The official language, Mongolian, is spoken and understood throughout the country. Russian is the other major language used. However, other foreign languages, primarily English, are becoming more popular. With regard to dialects, the twenty plus different ethnic groups who historically lived within their own territories each developed their own local dialects. The dialect spoken by Halha, Mongolia's largest ethnic group, is the most widely known.

The eastern Mongolian dialects include those spoken by ethnic groups who previously inhabited Inner Mongolia and now live on the far eastern steppe, in Dornod province. Northern dialects are spoken by Buriyat people, who still live in northern Mongolian and the Buriyat republic in southern Siberia. Western dialects include those spoken by the ethnic groups belonging to the Oirad. These groups live in western Mongolia and inhabit Altai mountain range.

Alphabet

a	А	i	И	r	Р	sh	Ш
b	Б	i	И	s	С	sch	Щ
v	В	k	К	t	Т	--	Ъ
g	Г	l	Л	u	У	y	Ы
d	Д	m	М	u	Y	--	Ь
ye	Е	n	Н	f	Ф	e	Э
yo	Ё	o	О	h	Х	yu	Ю
j	Ж	o	є	ts	Ц	ya	Я
z	З	p	П	ch	Ч	--	--

Mongolian is written in Cyrillic, but the traditional Mongolian script, which is written from the top downwards and sometimes known as the classical Mongolian script is gradually reappearing, mainly in signs and logos. The oldest example of this script to have been preserved is the so-called Chinggis stone, which is still in display at St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum. The script was engraved as early as 1225 and is a eulogy of the fearless archer Esughe, who shot a single arrow 600 meters. The classic Mongolian script (also known as old Mongolian alphabet) was a landmark in the development of written language in central Asia. In 1941 the classical script was replaced by the new alphabet based on Russian Cyrillic characters and introduced to Mongolia as the official script of the country. There is no major difference between the spelling and the pronunciation of this script. The modern Mongolian alphabet consists of 35 characters. Below are each of the characters and a basic language guide, including greetings, simple questions and numbers.

Greeting and Statements

Hello	Sain baina uu	Сайн байна уу
Goodbye	Bayartai	Баяртай
Thank you	bayarlalaa	Баярлалаа
What is your name?	Tanii ner hen be?	Таны нэр хэн бэ?
My name is …	Minii ner …	Миний нэр ...
Where are you from?	Ta haanaas irsen be?	Та хаанаас ирсэн бэ?

Numbers

1	neg	нэг	11	arvan neg	арван нэг
2	hoyor	хоёр	20	hori	хорь
3	gurav	гурав	21	horin neg	хорин нэг
4	duruv	дєрєв	30	guch	гуч
5	tav	тав	31	guchin neg	гучин нэг
6	zurgaa	зургаа	40	duch	дєч
7	doloo	долоо	50	tavi	тавь
8	naim	найм	100	zuu	зуу
9	yus	ес	1000	myanga	мянга
10	arav	арав