The Mongolian Cyrillic script is the writing system used for the Khalkha dialect of the Mongolian language as the standard dialect of the modern state of Mongolia. Cyrillic has not been adopted by the Khalkha in the Inner Mongolia region of China, who still use the Mongolian script.
Mongolian Cyrillic is the most recent of the many writing systems that have been used for Mongolian. It is a Cyrillic alphabet (the Russian alphabet plus 2 letters, Өө ⟨ö⟩ and Үү ⟨ü⟩). It is largely a phonemic alphabet, meaning that there is a fair degree of consistency in the representation of individual sounds. It was introduced in the 1940s and is used in everyday life and often on the Internet.
The modified Cyrillic script used for Mongolian is as follows:
| Pos. | Cyrillic | Name | IPA | ISO 9 | Standard | THL | Library of Congress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Аа | а | a | a | a | a | a |
| 2 | Бб | бэ | p, pʲ, b | b | b | b | b |
| 3 | Вв | вэ | w, wʲ | v | v | w | v |
| 4 | Гг | гэ | ɡ, ɡʲ, k, ɢ | g | g | g | g |
| 5 | Дд | дэ | t, tʲ, d | d | d | d | d |
| 6 | Ее | е | jɛ~jɜ, e | e | ye, yë | ye, yö | e |
| 7 | Ёё | ё | jɔ | ë | yo, yö | yo | ë |
| 8 | Жж | жэ | tʃ, dʒ | ž | j | j | zh |
| 9 | Зз | зэ | ts, dz | z | z | z | z |
| 10 | Ии | и | i | i | i | i | i |
| 11 | Йй | хагас и | i | j | ĭ | i | ĭ |
| 12 | (Кк) | ка | (k, kʲ) | k | k | k | k |
| 13 | Лл | эл | ɮ, ɮʲ | l | l | l | l |
| 14 | Мм | эм | m, mʲ | m | m | m | m |
| 15 | Нн | эн | n, nʲ, ŋ | n | n | n | n |
| 16 | Оо | о | ɔ | o | o | o | o |
| 17 | Өө | ө | o | ô | ö | ö | ö |
| 18 | (Пп) | пэ | (pʰ, pʰʲ) | p | p | p | p |
| 19 | Рр | эр | r, rʲ | r | r | r | r |
| 20 | Сс | эс | s | s | s | s | s |
| 21 | Тт | тэ | tʰ, tʰʲ | t | t | t | t |
| 22 | Уу | у | ʊ | u | u | u | u |
| 23 | Үү | ү | u | ù | ü | ü | ü |
| 24 | (Фф) | фэ, фа, эф | (f) | f | f | f | f |
| 25 | Хх | хэ, ха | x, xʲ | h | x | kh | kh |
| 26 | Цц | цэ | tsʰ | c | c | ts | ts |
| 27 | Чч | чэ | tʃʰ | č | č | ch | ch |
| 28 | Шш | ша, эш | ʃ | š | š | sh | sh |
| 29 | (Щщ) | ща, эшчэ | (stʃ) | ŝ | šč | shch | shch |
| 30 | Ъъ | хатуугийн тэмдэг | ʺ | ı | ʺ | ı | |
| 31 | Ыы | эр үгийн ы | i | y | y | î | y |
| 32 | Ьь | зөөлний тэмдэг | ʲ | ʹ | ʹ | ĭ | i |
| 33 | Ээ | э | e | è | e | e | ê |
| 34 | Юю | ю | jʊ, ju | û | yu, yü | yu, yü | iu |
| 35 | Яя | я | ja, j | â | ya | ya | ia |
Үү and Өө are sometimes also written as Її (or Vv) and Єє,[1] when using Russian software or keyboards that don't support them.
Initial long vowels and non-initial full vowels are written with double vowel letters, while initial short vowels and non-initial epenthetic vowels are written with single vowel letters. Similarly (but not identically) to Russian, palatalization of consonants is indicated by means of the following vowels or the soft sign. /ɡ/ and /ɢ/ are both indicated by the letter г ⟨g⟩, but the phonetic value of that letter is mostly predictable. In words with "front" (+ATR) vowels (see Mongolian phonology for details), it always means /ɡ/, because only /ɡ/ occurs in such words. In words with "back" (−ATR) vowels, it always means /ɢ/, except syllable-finally, where it means /ɡ/; to acquire the value of /ɢ/, it is written as followed by a single mute syllable-final vowel letter. Similarly, a mute vowel is added to final н ⟨n⟩ to make it denote /n/ and not /ŋ/. A /j/ preceding a vowel is rendered by a combination of a "soft" and "hard" vowel letter, e.g. яа ⟨jaa⟩ stands for /ja/, not */jaː/.[2]