Sounds and Scripts of Modernity: Language Ideologies and Practices in Contemporary Mongolia

The change of script from the traditional bichig to Cyrillic that took place in Mongolia in the 1940s brought Mongols closer to the rest of the Soviet world and effected a break with ethnically and linguistically identical populations beyond the borders. While the political ramifications of this transition have been examined at length, much less attention has been given to the impact that the introduction of a new script has had on Mongolian phonology. This paper examines some of the language ideologies currently prevalent in Mongolia as well as the new language practices that have emerged in the last two decades around the use of Latin.