Editing Mongolian language (section)

===Standard varieties===
There are two [[standard varieties]] of Mongolian.

==== Mongolia ====
Standard Mongolian in the state of Mongolia is based on the northern Khalkha Mongolian dialects, which include the dialect of [[Ulaanbaatar]], and is written in the [[Mongolian Cyrillic script]].<ref name="Svantesson et al. 2005: 9-10">Svantesson ''et al.'' (2005): 9-10</ref>

==== China ====
Standard Mongolian in Inner Mongolia is based on the Chakhar Mongolian of the Khalkha dialect group,<ref name="Svantesson et al. 2005: 9-10"/> spoken in the [[Zhenglan Banner|Shuluun Huh/Zhènglán Banner]],<ref>Dàobù 1982, p. 2.</ref> and is written in the [[traditional Mongolian script]].

The number of Mongolian speakers in China is still larger than in the state of Mongolia,<ref>Juha Janhunen (Hg.): ''The Mongolic Languages''. London / New York: Routledge, 2003; ISBN 0-7007-1133-3; S.&nbsp;xviii.</ref> where the majority of Mongolians in China speak one of the [[Khorchin Mongolian|Khorchin dialects]], or rather more than two million of them speak the Khorchin dialect itself as their mother tongue, so that the Khorchin dialect group has about as many speakers as the Khalkha dialect group in the State of Mongolia. Nevertheless, the Chakhar dialect, which today has only about 100,000 native speakers and belongs to the Khalkha dialect group, is the basis of standard Mongolian in China.<ref>Svantesson ''et al.'' (2005): 11-12</ref>

==== Differences ====
The characteristic differences in the pronunciation of the two standard varieties include the umlauts in Inner Mongolia and the palatalized consonants in Mongolia (see below) as well as the splitting of the Middle Mongol affricates *{{IPA|tʃ}} ({{MongolUnicode|ᠴ|valign=middle|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|č}}'') and *{{IPA|dʒ}} ({{MongolUnicode|ᠵ|valign=middle|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|ǰ}}'') into {{IPA|ts}} ({{Lang|mn|ц}} {{Transliteration|mn|c}}) and {{IPA|dz}} ({{Lang|mn|з}} {{Transliteration|mn|z}}) versus {{IPA|tʃ}} ({{Lang|mn|ч}} {{Transliteration|mn|č}}) and {{IPA|dʒ}} ({{Lang|mn|ж}} {{Transliteration|mn|ž}}) in Mongolia:<ref>Mongolian language. In: Christopher P. Atwood: ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire''. New York: Facts On File, 2004; ISBN 0-8160-4671-9; S.&nbsp;373 und Владимирцов 1988 (1929) p. 390; examples harmonized to {{MongolUnicode|ᠮᠣᠨᠭᠭᠣᠯ<br />ᠬᠢᠲᠠᠳ<br />ᠲᠣᠯᠢ}} / {{lang|zh-Hans|《蒙汉词典》}} 1999 and {{MongolUnicode|ᠭᠠᠯᠰᠠᠩᠫᠤᠩᠰᠣᠭ}} / Галсанпунцаг 2004.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! Middle Mongol !! Inner Mongolia !! Mongolia !! Meaning
|-
| *{{IPA|tʃisu}} {{MongolUnicode|ᠴᠢᠰᠤ|lang=xng|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|čisu}}'' || [{{IPA|tʃʊs}}] {{MongolUnicode|ᠴᠢᠰᠤ|lang=mvf|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|čisu}}'' || [{{IPA|tsʊs}}] {{Lang|mn|цус}} {{Transliteration|mn|cus}} || blood
|-
| *{{IPA|dʒɑm}} {{MongolUnicode|ᠵᠠᠮ|lang=xng|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|ǰam}}'' || [{{IPA|dʒɑm}}] {{MongolUnicode|ᠵᠠᠮ|lang=mvf|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|ǰam}}'' || [{{IPA|dzɑm}}] {{Lang|mn|зам}} {{Transliteration|mn|zam}} || street
|-
| *{{IPA|otʃixu}} {{MongolUnicode|ᠣᠴᠢᠬᠤ|lang=xng|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|očiqu}}'' || [{{IPA|ɔtʃɪx}}] {{MongolUnicode|ᠣᠴᠢᠬᠤ|lang=mvf|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|očiqu}}'' || [{{IPA|ɔtʃɪx}}] {{Lang|mn|очих}} {{Transliteration|mn|očix}} || to go
|-
| *{{IPA|dʒime}} {{MongolUnicode|ᠵᠢᠮ&nbsp;ᠡ|lang=xng|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|ǰim{{nbh}}e}}'' || [{{IPA|dʒim}}] {{MongolUnicode|ᠵᠢᠮ&nbsp;ᠡ|lang=mvf|font-size=1.6em}} ''{{Transliteration|Mong|ǰim{{nbh}}e}}'' || [{{IPA|dʒim}}] {{Lang|mn|жим}} {{Transliteration|mn|žim}} || path
|}
Aside from these differences in pronunciation, there are also differences in vocabulary and language use: in the state of Mongolia more [[loanword]]s from [[Russian language|Russian]] are being used, while in Inner Mongolia more loanwords from [[Chinese language|Chinese]] have been adopted.<ref>Atwood p.&nbsp;374.</ref>