3.8.3.7. Mongolian Writing: Cyrillic
Description
This article is from the Mongolia FAQ, by Oliver Corff with numerous contributions by others.
3.8.3.7. Mongolian Writing: Cyrillic
In 1940, The then Mongolian People's Republic started using a modified
Cyrillic alphabet which was extended by two vowel symbols, ö and ü,
the female counterparts of [o] and [u]. The orthography of Cyrillic
Mongolian is based on the Xalx dialect. Despite a few orthographic
instabilities, the Cyrillic system is the major vehicle of written
communication today in Mongolia; virtually all newspapers, book etc.
are printed in Cyrillic letters. Since the system is based on the Xalx
dialect, it is not as transparent for speakers from other Mongolian
areas if compared with the Classical script; on the other hand, the
clearly phonemical notation makes it easy to understand written
materials read aloud, and it allows easy searching of dictionaries.
Despite the strong political overtones around its inception in the
1940s, the Cyrillic writing has proven to be useful and practical. Due
to its structural similarity to Latin, the Cyrillic script could be
integrated into the world of modern information technology (printing
equipment, data interchange, computing, etc.) which further promoted
the solid standing of Cyrillic writing in present day's Mongolia.
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