Romanization of Russian
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There exist many possible systems for transliterating the Cyrillic alphabet of the Russian language to English or the Latin alphabet. Such transliteration is necessary for writing Russian names and other words in English text. It is also essential for the input of Russian text into computer by users who either do not have the keyboard or word processor set up for input of Cyrillic, or else they are not capable of typing rapidly on the distinct Cyrillic keyboard. In the latter case, they would type using a system of transliteration on the QWERTY keyboard and then use an automated tool to convert the text into Cyrillic.
Contents
Systematic transliterations of Cyrillic to Latin
Note that some phonetic transcription systems are intended for readers of languages other than English, for instance: Russian "Воронин" = English "Voronin" = French "Voronine" = German "Woronin".Scientific transliteration
Scientific transliteration, also known as the International Scholarly System, is a system that has been used in linguistics since the 19th century. It is based on the Czech and Croatian Latin alphabet, and formed the basis of the GOST and ISO systems.
GOST
GOST 16876 (1971)
Developed by the National Administration for Geodesy and Cartography at the USSR Council of Ministers, GOST 16876-71 has been in service for over 30 years and is the only romanization system that does not use diacritics. Replaced by GOST 7.79-2000.
GOST ST SEV 1362 (1978)
This standard is an equivalent of GOST 16876-71. Adopted as an official standard of the COMECON.GOST 7.79 (2002)
GOST 7.79-2000 System of Standards on Information, Librarianship, and Publishing – Rules for Transliteration of the Cyrillic Characters Using the Latin Alphabet is the newest document on transliteration in the series of GOST standards. This standard is an adoption of ISO 9:1995 and is now the official standard of both the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).ISO
ISO/R 9
ISO/R 9, established 1954 and updated 1968, was the adoption of the scientific transliteration by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It covers Russian and seven additional Slavic languages.ISO 9
ISO 9:1995 is the current transliteration standard from ISO. It is based on its predecessor ISO/R 9:1968, which it deprecates; for Russian they only differ in the treatment of three letters. It is the first language-independent, univocal system of one character for one character equivalents (by the use of diacritics), which faithfully represents the original and allows for reverse transliteration for Cyrillic text in any contemporary language.United Nations romanization system
The UNGEGN, a Working Group of the United Nations, in 1987 recommended a romanization system for geographical names, which was based on GOST 16876-71. It may be found in some international cartographic products.ALA-LC
America Library Association & Library of Congress (ALA-LC) romanization tables for Slavic alphabets (1997) are used in North American libraries.
The formal, unambiguous version of the system requires some diacritics and two-letter tie characters, which are often omitted in practice.
BGN/PCGN
The BGN/PCGN system is relatively intuitive for anglophones to read and pronounce. In many publications a simplified form of the system is used to render English versions of Russian names, typically converting ë to yo, simplifying -iy and -yy endings to -y, and omitting apostrophes for ъ and ь (see conventional transcription of Russian names, below). It can be rendered using only the basic letters and punctuation found on English-language keyboards: no diacritics or unusual letters are required, although the Interpunct character (·) can optionally be used to avoid some ambiguity.
This particular standard is part of the BGN/PCGN romanization system which was developed by the United States Board on Geographic Names and by the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use. The portion of the system pertaining to the Russian language was adopted by BGN in 1944, and by PCGN in 1947.
Transliteration table
| Cyrillic | Scholary | ISO/R 9:1968 | GOST | UN | ISO 9:1995 | ALA-LC | BGN/PCGN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| А а | a | a | a | a | a | a | a |
| Б б | b | b | b | b | b | b | b |
| В в | v | v | v | v | v | v | v |
| Г г | g | g | g | g | g | g | g |
| Д д | d | d | d | d | d | d | d |
| Е е | e | e | e | e | e | e | e, ye |
| Ё ё | ë | ë | jo | ë | ë | ë | ë, yë ** |
| Ж ж | ž | ž | zh | ž | ž | zh | zh |
| З з | z | z | z | z | z | z | z |
| И и | i | i | i | i | i | i | i |
| Й й | j | j | j | j | j | ĭ | y |
| К к | k | k | k | k | k | k | k |
| Л л | l | l | l | l | l | l | l |
| М м | m | m | m | m | m | m | m |
| Н н | n | n | n | n | n | n | n |
| О о | o | o | o | o | o | o | o |
| П п | p | p | p | p | p | p | p |
| Р р | r | r | r | r | r | r | r |
| С с | s | s | s | s | s | s | s |
| Т т | t | t | t | t | t | t | t |
| У у | u | u | u | u | u | u | u |
| Ф ф | f | f | f | f | f | f | f |
| Х х | x | ch | kh | h | h | kh | kh |
| Ц ц | c | c | c | c | c | t͡s | ts |
| Ч ч | č | č | ch | č | č | ch | ch |
| Ш ш | š | š | sh | š | š | sh | sh |
| Щ щ | šč | šč | shh | šč | ŝ | shch | shch |
| Ъ ъ | ʺ | ʺ | ʺ | ʺ | ʺ | ʺ * | ʺ |
| Ы ы | y | y | y | y | y | y | y |
| Ь ь | ʹ | ʹ | ʹ | ʹ | ʹ | ʹ | ʹ |
| Э э | è | ė | eh | è | è | ė | e |
| Ю ю | ju | ju | ju | ju | û | i͡u | yu |
| Я я | ja | ja | ja | ja | â | i͡a | ya |
| Pre-1918 letters | |||||||
| І і | i | i | – | ĭ | ì | ī | – |
| Ѳ ѳ | f | ḟ | – | ḟ | f̀ | ḟ | – |
| Ѣ ѣ | ě | ě | – | ě | ě | i͡e | – |
| Ѵ ѵ | i | ẏ | – | ẏ | ỳ | ẏ | – |
| Ancient letters | |||||||
| Ѕ ѕ | dz | – | – | – | ẑ | – | – |
| Ѯ ѯ | ks | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ѱ ѱ | ps | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ѡ ѡ | ô, o | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ѫ ѫ | ǫ, u | – | – | – | ǎ | – | – |
| Ѧ ѧ | ę, ja | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ѭ ѭ | jǫ, ju | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ѩ ѩ | ję, ja | – | – | – | – | – | – |
- Notes
* ALA-LC: ъ is not romanized at the end of a word.** BGN/PCGN: ye and yë are used to indicate iotation word-initially, and after a vowel, й, ъ, or ь.
Conventional transcription of Russian names
| Russian spelling | English transliteration | Special provision | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| А (а) | A (a) | None | Аник = Anik Паганкино = Pagankino |
| Б (б) | B (b) | None | Болотин = Bolotin Колбасин = Kolbasin |
| В (в) | V (v) | None | Воронин = Voronin Привалин = Privalin |
| Г (г) | G (g) | None | Галкин = Galkin Луговой = Lugovoy |
| H (h) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Петергоф = Peterhof | |
| Д (д) | D (d) | None | Дровяное = Drovanoye Подгорск = Podgorsk |
| Е (е) | Ye (ye) |
|
|
| E (e) | All other cases | Белкин = Belkin | |
| Ё (ё) | Yo (yo) |
| Ёлкино = Yolkino |
| E (e) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Горбачёв = Gorbachev | |
| O (o) | All other cases | Озёрск = Ozorsk | |
| Ж (ж) | Zh (zh) | None | Жиров = Zhirov Приволжское = Privolzhskoye |
| З (з) | Z (z) | None | Зорин = Zorin Обозов = Obozov |
| И (и) | I (i) | Except in an –ий ending (see below) | Иркутск = Irkutsk Владивосток = Vladivostok |
| Й (й) | Y (y) | Except in –ый and –ий endings (see below) | Йошкар-Ола = Yoshkar-Ola Буйск = Buysk |
| I (i) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Край = Krai Байкал = Baikal | |
| J (j) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | [Insert an example] | |
| К (к) | K (k) | None | Киров = Kirov Галкин = Galkin |
| Л (л) | L (l) | None | Лапинск = Lapinsk Комсомольск = Komsomolsk |
| М (м) | M (m) | None | Мичурин = Michurin Колыма = Kolyma |
| Н (н) | N (n) | None | Нальчик = Nalchik Савино = Savino |
| О (о) | O (o) | None | Оха = Okha Грозный = Grozny |
| П (п) | P (p) | None | Петроград = Petrograd Ставрополь = Stavropol |
| Р (р) | R (r) | None | Родниковое = Rodnikovoye Высокогорск = Vysokogorsk |
| С (с) | S (s) | None | Ступино = Stupino Бирск = Birsk |
| Т (т) | T (t) | None | Тавричанка = Tavrichanka Ростов = Rostov |
| У (у) | U (u) | None | Улетайск = Uletaysk Шушенское = Shushenskoye |
| Ф (ф) | F (f) | None | Фёдоровка = Fyodorovka Корфу = Korfu |
| Ph (ph) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Иосиф Сталин = Joseph Stalin | |
| Х (х) | Kh (kh) | None | Хабаровск = Khabarovsk Оха = Okha |
| H (h) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | [Insert an example] | |
| Ц (ц) | Ts (ts) | None | Царское = Tsarskoye Зарецкий = Zaretsky |
| Ч (ч) | Ch (ch) | None | Черемшаны = Cheremshany Зареченск = Zarechensk |
| Tch (tch) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Чайковский = Tchaikovsky | |
| Ш (ш) | Sh (sh) | None | Шадрин = Shadrin Моршанск = Morshansk |
| Щ (щ) | Shch (shch) | None | Щукино = Shchukino Рощинский = Roshchinsky |
| Sch (sch) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Хрущёв = Khruschev | |
| ъ (твёрдый знак) | Omitted | When followed by a vowel | Подъярский = Podyarsky |
| When it is a commonly accepted convention | [Insert an example] | ||
| Ы (ы) | Y (y) | Except in an –ый ending (see below) | Давыдов = Davydov |
| ь (мягкий знак) | Omitted |
| |
| y | When followed by a non-iotated vowel | Ильинский = Ilyinsky | |
| When it is a commonly accepted convention | Русь = Rus' | ||
| Э (э) | E (e) | None | Элиста = Elista Тетраэдральный = Tetraedralny |
| Ю (ю) | Yu (yu) |
| Юрмала = Yurmala |
| Iu (iu) | When it is a commonly accepted convention. | ||
| U (u) | All other cases | Козючинск = Kozuchinsk | |
| Я (я) | Ya (ya) |
| Ярославль = Yaroslavl Бурьянск = Buryansk |
| Ia (ia) | When it is a commonly accepted convention. | ||
| A (a) | All other cases | ||
| Кс (кс) | x | In names like Alexander, Alexey and Maxim (sometimes) | Александр = Alexander Алексей = Alexey |
| Ks (ks) | In all other cases | Ксинск = Ksinsk Моксинский = Moksinsky | |
| –ый endings | iy | None | Красный = Krasniy |
| y | When it is a commonly accepted convention | [Insert an example] | |
| –ий endings | iy | None | Синий = Siniy |
| y | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Троцкий = Trotsky | |
| i | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Юрий = Yuri | |
| –ия endings | ia | None | Наталия = Natalia Якутия = Yakutia |
| iya | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Австралия = Avstraliya |
- Notes
- Unicode practices. Unicode supplies special characters that, among other things, are intended to be used for this kind of transliteration of soft and hard signs—namely:
U+02B9 MODIFIER LETTER PRIME(ʹ) andU+02BA MODIFIER LETTER DOUBLE PRIME(ʺ), repspectively. (Reference: [Draft Unicode 4.1 names list], retrieved 2005, December 14.) The motivation in the design of Unicode behind supplying specialized “apostrophe-like characters” is thatU+0027[ the simple “typewriter tick mark”:' ] is a particularly overloaded character… and is even used for the representation of things from different categories: In ASCII it is used to represent a punctuation mark… or a modifier letter. … (Punctuation marks generally break words; modifier letters generally are considered part of a word.) (Encoding Characters with Multiple Semantic Values, Chapter 6 [Writing Systems and Punctuation (pdf)] of [Unicode 4.0].)
U+02B9, U+0027), using specialized punctuation marks like ’ U+2019 RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK (and ” U+201D RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK) for the purpose of transliterating Cyrillic soft (and hard) signs is semantically incorrect (they break words, whereas the Cyrillic letters are parts of words); one of the consequences of such practice may be an incorrect treatment of the words by software. Despite this, such practices exist.See also
- Cyrillic alphabet
- Early Cyrillic alphabet
- Romanization of Bulgarian
- Romanization of Ukrainian
- Volapuk encoding
- Faux Cyrillic
- [Kyrillisches Alphabet] (from the [German Wikipedia]) shows how to transliterate between Russian and German.
- GOST standards
References
- U.S. Board on Geographic Names Foreign Names Committee Staff, 1994. Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions, pp. 84-85.
External links
- [Summary of romanization systems for Russian] (Adobe PDF) by Thomas T. Pederson.
- [United Nations-recommended romanization system for Russian] (Adobe PDF)
- [American Library Association & Library of Congress Romanization]
- [Russian transliterated (phonetic) keyboard layout]
- [Russian toponym translations and transliterations database]
- [Transliteration of Russian into various European languages]
- [Umschrift des russischen Alphabets]—Russian transliteration in several systems, including DIN 1460 (1982) [=ISO/R9:1968], GOST ST SEV 1362 (1978), and BSI BS 2979 (1958)
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