Transliteration of Russian into English
Categories: Romanization | Russian language
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.
Standard Cyrillic-to-English transliteration systems include:
- The United Nations-recommended romanization system (1987), based on GOST. Used in the Russian Federation and increasingly in international cartographic products.
- GOST 16876-71 (1983), from the Main Administration of Geodesy and Cartography of the former Soviet Union. Russian abbreviation of GOsudarstvenny STandart, "the State Standard".
- ISO 9:1995, from the International Organization for Standardization.
- America Library Association & Library of Congress (ALA-LC) Romanization tables for Slavic alphabets (1997), used in North American libraries.
- BGN/PCGN 1947 transliteration system (United States Board on Geographic Names & Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use).
Note that the transliteration to other languages can be different (for instance: Russian "Воронин" = English "Voronin" = French "Voronine", Горбачёв = Gorbachev = Gorbatchev, etc.).
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Conventional transcription of Russian names
The following table describes a method to derive the most common informal transcriptions of Russian names into the Latin alphabet, suitable for English-speakers. It is similar to BGN/PCGN transliteration, with several exceptions.
| Russian letter or letter combination | English transliteration | Special provision | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| А (а) | A (a) | None | Аник = Anik Поганкино = Pogankino |
| 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 = Drovyanoye Подгорск = Podgorsk |
| Е (е) | Ye (ye) |
|
|
| E (e) | All other cases | Белкин = Belkin | |
| Ё (ё) | Yo (yo) | None | Ёлкино = Yolkino Озёрск = Ozyorsk |
| E (e) | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Горбачёв = Gorbachev | |
| 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 | Одесса = Odessa 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 |
| 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) | Ыттык-Кёль = Yttyk-Kyol 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) | None | Юрмала = Yurmala Козючинск = Kozyuchinsk |
| Я (я) | Ya (ya) | None | Ярославль = Yaroslavl Бурянск = Buryansk |
| Кс (кс) | x | In names like Alexander and Alexey (sometimes) | Александр = Alexander Алексей = Alexey |
| Ks (ks) | In all other cases | Ксинск = Ksinsk Моксинский = Moksinsky | |
| –ый endings | y | None | Красный = Krasny |
| iy | When it is a commonly accepted convention | [Insert an example] | |
| –ий endings | y | –iy is also acceptable | Синий = Siny (Siniy) |
| iy | –y is also acceptable | Великий = Velikiy (Veliky) | |
| i | When it is a commonly accepted convention | Юрий = Yuri |
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See also
- Cyrillic alphabet
- Early Cyrillic alphabet
- Volapuk encoding
- Faux Cyrillic
- Kyrillisches Alphabet (from the German Wikipedia) shows how to transliterate between Russian and German.
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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 languagesbg:Шльокавица