“Is Mongolian a language?” The answer is a resounding ‘yes’.  Conversely, the often-asked questions, ‘Is Mongolian Chinese?’ or ‘Is the Mongolian language Russian?’ have a clear answer as well, ‘No’.

Mongolian, being the primary language of the ‘Mongolic’ language family, is one of the most unique languages spoken in the world and is considered by many to be part of the intriguing and controversial ‘Altaic’ language family, which takes its name from the legendary Altai Mountains.

Researchers estimate that around 10 million people speak Mongolian world wide, including 3.3 million people in Mongolia, 5 million people in Inner Mongolia, China, and many more in some parts of the Russian Federation. 

Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and is generally divided into three main dialects. The primary dialect, Khalkh, is spoken in much of Mongolia, comprising more than 90% of spoken Mongolian. Dialects in the western portion of Mongolia include Oirat, which is still spoken now in Khovd, Uvs, and Bayan-Ulgii provinces, as well as certain regions of China, and Kalmykia in Russia. 

Furthermore, an eastern dialect group is closely related to Buryat Mongols in eastern Dornod and Khentii provinces, as well as parts of Russia and China bordering eastern Mongolia.

Additonally, other outlying and related languages include those of the former Mughul Empire in Afghanistan and certain other parts of Central Asia.  Others are Dagur in Inner Mongolia, Uighur in Gansu Province (China), Dongxiang, and Bao’an on the regional edge of the Gansu corridor.

The first period of the spoken Mongolian language dates back as far as the 5th century. Mongolians have also created and used several written scripts throughout history. The first and most famous of these is the Uigur derived Old Mongolian script (Mongol Bicheg), which is written vertically and was created in the 13th century during the time of Chinggis Khaan. Other writing scripts used by Mongolians throughout history include Durvuljin (Square) script, Tod script, the Latin alphabet, and finally the Cyrillic alphabet.

Inner Mongolians still use the Old Mongolian script, which can even be found on such modern establishments as McDonalds and Starbucks. However, in the modern Republic of Mongolia, the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet is used. In 1941, Mongolian linguists developed a writing system adopting the Russian Cyrillic Alphabet, which included adding an additional two letters (Ө, Ү) to the original Russian Cyrillic.

In modern Mongolia today, people speak primarily Mongolian, with a small minority of Kazakh spoken by Kazakh Mongolian citizens in the mountainous western province of Bayan-Ulgii. Although older generations learned and used Russian due to Mongolia’s connection to the USSR, nowadays, younger generations are more geared towards learning English, and many strive and succeed in becoming global citizens, whilst still maintaining their ancient and revered tongue.