Editing Mongolian language (section)

== Writing systems ==
{{Main|Mongolian writing systems}}
[[File:Nova N 176 folio 9.jpg|thumb|right|[[Nova N 176]] found in Kyrgyzstan. The manuscript (dating to the 12th century [[Western Liao]]) is written in the Mongolic [[Khitan language]] using cursive [[Khitan large script]]. It has 127 leaves and 15,000 characters.]]
[[File:Ulan Bator 14.JPG|thumb|right|Mongolian script and [[Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet|Mongolian Cyrillic]] on [[Damdin Sükhbaatar|Sukhbaatar's]] statue in [[Ulaanbaatar]]]]

Mongolian has been written in a variety of alphabets, making it a language with one of the largest number of scripts used historically. The earliest stages of Mongolian ([[Xianbei]], [[Wuhuan]] languages) may have used an indigenous runic script as indicated by Chinese sources. The [[Khitan large script]] adopted in 920 CE is an early Mongol (or according to some, para-Mongolic) script.

The traditional [[Mongolian script]] was first adopted by [[Genghis Khan]] in 1204, who recognized the need to represent his own people's language. It developed from the [[Old Uyghur alphabet|Uyghur script]] when several members of the Uyghur elite who were brought into the Mongol confederation early on shared their knowledge of their written language with the Mongol imperial clan. Among the Uyghurs sharing that knowledge were [[Tata-tonga]] ({{lang-zh|t=塔塔統阿}}), Bilge Buqa (比俚伽普華), Kara Igach Buyruk (哈剌亦哈赤北魯), and Mengsus (孟速思).<ref>{{cite journal|title=Uyghur Technologists of Writing and Literacy in Mongol China|last=Brose|first=Michael C.|journal=[[T'oung Pao]]|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|date=2005|series=Second Series|volume=91|issue=4/5|pages=397, 406|doi=10.1163/156853205774910106|jstor=4529015}}</ref> From that time, the script underwent some minor disambiguations and supplementation.

Between 1930 and 1932, a short-lived attempt was made to introduce the Latin script in the Mongolian state. In 1941, the Latin alphabet was adopted, though it lasted only two months.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnwSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79|chapter=5. Official script changes in socialist Mongolia|title=Socialist and Post–Socialist Mongolia: Nation, Identity, and Culture|last=Saruul-Erdene|first=Myagmar|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=2021-03-04|access-date=2021-11-16|pages=79–83|isbn=978-1-000-33715-0}}</ref>

The [[Mongolian Cyrillic script]] was the result of the spreading of Russian influence following the expansion of the [[Russian Empire]]. The establishment of [[Soviet Union]] helped the influence continue, and the Cyrillic alphabet was slowly introduced with the effort by Russian/Soviet linguists in collaboration with their Mongolian counterparts. It was made mandatory by government decree in 1941. The introduction of the [[Cyrillic script]], with its smaller discrepancy between written and spoken form, contributed to the success of the large-scale government [[literacy]] campaign, which increased the [[literacy rate]] from 17.3% to 73.5% between 1941 and 1950.<ref name=unesco>Batchuluun Yembuu, Khulan Munkh-Erdene (2005). [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001462/146207e.pdf Literacy country study: Mongolia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105103206/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000146207_eng |date=2023-01-05 }}. Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2006.
Literacy for Life. P.7-8</ref> Earlier government campaigns to eradicate illiteracy, employing the traditional script, had only managed to raise literacy from 3.0% to 17.3% between 1921 and 1940.<ref name=unesco/> From 1991 to 1994, an attempt at reintroducing the traditional alphabet failed in the face of popular resistance.<ref>Svantesson ''et al.'' (2005): 34, 40–41.</ref> In informal contexts of electronic text production, the use of the Latin alphabet is common.<ref name=MHK>{{cite web|author=Sühbaatar, B|url=http://www.infocon.mn/english/reference/GaligiinTuhai.htm|title=Mongol helnij kirill üsgijg latin üsgeer galiglah tuhaj|publisher=InfoCon|access-date=2009-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129190356/http://www.infocon.mn/english/reference/GaligiinTuhai.htm|archive-date=2009-01-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the [[People's Republic of China]], [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin Chinese]] is the official language along with Mongolian in some regions, notably the entire Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The traditional alphabet has always been used there, although Cyrillic was considered briefly before the [[Sino-Soviet split]].<ref>Svantesson ''et al.'' (2005): 34, 40.</ref> There are two types of written Mongolian used in China: the traditional Mongolian script, which is official among Mongols nationwide, and the [[Clear Script]], used predominantly among [[Oirats]] in Xinjiang.<ref>Sečenbaγatur ''et al.'' (2005): 398.</ref>

In March 2020, the Mongolian government announced plans to use both Cyrillic and the traditional Mongolian script in official documents by 2025.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mongolia to promote usage of traditional script|url=http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2020-03/19/content_75834583.htm|website=China.org.cn (March 19, 2020)}}</ref><ref>[https://www.montsame.mn/en/read/219358 Official documents to be recorded in both scripts from 2025] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805003025/https://www.montsame.mn/en/read/219358 |date=2020-08-05 }}, Montsame, 18 March 2020.</ref><ref>[http://mongolia.gogo.mn/r/146942 Mongolian Language Law is effective from July 1st] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409222721/https://mongolia.gogo.mn/r/146942 |date=2022-04-09 }}, 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 1 January 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."</ref>