Cyrillization
Encyclopedia
A Cyrillization is a system for rendering words of a language that normally uses a writing system other than the Cyrillic alphabet
into a (version of) Cyrillic alphabet. A Cyrillization scheme needs to be applied, for example, to transcribe names of German, Chinese, or American people and places for use in Russian
, Serbian
or Bulgarian
newspapers and books. Cyrillization is analogous to romanization
, when words from a non-Latin-alphabet
-using language are rendered in the Latin alphabet for use e.g. in English
, German
, or Francophone literature
.
Just like with various Romanization schemes, each Cyrillization system has its own set of rules, depending on:
When the source language uses a fairly phonetic spelling system, a Cyrillization scheme may often be adopted that almost amounts to a transliteration
, i.e. using a mapping scheme that simply maps each letter of the source alphabet to some letter of the destination alphabet, sometimes augmented by position-based rules. Among such schemes are several schemes universally accepted in Russia
:
Similarly simple schemes are widely used to render Spanish, Italian, etc. words into Russian etc.
When the source language uses a not particularly phonetic writing system — most notably English and French — its words are typically rendered in Russian or other Cyrillic-based languages using an approximate phonetic transliteration
system, which aims to allow the Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, etc. readers to approximate the sound of the source language as much as it is possible within the constraints of the destination language and its alphabet. Among the examples is the Practical transcription of English into Russian , which aims to render English words in Russian based on their sounds and Transliteration of foreign words by a cyrillic alphabet in case with Ukrainian. While this scheme is mostly accepted by a majority of Russian authors and publishers, transcription variants are not uncommon.
A transliteration
system for the Bulgarian
Cyrillization of English has been designed by the Bulgarian linguist Andrey Danchev
.
Similarly phonetic schemes are widely adopted for Cyrillization of French.
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
into a (version of) Cyrillic alphabet. A Cyrillization scheme needs to be applied, for example, to transcribe names of German, Chinese, or American people and places for use in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
or Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
newspapers and books. Cyrillization is analogous to romanization
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...
, when words from a non-Latin-alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
-using language are rendered in the Latin alphabet for use e.g. in English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
, German
German literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
, or Francophone literature
Francophone literature
Francophone literature is literature written in the French language. Most often the term is misused to refer only to literature from francophone countries outside France, but this category includes French Literature, or Literature of France, that is literature written by French authors...
.
Just like with various Romanization schemes, each Cyrillization system has its own set of rules, depending on:
- The source language or writing system (English, French, Arabic, HindiHindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, KazakhKazakh languageKazakh is a Turkic language which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages, closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak....
in Latin alphabetKazakh alphabetThe Kazakh alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Kazakh language. The Kazakh language uses the following alphabets:* The Cyrillic script is officially used in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Bayan-Ölgiy Province in Mongolia...
, Chinese, Japanese, etc.), - The destination language or writing system (Russian, Bulgarian, KazakhKazakh languageKazakh is a Turkic language which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages, closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak....
in Cyrillic, etc), - the goals of the systems:
- to render occasional foreign words (mostly personal and place names) for use in newspapers or on maps;
- to provide a practical approximate phonetic transcriptionPhonetic transcriptionPhonetic transcription is the visual representation of speech sounds . The most common type of phonetic transcription uses a phonetic alphabet, e.g., the International Phonetic Alphabet....
in a phrase bookPhrase bookA phrase book is a collection of ready-made phrases, usually for a foreign language along with a translation, indexed and often in the form of questions and answers.- Structure :...
or a bilingual dictionaryBilingual dictionaryA bilingual dictionary or translation dictionary is a specialized dictionary used to translate words or phrases from one language to another. Bilingual dictionaries can be unidirectional, meaning that they list the meanings of words of one language in another, or can be bidirectional, allowing...
; - or to convert a language to a Cyrillic writing system altogether (e.g. Moldavian, DunganDungan languageThe Dungan language is a Sinitic language spoken by the Dungan of Central Asia, an ethnic group related to the Hui people of China.-History:...
, KazakhKazakh alphabetThe Kazakh alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Kazakh language. The Kazakh language uses the following alphabets:* The Cyrillic script is officially used in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Bayan-Ölgiy Province in Mongolia...
)
- Linguistic and/or political inclinations of the designers of the system (see, for example, the use—or disuse—of the letter ҐGe with upturnGe with upturn is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. In Ukrainian, Urum and Rusyn, this letter is called "Ge", and the letter ⟨Г⟩ is called "He"...
for rendering the "G" of foreign words in the UkrainianUkrainian alphabetThe Ukrainian alphabet is the set of letters used to write Ukrainian, the official language of Ukraine. It is one of the national variations of the Cyrillic script....
).
When the source language uses a fairly phonetic spelling system, a Cyrillization scheme may often be adopted that almost amounts to a transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
, i.e. using a mapping scheme that simply maps each letter of the source alphabet to some letter of the destination alphabet, sometimes augmented by position-based rules. Among such schemes are several schemes universally accepted in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
:
- Cyrillization of ChineseCyrillization of ChineseThe Cyrillization of Chinese is effected using the Palladius system for transcribing Chinese characters into the Cyrillic alphabet. It was created by Pyotr Ivanovich Kafarov , a Russian sinologist and monk who spent 30 years in China and was also known by his monastic name Palladius...
- Cyrillization of JapaneseCyrillization of JapaneseCyrillization of Japanese is the practice of expressing Japanese sounds using Cyrillic characters. It is commonly accepted in Russia.Below is a cyrillization system for the Japanese language known as the Yevgeny Polivanov system...
- Cyrillization of Korean
Similarly simple schemes are widely used to render Spanish, Italian, etc. words into Russian etc.
When the source language uses a not particularly phonetic writing system — most notably English and French — its words are typically rendered in Russian or other Cyrillic-based languages using an approximate phonetic transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
system, which aims to allow the Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, etc. readers to approximate the sound of the source language as much as it is possible within the constraints of the destination language and its alphabet. Among the examples is the Practical transcription of English into Russian , which aims to render English words in Russian based on their sounds and Transliteration of foreign words by a cyrillic alphabet in case with Ukrainian. While this scheme is mostly accepted by a majority of Russian authors and publishers, transcription variants are not uncommon.
A transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
system for the Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
Cyrillization of English has been designed by the Bulgarian linguist Andrey Danchev
Andrey Danchev
Andrey Danchev was a Bulgarian linguist, Anglicist and Americanist who worked for the Department of English and American Studies at Sofia University. Danchev was the author of a widely accepted system for the Bulgarian transcription of English names and, together with M. Holman, E. Dimova and M...
.
Similarly phonetic schemes are widely adopted for Cyrillization of French.
See also
- Volapuk encodingVolapuk encodingVolapuk encoding or latinitsa is a slang term for rendering the letters of the Cyrillic script with Latin ones...
- Транскрипция - the articles on Transcription in the Russian Wikipedia
- Rules for practical English-Russian transcription
- Transcription of German into Cyrillic
- Транскрипція - the articles on Transcription in the Ukrainian Wikipedia
- Transliteration of English and German words by a cyrillic alphabet
- Транскрибиране на български език - Transcription into the Bulgarian
- A page for Cyrillization of PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
: http://steen.free.fr/cyrpol/index.html