Mongolian Language (Монгол Хэл)

Mongolians speak Mongolian. Mongolian uses a modified Cyrillic alphabet. The alphabet has 35 letters. Here is the alphabet:

Аа  Бб  Вв  Гг  Дд  Ее  Ёё  Жж  Зз  Ии  Йй  Кк  Лл  Мм  Нн  Оо  Өө  Пп  Рр  Сс  Тт  Уу  Үү  Фф  Хх  Цц  Чч  Шш  Ьь  Ыы  Ъъ  Ээ  Юю  Яя

This is "mother" in Mongolian script.

Mongolian uses a Cyrillic alphabet because of the influence of Russia.  There is an old Mongolian script that is very beautiful but it’s not used in daily life any more. The Mongol script was adopted about 800 years ago by Chingis Khan's decree. Based on the ancient Uighur script of Turkish tribes that had lived near Mongolia, the Mongols developed it and it evolved into today's script, which is why it is called Uighur Mongol script. But over 50 years ago, during the communist era, it was banned, and the Russian Cyrillic alphabet was imposed as the official script. After the Democratic Revolution of 1990, the Parliament voted to return to the old script as an affirmation of national identity and in recognition of Mongolia's rich traditional culture. This script has been taught in all secondary schools since 1994. Fifty percent of Mongols can read it, while only thirty percent can write it. The Mongol script is a "vertical" script, written from the top to the bottom, and the only "vertical" script still in use today.

English sentence structure is subject-verb-object; Mongolian sentence structure is subject-object-verb. For example:

English: “  I            am        a teacher”                        Mongolian:  “ Би          багш        бол.”

             subject     verb      object                                                 subject     object        verb

Mongolians greet each other by saying “Сайн байна уу?” This means, “Are you well?”  And the response is, “Сайн. Сайн байна уу?,” which means, “I’m well.  Are you well?” It sounds like this:  “Sain bainoo?” 
 “Sain. Sain bainoo?”

In the evening, Mongolians tell each other good night by saying, “Сайхан амраарай.” Literally, it means “Please rest well,” and it sounds like this “Saikhan amraarai.”

In the morning, Mongolians tell each other good morning by asking, “Сайхан амар сайн уу?” It means, “Did you rest well?” The response is “Сайхан. Сайхан амар сайн уу?” which means “Very well. Did you rest well?” It sounds like this:  “Saikhan amar sainoo?”  
“Saikhan. Saikhan amar sainoo?”

Here are some common words translated into Mongolian:

mother—ээж (“edge”)
father—аав (“ow”)
younger brother/sister—дүү (“doo”)
older sister—эгч (“ekch”)
older brother—ах (“akh”)
grandfather—өвөө (“uhwhoa”)  
grandmother—эмээ (“emay”)

grocery store—хнсний дэлгүүр (“huncnee delthguur”)

meat—мах (“makh”)
eggs—өндөг ("uhnduk”)

milk—сүү (“soo”)                               

bread—талх (“talthikh”)        

water—ус (“os”)                     

paper—цаас (“tsaas”)

indoor toilet—нөйл (“nuhlth”)

outhouse—жорлон (“jorlthon”)

Mongolians say the word “okay” all the time.  In Mongolian, it’s “за” or “za.”  And they will frequently say, “za za” or “za, za, za.”  You’re talking to someone on the phone, and instead of saying “uh-huh” or “m-hm,” you’d say “za”  
or “za za” 
or “za, za, za.” 

One of my favorite Mongolian phrases is “яанаа!” or “Yanaa!”  
It means, “Oh my goodness!”