blockprinted Pen-written forms Modern brushwritten forms Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. forms semi-modern forms
[...] toli 'mirror'
[...] daki/deki
[...] tur/tür
dur/dür
[...] metü 'as'
  • Initial taw (t/d) and final mem (m) can likewise be found written quite explicitly loopy (as in nom 'book' and toli 'mirror'):
Blockprinted Pen-written form Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. form semi-modern forms
nom 'book'
  • Following the late classical Mongolian orthography of the 17th and 18th centuries, a smooth and angular tsade ( and ) has come to represent ǰ and č respectively. The tsade before this was used for both these phonemes, regardless of graphical variants, as no ǰ had existed in Old Uyghur:
Block-printed semi-modern form Pen-written form Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
qačar/γaǰar 'cheek/place'
  • As in sara and dur/r, a resh (of r, and sometimes of l) can appear as two teeth or crossed shins; adjacent, angled, attached to a shin and/or overlapping.
Blockprinted Pen-written form Modern brushwritten form Trans­lit­er­a­tion(s) & 'trans­la­tion'
Uyghur Mong. form semi-modern forms
sara 'moon'
Wikipedia slogan
Manuscript Type Unicode Transliteration
(first word)
ᠸᠢᠺᠢᠫᠧᠳᠢᠶᠠ᠂
ᠴᠢᠯᠦᠭᠡᠲᠦ ᠨᠡᠪᠲᠡᠷᠬᠡᠢ ᠲᠣᠯᠢ ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ ᠪᠣᠯᠠᠢ᠃
ᠸᠢ wi/vi
ᠺᠢ gi/ki
ᠫᠧ /
ᠲ‍ᠢ di
ᠶᠠ ya
  • Transliteration: Wikipēdiya čilügetü nebterkei toli bičig bolai.
  • Cyrillic: Википедиа чөлөөт нэвтэрхий толь бичиг болой.
  • Transcription: Vikipedia chölööt nevterkhii toli bichig boloi.
  • Gloss: Wikipedia free omni-profound mirror scripture is.
  • Translation: Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia.

Child systems

The Mongol script has been the basis of alphabets for several languages. First, after overcoming the Uyghur script ductus, it was used for Mongolian itself.

Clear script (Oirat alphabet)

In 1648, the Oirat Buddhist monk Zaya-pandita Namkhaijamco created this variation with the goals of bringing the written language closer to the actual pronunciation of Oirat and making it easier to transcribe Tibetan and Sanskrit. The script was used by the Kalmyks of Russia until 1924, when it was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. In Xinjiang, China, the Oirat people still use it.

Manchu alphabet

The Manchu alphabet was developed from the Mongolian script in the early 17th century to write the Manchu language. A variant is still used to write Xibe. It is also used for Daur. Its folded variant may for example be found on Chinese Qing seals.

Vagindra alphabet

Another alphabet, sometimes called Vagindra or Vaghintara, was created in 1905 by the Buryat monk Agvan Dorjiev (1854–1938). It was also meant to reduce ambiguity, and to support the Russian language in addition to Mongolian. The most significant change, however, was the elimination of the positional shape variations. All letters were based on the medial variant of the original Mongol alphabet. Fewer than a dozen books were printed using it.

Evenki alphabet

The Qing dynasty Qianlong Emperor erroneously identified the Khitan people and their language with the Solons, leading him to use the Solon language (Evenki) to "correct" Chinese character transcriptions of Khitan names in the History of Liao in his "Imperial Liao Jin Yuan Three Histories National Language Explanation" (欽定遼金元三史國語解/钦定辽金元三史国语解 Qīndìng Liáo Jīn Yuán Sānshǐ Guóyǔjiě) project. The Evenki words were written in the Manchu script in this work.

In the 1980s, an experimental alphabet for Evenki was created.

Additional characters

Galik characters

In 1587, the translator and scholar Ayuush Güüsh (Аюуш гүүш) created the Galik alphabet (Али-гали), inspired by the third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso. It primarily added extra characters for transcribing Tibetan and Sanskrit terms when translating religious texts, and later also from Chinese. Some of those characters are still in use today for writing foreign names (compare table above).[52]

Unicode

Mongolian script was added to the Unicode standard in September 1999 with the release of version 3.0. However, there are multiple design issues in Mongolian Unicode that have not been fixed until now.[53] The model is extremely unstable[54] and the user group dislike the 1999 design.

  • The 1999 Mongolian script Unicode codes are duplicated and not searchable.
  • The 1999 Mongolian script Unicode model has multiple layers of FVS (free variation selectors), MVS, ZWJ, NNBSP, and those variation selections conflict with each other, which create incorrect results.[55] Furthermore, different vendors understood the definition of each FVS differently, and developed multiple applications in different standards.[56]
  • The Mongolian User Group is in a panic, and over 10,000 users signed up in 10 days in 2019 April to request local authority to fundamentally review the 1999 Unicode model.

Blocks

The Unicode block for Mongolian is U+1800–U+18AF. It includes letters, digits and various punctuation marks for Hudum Mongolian, Todo Mongolian, Xibe (Manchu), Manchu proper, and Ali Gali, as well as extensions for transcribing Sanskrit and Tibetan.

Mongolian[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+180x FV
 S1 
FV
 S2 
FV
 S3 
 MV 
S
U+181x
U+182x
U+183x
U+184x
U+185x
U+186x
U+187x
U+188x
U+189x
U+18Ax
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 13.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The Mongolian Supplement block (U+11660–U+1167F) was added to the Unicode Standard in June, 2016 with the release of version 9.0:

Mongolian Supplement[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+1166x 𑙠 𑙡 𑙢 𑙣 𑙤 𑙥 𑙦 𑙧 𑙨 𑙩 𑙪 𑙫 𑙬
U+1167x
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 13.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Font issues

Mongolian Wikipedia preview. A representation of what mn.wiki would look like if Mongolian script support was properly implemented. Mn.wiki already exists, but support has not been implemented. Not all text is "real Mongolian" — only the text and name of the article are, the rest of the text being English written in Mongolian script.

Although the Mongolian script has been defined in Unicode since 1999, there was no native support for Unicode Mongolian from the major vendors until the release of the Windows Vista operating system in 2007 and fonts need to be installed in Windows XP and Windows 2000 to show properly, and so Unicode Mongolian is not yet widely used. In China, legacy encodings such as the Private Use Areas (PUA) Unicode mappings and GB18030 mappings of the Menksoft IMEs (espc. Menksoft Mongolian IME) are more commonly used than Unicode for writing web pages and electronic documents in Mongolian. In addition, unlike the usual vertical format, computers tend to show the script in right-to-left lines by default.

The inclusion of a Unicode Mongolian font and keyboard layout in Windows Vista has meant that Unicode Mongolian is now gradually becoming more popular, but the complexity of the Unicode Mongolian encoding model and the lack of a clear definition for the use variation selectors are still barriers to its widespread adoption, as is the lack of support for inline vertical display. As of 2015 there are no fonts that successfully display all of Mongolian correctly when written in Unicode. A report published in 2011 revealed many shortcomings with automatic rendering in all three Unicode Mongolian fonts the authors surveyed, including Microsoft's Mongolian Baiti.[57]

Furthermore, Mongolian language support has suffered from buggy implementations: the initial version of Microsoft's Mongolian Baiti font (version 5.00) was, in the supplier's own words, "almost unusable",[58] and as of 2011 there remain some minor bugs with the rendering of suffixes in Firefox.[59] Other fonts, such as Monotype's Mongol Usug and Myatav Erdenechimeg's MongolianScript, suffer even more serious bugs.[57]

bičig as it should appear (without FVS; ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ)

In January 2013, Menksoft released several OpenType Mongolian fonts, delivered with its Menksoft Mongolian IME 2012. These fonts strictly follow Unicode standard, i.e. bichig is no longer realized as "B+I+CH+I+G+FVS2" (incorrect) but "B+I+CH+I+G" (correct), which is not done by Microsoft and Founder's Mongolian Baiti, Monotype's Mongol Usug, or Myatav Erdenechimeg's MongolianScript.[60] However, due to the impact of Mongolian Baiti, many still use the Microsoft defined incorrect realization "B+I+CH+I+G+FVS2", which results in an incorrect rendering in correctly-designed fonts like Menk Qagan Tig.

Mongolian script can be represented in LaTeX with the MonTeX package.[61]

Sometimes even if a font is installed the script may display as horizontal rather than vertical depending on the operating system or font.

Samples

The text samples below should match their image counterparts. This ensures that a text in Mongolian script is being rendered somewhat properly. The specific example letters given here are:

  • The separated final vowels: a or e.
  • The initial letter(s) of separated suffixes: y in yin and ü in lüge.
  • The vowel harmony dependent letter pairs q/k and γ/g: see bilig.
  • The initial letter of the interrogative particle uu/üü.
  • The particle ǰa.

Note that in some browsers, letters are rotated 90° counterclockwise. If an isolate letter a () resembles a 'W' and not a 'Σ', rotate the letters 90° clockwise.

Image Text Transliteration(s)
a/e
ᠶᠢᠨ yin
ᠯᠦᠭᠡ lüge
ᠪᠢᠯᠢᠭ bilig
ᠦᠦ uu/üü
ǰa

See also

Notes

  1. In Mongolian script: ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ Mongγol bičig; in Mongolian Cyrillic: Монгол бичиг Mongol bichig
  2. In Mongolian script: ᠬᠤᠳᠤᠮ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ; Mongolian Cyrillic: Khalkha: Худам Монгол бичиг, Khudam Mongol bichig, Buryat: Худам Монгол бэшэг, Khudam Mongol besheg, Kalmyk: Хуудм Моңһл бичг, Xuudm Moñhl biçg
  3. Mongolian: Уйгуржин монгол бичиг Uigurjin mongol bichig
  4. Mongolian: Хуучин монгол бичиг Khuuchin mongol bichig
  5. Mongolian: Шинэ үсэг Shine üseg
  6. Lessing, Ferdinand (1960). Mongolian-English Dictionary (PDF). University of California Press. Note that a problem with this dictionary is that it incorrectly treats all rounded vowels (o/u/ö/ü) after the initial syllable as u or ü.[24]
  7. As in ᠪᠠ ba 'and'.[3]:22
  8. Stand-in for the correct (context-sensitive only) glyph.
  9. As in ᠪᠢ bi 'I'.[3]:22
  10. As in bo.[35]:22
  11. As in the strengthening particle.[16]:46
  12. Alternative scholarly transliterations include those of native ng (ŋ), γ (ɣ), ǰ (j), and those of galik ē (é), w (v), g (k), and k (kh).[36]
  13. Interrogative uu/üü particle (subject to vowel harmony; Mongolian Cyrillic уу/үү/юу/юү uu/üü/yuu/yuü).[3]:172[16]:38[1]:53[23]:183
  14. Stand-in for the correct (context-sensitive only) glyph.
  15. As in the final diphthongs u-a and uu-a.[3]:31
  16. As in /хөө.[35]
  17. As in ta 'you',[3]:85–86 or the intensifying da/de particle.[46]:211, 237
  18. As in ᠴᠢ či 'thou'.[3]:85–86
  19. As in the strengthening ču particle.[46]:203[16]:46
  20. [2]:546 As in ǰa/за(а) 'well', 'allright';[3]:24[31]:345[35] emphatic final;[16]:46, 59 ǰa particle expressing presumption, probability, or hope;[lower-alpha 6]:1018 doubt-expressing ǰa and corroborative ǰe particle.[48]
  21. As in the interjection ǰa 'all right, yes, very good, well!, now then'.[lower-alpha 6]:1018
  22. As in ᠸᠢᠸᠠᠩᠭᠢᠷᠢᠳ wiwanggirid / вивангирид vivangirid.[3]:12[35]
  23. As in ᠳᠠᠸᠠ dawa / даваа davaa or ᠫᠠᠸᠯᠣᠸ pawlow.
  24. As in ᠫᠠᠸᠯᠣᠸ pawlow.[35]
  25. [45][13]
  26. As in ᠪᠣᠳᠢᠰᠠᠳ(?) bodisadwa / бодисадва bodisadva.[35]
  27. With a vertical tail is correct, but ᠺᠦ renders incorrectly (without) as of Noto 1.04.
  28. With a yodh/shilbe is correct, but ᠺᠦ renders incorrectly (without) as of Noto 1.04.
  29. With a vertical tail is correct, but ᠺᠦ renders incorrectly (without) as of Noto 1.04.
  30. As in (n-dotted) ᠼᠧᠮᠧᠨ(?) cēmēnt / цемент tsyemyent.[35]
  31. As in (n-dotted) ᠰᠲᠠᠨᠼᠢ(?) stanci / станц stants.[35]
  32. As in ᠲᠷᠠᠫᠧᠼ trapēc / трапец trapyets.[35]
  33. As in (n-dotted) ᠽᠠᠨᠳᠠᠨ(?) zandan / зандан zandan.[35]
  34. As in (n-dotted) ᠪᠧᠨᠽᠢᠨ(?) bēnzin / бензин benzin.[35]
  35. As in (n-dotted) ᠪᠷᠣᠨ(?) bronz / бронз bronz.[35]
  36. As in sanskrit hari 'green',[3]:15 or ᠾᠷᠣᠮ hrom / хром khrom.[35]
  37. Lee & Zee (2003) and Lin (2007) transcribe these as approximants, while Duanmu (2007) transcribes these as voiced fricatives. The actual pronunciation has been acoustically measured to be more approximant-like.[49]
  1. Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter a include: (?) a (vocative or dative-locative), ᠠᠴᠠ(?) ača (ablative), and ᠠᠴᠠᠭᠠᠨ(?) ačaγan (reflexive+ablative).[22]
  2. Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter e include: (?) e (vocative or dative-locative), ᠡᠴᠡ eče (ablative), and ᠡᠴᠡᠭᠡᠨ ečegen (reflexive+ablative).[22]
  3. Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter i include: (?) i (accusative), ᠢᠶᠠᠨ(?) iyan/iyen (reflexive), and ᠢᠶᠠᠷ(?) iyar/iyer (instrumental).[22]
  4. Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter u include: (?) u or ᠤᠨ(?) un (genitive), ᠤᠳ(?) ud (plural), and ᠤᠷᠤᠭᠤ(?) uruγu (directive).[22]
  5. Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter ü include: (?) ü or ᠦᠨ(?) ün (genitive), ᠦᠭᠡᠢ(?) ügei (negation), and ᠦᠳ(?) üd (plural).[22]
  6. Examples with doubled vowels include: tuuli 'epic, epic poem', ...[42]:834
  7. Separated suffixes starting with the letter n include: ᠨᠠᠷ nar/ner or ᠨᠤᠭᠤᠳ/ᠨᠦᠭᠦᠳ(?) nuγud/nügüd (plural).[22]
  8. Separated suffixes starting with the letter b include: ᠪᠠᠨ ban/ben (reflexive), and ᠪᠠᠷ bar/ber (instrumental).[22]
  9. Separated suffixes starting with the letter k include: ᠬᠢ ki or ᠬᠢᠨ kin (case-bound possession).[22]
  10. Separated suffixes starting with the letter l include: ᠯᠤᠭ(?)/ᠯᠦᠭᠡ(?) luγa/lüge (comitative).[22]
  11. Separated suffixes starting with the letter t include: ᠲᠠᠢ tai/tei (comitative), ᠲᠠᠭᠠᠨ/ᠲᠡᠭᠡᠨ taγan/tegen (reflexive+dative-locative), ᠲᠠᠶᠢᠭᠠᠨ(?)/ᠲᠡᠶᠢᠭᠡᠨ(?) tayiγan/teyigen (reflexive+comitative), and ᠲᠤ tu/ or ᠲᠤᠷ tur/tür (dative-locative).[22]
  12. Separated suffixes starting with the letter d include: ᠳᠠᠬᠢ(?) daki/deki (dative-locative or ordinal), ᠳᠠᠭ(?)/ᠳᠡᠭ(?) daγ/deg (regular action), ᠳᠠᠭᠠᠨ(?)/ᠳᠡᠭᠡᠨ(?) daγan/degen (reflexive+dative-locative), ᠳᠤᠭᠠᠷ(?)/ᠳᠦᠭᠡᠷ(?) duγar/düger (ordinal), and ᠳᠤ(?) du/ or ᠳᠤᠷ(?) dur/dür (dative-locative).[22]
  13. Separated suffixes starting with the letter y include: ᠶᠢ(?) yi (accusative), ᠶᠢᠨ(?) yin (genitive), and ᠶᠤᠭᠠᠨ(?)/ᠶᠦᠭᠡᠨ(?) yuγan/yügen (reflexive+accusative).[22]

References

  1. Janhunen, Juha (2006-01-27). The Mongolic Languages. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-79690-7.
  2. Daniels, Peter T. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507993-7.
  3. Poppe, Nicholas (1974). Grammar of Written Mongolian. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-00684-2.
  4. György Kara, "Aramaic Scripts for Altaic Languages", in Daniels & Bright The World's Writing Systems, 1994.
  5. Shepherd, Margaret (2013-07-03). Learn World Calligraphy: Discover African, Arabic, Chinese, Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Russian, Thai, Tibetan Calligraphy, and Beyond. Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale. ISBN 978-0-8230-8230-8.
  6. Berkwitz, Stephen C.; Schober, Juliane; Brown, Claudia (2009-01-13). Buddhist Manuscript Cultures: Knowledge, Ritual, and Art. Routledge. ISBN 9781134002429.
  7. Chinggeltei. (1963) A Grammar of the Mongol Language. New York, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. p. 15.
  8. "Mongolia to promote usage of traditional script". China.org.cn (March 19, 2020).
  9. Official documents to be recorded in both scripts from 2025, Montsame, 18 March 2020.
  10. Mongolian Language Law is effective from July 1st, Gogo, 1 July 2015. "Misinterpretation 1: Use of cyrillic is to be terminated and only Mongolian script to be used. There is no provision in the law that states the termination of use of cyrillic. It clearly states that Mongolian script is to be added to the current use of cyrillic. Mongolian script will be introduced in stages and state and local government is to conduct their correspondence in both cyrillic and Mongolian script. This provision is to be effective starting January 1st of 2025. ID, birth certificate, marriage certificate and education certificates are to be both in Mongolian cyrillic and Mongolian script and currently Mongolian script is being used in official letters of President, Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament."
  11. "Unicode Technical Report #2". ftp.tc.edu.tw. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  12. Jugder, Luvsandorj (2008). "Diacritic marks in the Mongolian script and the 'darkness of confusion of letters'". In J. Vacek; A. Oberfalzerová (eds.). MONGOLO-TIBETICA PRAGENSIA '08, Linguistics, Ethnolinguistics, Religion and Culture. Mongolo-Tibetica Pragensia : Ethnolinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Religion and Culture. 1/1. Praha: Charles University and Triton. pp. 45–98. ISSN 1803-5647.
  13. "Mongolian Traditional Script". cjvlang.com. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  14. by Manchu convention
  15. in Inner Mongolia.
  16. Grønbech, Kaare; Krueger, John Richard (1993). An Introduction to Classical (literary) Mongolian: Introduction, Grammar, Reader, Glossary. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-03298-8.
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  18. Svantesson, Jan-Olof (2005). The Phonology of Mongolian. https://media.turuz.com/Language/2012/0122-(5)moghol_(monqol)_dilinin_ses_bilimi-fonoloji(18.163KB).pdf#page=61: Oxford University Press. pp. 40–42. ISBN 0-19-926017-6.CS1 maint: location (link)
  19. "The Unicode® Standard Version 10.0 – Core Specification: South and Central Asia-II" (PDF). Unicode.org. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  20. "Mongolian / ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ Moŋġol" (PDF). www.eki.ee. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  21. Viklund, Andreas. "Lingua Mongolia – Mongolian Grammar". www.linguamongolia.com. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  22. "PROPOSAL Encode Mongolian Suffix Connector (U+180F) To Replace Narrow Non-Breaking Space (U+202F)" (PDF). Unicode.org. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  23. Janhunen, Juha A. (2012). Mongolian. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-9027238207.
  24. "University of Virginia: Mongolian Transliteration & Transcription". collab.its.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  25. Скородумова, Лидия Григорьевна (2000). Введение в старописьменный монгольский язык: учебное пособие (PDF) (in Russian). Изд-во Дом "Муравей-Гайд". ISBN 9785846300156.
  26. Shagdarsürüng, Tseveliin (2001). "Study of Mongolian Scripts (Graphic Study or Grammatology). Enl". Bibliotheca Mongolica: Monograph 1.
  27. Sanders, Alan (2003-04-09). Historical Dictionary of Mongolia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6601-0.
  28. Kara, György (2005). Books of the Mongolian Nomads: More Than Eight Centuries of Writing Mongolian. Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies. ISBN 978-0-933070-52-3.
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  30. Mongol Times (2012). "Monggul bichig un job bichihu jui-yin toli". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  31. Bat-Ireedui, Jantsangiyn; Sanders, Alan J. K. (2015-08-14). Colloquial Mongolian: The Complete Course for Beginners. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-30598-9.
  32. "Analysis of the graphetic model and improvements to the current model" (PDF). www.unicode.org. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  33. Gehrke, Munkho. "Монгол бичгийн зурлага :|: Монгол бичиг". mongol-bichig.dusal.net (in Mongolian). Retrieved 2019-04-18.
  34. "ᠵᠢᠷᠤᠯᠭᠠ ᠪᠠ ᠲᠡᠭᠦᠨ ᠦ ᠨᠡᠷᠡᠢᠳᠦᠯ - ᠮᠤᠩᠭᠤᠯ ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ". www.mongolfont.com. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
  35. "Mongolian State Dictionary". mongoltoli.mn. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  36. "Mongolian transliterations" (PDF). Institute of the Estonian Language.
  37. "Writing | Study Mongolian". www.studymongolian.net. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  38. Clauson, Gerard (2005-11-04). Studies in Turkic and Mongolic Linguistics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-43012-3.
  39. v-kents. "Windows Keyboard Layouts - Globalization". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
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  41. Baumann, Brian Gregory (2008). Divine Knowledge: Buddhist Mathematics According to the Anonymous Manual of Mongolian Astrology and Divination. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004155756.
  42. Bawden (2013-10-28). Mongolian English Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-15595-6.
  43. "BabelStone : Mongolian and Manchu Resources". babelstone.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  44. Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party emblem
  45. "UNU/IIST Report No. 170 Traditional Mongolian Script in the ISO/IEC 10646 and Unicode Standards" (PDF). unicode.org. Aug 1999. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  46. West, Andrew; Zhamsoev, Amgalan; Zaytsev, Viacheslav (2017-01-13). "L2/17-007: Proposal to encode one historical Mongolian letter for Buryat Mongolian" (PDF).
  47. Chiodo, Elisabetta (2000). The Mongolian Manuscripts on Birch Bark from Xarbuxyn Balgas in the Collection of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-05714-1.
  48. Lee-Kim, Sang-Im (2014), "Revisiting Mandarin 'apical vowels': An articulatory and acoustic study", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 44 (3): 261–282, doi:10.1017/s0025100314000267
  49. "ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ᠌ ᠦᠨ ᠣᠷᠤᠭᠤᠯᠬᠤ ᠠᠷᠭ᠎ᠠ - ᠮᠤᠩᠭ᠋ᠤᠯ ᠪᠢᠴᠢᠭ᠌". www.mongolfont.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  50. "Exploring Mongolian Manuscript Collections in Russia and Beyond" (PDF). www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
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  52. Liang, Hai (23 Sep 2017). "Current problems in the Mongolian encoding" (PDF). Unicode.
  53. D, Badarch (20 Nov 2018). "The Mongol script encoding – 2018" (PDF). Unicode.Org.
  54. Anderson, Debbie (22 Sep 2018). "Mongolian Ad Hoc meeting summary" (PDF). Unicode.
  55. Moore, Lisa (27 Mar 2019). "Summary of MWG2 Outcomes and Goals for MWG3 Meeting" (PDF). Unicode.Org.
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  57. Version 5.00 of the Mongolian Baiti font may be displayed incorrectly in Windows Vista
  58. "490534 - ZWJ and NNBSP rendered incorrectly in scripts like Mongolian". bugzilla.mozilla.org.
  59. Menk Qagan Tig, Menk Hawang Tig, Menk Garqag Tig, Menk Har_a Tig, and Menk Scnin Tig.
  60. "CTAN: Package montex". ctan.org. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
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