Romanization of Russian

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.

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

Common systems for romanizing Russian
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

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.

In the beginning of words;
after vowels;
after ь;
after ъ.

Ельцин = Yeltsin
Раздольное = Razdolnoye
Юрьев = Yuryev (ь omitted — see ь below);
Подъездной = Podyezdnoy

In the beginning of words;
after vowels;
after ь;
after ъ.

When followed by an iotated vowel;
at the end of words;
before a consonant.

Усолье = Usolye
Выхухоль = Vykhukhol
Дальнегорск = Dalnegorsk

In the beginning of words;
after vowels;
after ь;
after ъ;
When it is a commonly accepted convention.

In the beginning of words;
after vowels;
after ь;
after ъ;
When it is a commonly accepted convention.

Except in an –ия ending (see below)

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
Г (г)	H (h)	When it is a commonly accepted convention	Петергоф = Peterhof
Д (д)	D (d)	None	Дровяное = Drovanoye Подгорск = Podgorsk
Е (е)	Ye (ye)
Е (е)	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	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
Ф (ф)	Ph (ph)	When it is a commonly accepted convention	Иосиф Сталин = Joseph Stalin
Х (х)	Kh (kh)	None	Хабаровск = Khabarovsk Оха = Okha
Х (х)	H (h)	When it is a commonly accepted convention	an example
Ц (ц)	Ts (ts)	None	Царское = Tsarskoye Зарецкий = Zaretsky
Ч (ч)	Ch (ch)	None	Черемшаны = Cheremshany Зареченск = Zarechensk
Ч (ч)	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
Щ (щ)	Sch (sch)	When it is a commonly accepted convention	Хрущёв = Khruschev
ъ (твёрдый знак)	Omitted	When followed by a vowel	Подъярский = Podyarsky
ъ (твёрдый знак)	"	When it is a commonly accepted convention	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
Кс (кс)	Ks (ks)	In all other cases	Ксинск = Ksinsk Моксинский = Moksinsky
–ый endings	iy	None	Красный = Krasniy
–ый endings	y	When it is a commonly accepted convention	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
–ия endings	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) and U+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 that U+0027 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.)

Note that unlike the mentioned alternatives (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.

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) ^*, GOST ST SEV 1362 (1978), and BSI BS 2979 (1958)

Cyrillic alphabet | Romanization | Russian language

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