Mongolian script

• Traditional: n q/k, (Gamma, ү)/g, b, p, s, š, t, d, l, m, č...[21][13]^:7
• Modern: n, b, p, q/k, ү/g, m, l, s, š, t, d, č...[21][13]^:7
• Other modern orderings that apply to specific dictionaries also exist.[22]

Mongolian vowel harmony separates the vowels of words into three groups – two mutually exclusive and one neutral:

• The back, masculine,[23] hard, or yang[24] vowels a, o, and u.
• The front, feminine,[23] soft, or yin[24] vowels e, ö, and ü.
• The neutral vowel i, able to appear in all words.

Any Mongolian word can contain the neutral vowel i, but only vowels from either of the other two groups. The vowel quality of visually separated vowels and suffixes are likewise affected by those of the preceding word stem. Such suffixes are written with front or neutral vowels when preceded by a word stem containing only neutal vowels. Any of these rules might not apply for foreign words however.[2]^{:11, 39}[25]^:10[26]^:4[22]

A separated final form of vowels a or e is common, and can appear at the end of a word, word stem, or suffix. This form requires a final-shaped preceding consonant and an inter-word gap in between. The vowels themselves appear as ᠎ᠠ ⟨⟩, and with consonants as ‍ᠬ᠎ᠠ ⟨ ⟩ q‑a, ‍ᠷ᠎ᠠ ⟨ ⟩ r‑a/r‑e, etc.^(?) This gap can be transliterated with a hyphen . In digital typesetting, these forms are triggered by inserting a U+180E ᠎ MONGOLIAN VOWEL SEPARATOR (HTML ᠎ · MVS) between the consonant and vowel.[2]^{:30, 77}[27]^:42[12]^:104[26]^:27[16]^:534–535

The presence or lack of a separated a or e can also indicate differences in meaning between different words (compare ᠬᠠᠷ᠎ᠠ^(?) qar‑a 'black' with ᠬᠠᠷᠠ qara 'to look').[28]^:3[16]^:535

Its form could be confused with that of the identically shaped traditional dative-locative suffix ‑a/‑e exemplified further down. That form however, is more commonly found in older texts, and more commonly takes the forms of ⟨ᠲ᠋ᠤᠷ⟩ tur/tür or ⟨ᠳ᠋ᠤᠷ⟩ dur/dür instead.[25]^:15[29]

Many suffixes (case and plural suffixes in particular) are likewise separated by a preceding and hyphen-transliterated gap. In digital typesetting, this gap is represented by a U+202F   NARROW NO-BREAK SPACE (HTML   · NNBSP).[2]^:30[25]^:12[29][30][26]^:28[16]^:534

Single-letter suffixes appear as final-formed a/e, i, or u/ü (as in ᠭᠠᠵᠠᠷ ᠠ γaǰar‑a 'to the country' and ᠡᠳᠦᠷ ᠡ edür‑e 'on the day',[2]^:39 or ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ᠢ ulus‑i 'the state' etc.).^(?)[2]^:23 Multi-letter suffixes can start with an initial-, medial-, or variant-shaped glyph (medial/variant-shaped u in the two-letter suffix  ᠤᠨ^(?) ⟨⟩ ‑un/‑ün being exemplified in the adjacent newspaper logo).[16]^:27

Isolate citation forms for syllables containing o, u, ö, and ü may in dictionaries appear without a final tail as in ⟨ᠪᠣ⟩ bo/bu or ⟨ᠮᠣ᠋⟩ mo/mu, and with a vertical tail as in ⟨ᠪᠥ᠋⟩ bö/bü or ⟨ᠮᠥ᠋⟩ mö/mü (as well as in transcriptions of Chinese syllables).[22][12]^:105

A dash indicates a non-applicable position for that letter.[2]^:15[25]^:60[12]^{:101, 104}[28]^:2–3[14]^:3–4[31]^{:27, 30}[22]

Parentheses enclose glyphs or positions whose corresponding sounds are not found in native Mongolian words.[2]^:14–15[25]^:9–10[12]^:101[28]^:3–5[31]^:27

Palatalized phonemes have been excluded. These are conditioned by a following i.[27]^:178

• Transcribes Chakhar /ɑ/;[22][33] Khalkha /a/, /ə/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter, include: ‑a (vocative or dative-locative), ‑ača (ablative), and ‑ačaγan (reflexive+ablative).[30]
• ‍ᠠ᠋^(?) ⟨⟩ = connected galik final.[2]^:26–28[12]^:104
• Medial and final forms may be distinguished from those of other tooth-shaped letters through: vowel harmony (e), the shape of adjacent consonants (see QA-q/k and GA-γ/g below), and position in syllable sequence (n, ng, q, γ, d).[29]
• The final tail extends to the left after bow-shaped consonants (such as b, p, f, KA-g, and KHA-k), and to the right in all other cases.
• Derived from Old Uyghur aleph, written twice for isolate and initial forms.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /ə/;[22][33] Khalkha /i/, /e/, /ə/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter, include: ‑e (vocative or dative-locative), ‑eče (ablative), and ‑ečegen (reflexive+ablative).[30]
• Medial and final forms may be distinguished from those of other tooth-shaped letters through: vowel harmony (a) and its effect on the shape of a words consonants (see QA-q/k and GA-γ/g below), or position in syllable sequence (n, ng, d).[29]
• ᠡ᠋‍ = a traditional initial form.[35]^:6
• The final tail extends to the left after bow-shaped consonants (such as b, p, QA-k, and GA-g), and to the right in all other cases.
• Derived from Old Uyghur aleph.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /i/ or /ɪ/;[22][33] Khalkha /i/, /ə/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter, include: ‑i (accusative), ‑iyan/‑iyen (reflexive), and ‑iyar/‑iyer (instrumental).[30]
• Today often absorbed into a preceding syllable when at the end of a word.
• Written medially with the single stroke after a consonant, and with two after a vowel (with rare exceptions like ᠨᠠ‍ᠢ‍ᠮᠠ naima 'eight' or ᠨᠠ‍ᠢ‍ᠮᠠᠨ naiman 'eight'/tribal name).[2]^:31[25]^{:9, 39}[12]^:7–8
• ‍ᠢ᠋‍ = a handwritten Inner Mongolian variant on the sequence yi (as in ᠰᠠᠶ᠋ᠢᠨ / ᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ sayin 'good' being written ᠰᠠᠢ᠋ᠨ sain).[25]^:58[12]^:49[36]^:346
• Derived from Old Uyghur yodh, preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /ɔ/;[22][33] Khalkha /ɔ/, /ə/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Written identically to u in native words;[2]^:19[25]^:9 distinction depending on context.
• ‍ᠣ᠋ = the final form used in loanwords (as in ᠷᠠᠳᠢᠣ᠋ radio).[12]^:98[20]
• Derived from Old Uyghur waw, preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /ʊ/;[22][33] Khalkha /ʊ/, /ə/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter, include: ‑u or ‑un (genitive), ‑ud (plural), and ‑uruγu (directive).[30]
• Written identically to o in native words;[2]^:19[25]^:9 distinction depending on context.
• Derived from Old Uyghur waw, preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /o/;[22][33] Khalkha /o/[ɵ], /ə/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Written identically to ü in native words;[2]^:20[25]^:9 distinction depending on context.
• ‍ᠥ᠋ = an older final form; also used in loanwords.[12]^:105
• The first medial form is used in the first syllable of native words,[1]^:546 and in subsequent medial positions of loanwords.
• Derived from Old Uyghur waw, followed by a yodh in word-initial syllables, and preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /u/;[22][33] Khalkha /u/, /ə/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with, or made up by the letter, include: ‑ü or ‑ün (genitive), ‑ügei (negation), and ‑üd (plural).[30]
• Written identically to ö in native words;[2]^:20[25]^:9 distinction depending on context.
• ‍ᠦ᠋ = an older final form; also used in loanwords.[12]^:105
• The first medial form is used in the first syllable of native words,[1]^:546 and in subsequent medial positions of loanwords.
• Derived from Old Uyghur waw, followed by a yodh in word-initial syllables, and preceded by an aleph for isolate and initial forms.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Stands in for e in loanwords,[12]^{:104, 108}[33] as in ᠧᠦ᠋ᠷᠣᠫᠠ ēüropa / европ yevrop.[20]

• Transcribes Chakhar /n/;[22][33] Khalkha /n/, and /ŋ/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with the letter, include: ‑nar/‑ner or ‑nuγud/‑nügüd (plural).[30]
• Distinction from other tooth-shaped letters by position in syllable sequence.
• Dotted before a vowel (attached or separated); undotted before a consonant (syllable-final) or a whitespace.[2]^:20[1]^:546[26]^:6[22] Final dotted n is also found in modern Mongolian words.[12]^:101 Also fully or inconsistently undotted historically (ᠨ᠋‍ etc.).[2]^{:2, 20, 25–26}[34]^:114[12]^:97–98
• Derived from Old Uyghur nun.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 114}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /ŋ/;[22][33] Khalkha /ŋ/.[27]^:40–42
• Not occurring word-initially.[2]^:15
• Transcribes /ng/ in Tibetan ང /nga/; Sanskrit ङ /ṅa/.[2]^:28
• Derived from Old Uyghur nun-kaph digraph.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 115}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /b/;[22][33] Khalkha /p/, /w/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with the letter, include: ‑ban/‑ben (reflexive), and ‑bar/‑ber (instrumental).[30]
• For Classical Mongolian, Latin v is used only for transcribing foreign words, so most в (v) in Mongolian Cyrillic correspond to б (b) in Classical Mongolian.
• ‍ᠪ᠋ = an alternative/older final form.[25]^:58[12]^{:100, 105}[32]^:4
• Derived from Old Uyghur pe.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 115}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /p/;[22][33] Khalkha /pʰ/.[27]^:40–42
• Only at the beginning of Mongolian words (although words with an initial p tend to be foreign).[28]^:5[31]^:27[22]
• Not occurring word- or syllable-finally.[2]^:15[26]^{:27, 28}[22]
• Transcribes /p/ in Tibetan པ /pa/.[37]^{:(ᢒ?) 96, 155, 247}[2]^:28
• Galik letter, derived from Mongolian b.[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /x/;[22][33] Khalkha /x/.
• Only in words with back a, o, and u vowels.[2]^:15[25]^:10
• Distinction from other tooth-shaped letters by position in syllable sequence. Not occurring word- or syllable-finally.[2]^:15[26]^{:27, 28}[22]
• Variously dotted/undotted, or written kaph-shaped as an initial in early orthography.[34]^:114
• Derived from Old Uyghur merged gimel and heth.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113–115}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /x/;[22][33] Khalkha /x/.
• Separated suffixes starting with the letter, include: ‑ki or ‑kin (case-bound possession).[30]
• Only in words with neutral i and front e, ö, and ü vowels.[2]^:15[25]^:10
• Undistinguished from GA-g.[2]^{:15, 24}[25]^:9
• Not occurring word- or syllable-finally.[2]^:15[26]^{:27, 28}[22]
• Derived from Old Uyghur kaph.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113, 115}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /ɣ/;[22] Khalkha /ɢ/, and /∅/.[27]^:40–42
• Only in words with back a, o, and u vowels.[2]^:15[25]^:10
• Dotted before a vowel (attached or separated); undotted before a consonant (syllable-final) or a whitespace.[2]^:21[1]^:546[26]^:5[22]
• May turn silent between two adjacent vowels, and merge these into a long vowel or diphthong.[2]^:36–37[25][12]^:49 Qaγan (ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨ) 'Khagan' for instance, is read as Qaan unless reading classical literary Mongolian. Some exceptions like tsa-g-aan 'white' exist.
• Also fully or inconsistently undotted historically,.[2]^{:2, 21, 25–26}[34]^:114[12]^:97–98
• Also transliterated scholarly with Latin ɣ.[32]
• Derived from Old Uyghur merged gimel and heth.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113–115}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /g/;[22][33] Khalkha /g/.
• Only in words with neutral i and front e, ö, and ü vowels.[2]^:15[25]^:10
• Undistinguished from QA-k.[2]^{:15, 24}[25]^:9 When it must be distinguished from k medially, it can be written twice (as in ᠥᠭᠭᠦᠭᠰᠡᠨ öggügsen 'given', compared with ᠦᠬᠦᠭᠰᠡᠨ ükügsen 'dead').[25]^:59[20]
• Not occurring word-initially with a consonant following it, except in loanwords such as ᠭᠱᠠᠨ^(?) gšan 'moment', or ᠭᠷᠠᠮᠮ^(?) gramm 'gram'.[2]^{:15, 32, 34}[20] The final form is also found written like Manchu final ‍ᡴ᠋ k.[38][12]^:104
• May turn silent between two adjacent vowels, and merge these into a long vowel or diphthong.[2]^:36–37[25][12]^:49 Deger for instance, is read as deer. Some exceptions like ügüi 'no' exist.
• Derived from Old Uyghur kaph.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113, 115}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /m/;[22][33] Khalkha /m/.[27]^:40–42
• = ml (‍ᠮᠯ‍) written as a medial ligature.[2]^{:24, 36}[25]^:58[1]^:546[12]^:100
• Derived from Old Uyghur mem.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /l/;[22][33] Khalkha /ɮ/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with the letter, include: ‑luγ‑a/‑lüge (comitative).[30]
• Not occurring word-initially in native words.[25]^:10
• Forms a ligature with a preceding "bow"-shaped consonant in loanwords such as ᠪᠯᠠᠮ᠎ᠠ^(?) blam-a 'lama' from Tibetan བླ་མ་ Wylie: bla-ma.[2]^{:15, 32}[12]^:100
• = ml (‍ᠮᠯ‍) written as a medial ligature.[2]^{:24, 36}[25]^:58[1]^:546[12]^:100
• Derived from Old Uyghur hooked resh.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /s/, or /ʃ/ before i;[25]^:58[22] Khalkha /s/, or /ʃ/ before i. Before a morpheme boundary however, there is no change of s to /ʃ/ before an i.[25]^:84
• ‍ᠰ᠋ = an older final variant form for /s/ derived from Old Uyghur zayin (as found on the Stele of Yisüngge: ᠴᠢᠩᠭᠢᠰ᠋ Činggis 'Genghis').[2]^:23[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113–114}[12]^:98
• Derived from Old Uyghur merged samekh and shin.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /ʃ/;[22][33] Khalkha /ʃ/.
• Also fully or inconsistently undotted historically.[2]^{:2, 25–26}[34]^:114[12]^:97–98
• Final š is only found in modern Mongolian words.[2]^:15[12]^:101
• Derived from Old Uyghur merged samekh and shin.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113–114}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /t/;[22][33] Khalkha /t/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with the letter, include: ‑tai/‑tei (comitative), ‑taγan/‑tegen (reflexive+dative-locative), ‑tayiγan/‑teyigen (reflexive+comitative), and ‑tu(r)/‑tü(r) (dative-locative).[30]
• Syllable-initially undistinguished from d in native words.[2]^:23[25]^:9[22]
• Not occurring word- or syllable-finally.[2]^:15[26]^{:27, 28}[22]
• Derived from Old Uyghur taw (initial) and lamedh (medial).[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98
• Positional variants on taw ⟨ᠲ‍/‍ᠲ᠋‍/‍ᠲ⟩ are used consistently for t in foreign words.[2]^:23[12]^{:101, 104}

• Transcribes Chakhar /d/;[22][33] Khalkha /t/, and /tʰ/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with the letter, include: ‑daki/‑deki (dative-locative or ordinal), ‑daγ/‑deg (regular action), ‑daγan/‑degen (reflexive+dative-locative), ‑duγar/‑düger (ordinal), and ‑du(r)/‑dü(r) (dative-locative).[30]
• Syllable-initially undistinguished from t in native words.[2]^:23[25]^:9[22] When it must be distinguished from t medially, it can be written twice, and with both medial forms (as in ᠬᠤᠳᠳᠤᠭ qudduγ 'well', compared with ᠬᠤᠲᠤᠭ qutuγ 'holy').[25]^:59[20]
• The belly-tooth-shaped form is used before consonants (syllable-final), the other before vowels.[25]^:58[26]^:5
• Derived from Old Uyghur taw (initial, belly-tooth-shaped medial, and final) and lamedh (other medial form).[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98
• Positional variants on lamedh ⟨ᠳ᠋‍/‍ᠲ‍/‍ᠳ᠋⟩ are used consistently for d in foreign words.[2]^:23 (As in ᠳ᠋ᠧᠩ deng / дэн den, ᠳᠡᠳ᠋ ded / дэд ded, or ᠡᠳ᠋ ed / эд ed).[20]

• Transcribes Chakhar /t͡ʃ/;[22][33] Khalkha /t͡ʃʰ/, and /t͡sʰ/ (Mongolian Cyrillic ч, and ц, respectively).[22]^:§ 1.2[28]^:2
• Not occurring word- or syllable-finally.[2]^:15[26]^{:27, 28}[22]
• Derived from Old Uyghur tsade, and in the 17th–18th century Classical Mongolian language distinguished from medial ǰ ‍ᠵ‍ through its more angular form.[25]^:59[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /d͡ʒ/;[22][33] Khalkha /d͡ʒ/, and d͡z (Mongolian Cyrillic ж, and з, respectively).[22]^:§ 1.2[28]^:2
• Not occurring word- or syllable-finally.[2]^:15[26]^{:27, 28}[22]
• Also transliterated scholarly with Latin j.[32]
• Derived from Old Uyghur yodh (initial) and tsade (medial), and in the 17th–18th century Classical Mongolian language distinguished from medial č ᠴ through its less angular form.[25]^:59[1]^:545[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /j/;[22][33] Khalkha /j/.[27]^:40–42
• Separated suffixes starting with the letter, include: ‑yi (accusative), ‑yin (genitive), and ‑yuγan/‑yügen (reflexive+accusative).[30]
• The unhooked initial and medial forms are older ones.[1]^{:545, 546}[12]^:108
• Derived from Old Uyghur yodh, and in the 19th century distinguished from initial ǰ by the borrowing of Manchu hooked yodh.[1]^:545[25]^:59

• Transcribes Chakhar /r/;[22][33] Khalkha /r/.[27]^:40–42
• Not occurring word-initially except in loanwords.[2]^:14 Transcribed foreign words usually get a vowel prepended; transcribing Русь (Russia) results in ᠣᠷᠤᠰ Oros.
• Derived from Old Uyghur resh.[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /w/;[22][33]
• Used to transcribe foreign words (originally for v in Sanskrit व /va/). Transcribes /w/ in Tibetan ཝ /wa/;[37]^:254[2]^:28[34]^:113 Old Uyghur and Chinese loanwords.[12]^:113[12]^:104
• Also transliterated scholarly with Latin v.[32]
• Derived from Old Uyghur bet,[1]^{:539–540, 545–546}[34]^{:111, 113}[12]^:97 and "waw" (before a separated vowel).

• Transcribes Chakhar /f/;[22][33]
• Used to transcribe foreign words.
• Transcribes /pʰ/ in Tibetan ཕ /pʰa/.[37]^{:96, 247}[2]^:28
• Galik letter, derived from Mongolian b.[12]^:98

• Transcribes Chakhar /k/;[22][33]
• Also transliterated scholarly with Latin k.[32]
• Used to transcribe foreign words (originally for g in Tibetan ག /ga/; Sanskrit ग /ga/).[37]^{:87, 244, 251}[2]^:28
• Galik letter.[25]^:59–60