The present book is an introduction to Mongolian, designed to give the most essential information about that language to nonspecialists in the field, primarily to linguists who are interested in learning about the structure, or students of Mongolian who wish to get a general picture of the language before they begin studying it in detail. Presented is a systematic discussion of the phonology, morphology, and syntax, the linguistic classification of Mongolian and the Mongolian language family, its historical background, writing systems, and literature. A selected bibliography follows each chapter. The linguistic material in this handbook is based on the Khalkha dialect, the most important dialect of the Mongolian language, spoken by the majority of the population of the Mongolian People's Republic. (AMM)