Romanisation of Macedonian
Encyclopedia
The Romanization of Macedonian is the transliteration
of text in the Macedonian language
from the Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet
into the Latin alphabet
. Romanization can be used for various purposes, such as rendering of proper name
s in foreign contexts, or for informal writing of Macedonian in environments where Cyrillic is not easily available. Official use of Romanization by Macedonian
authorities is found, for instance, on road signage and in passports. Several different codified standards of transliteration currently exist and there is widespread variability in practice.
For a number of Cyrillic letters, transliteration into matching Latin letters is straightforward. Cyrillic а, б, в, г, д, е, з, и, к, л, м, н, о, п, р, с, т, у, ф are matched with Latin a, b, v, g, d, e, z, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, f, according to all conventions. Cyrillic ц is mostly rendered as c, in accordance with the conventions for many other Slavic languages. The letter х is typically rendered as h, matching the pronunciation in Macedonian. For the Macedonian/Serbian letter ј, the preferred transliteration is its visual Latin counterpart j (rather than y, otherwise widely used in English for the rendering of the same glide sound in other languages). For other Cyrillic letters, the choice is between a single Latin letter with a diacritic
, and a digraph
of two Latin letters. This goes mainly for the letters denoting palatalised consonants, and for those denoting fricatives and affricates in the alveolar and palatal range.
A standardized system of transliteration is defined in ISO R9:1968
; this system was also adopted by the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1970, is regarded as officially codified today, and is taught in schools in the Republic of Macedonia. It uses letters with diacritics ž, č, š for Cyrillic ж, ч, ш respectively (as for many other Slavic languages), and for the special Macedonian letters ѓ, ќ. The palatalised consonants of Cyrillic љ, њ are rendered with diagraphs lj, nj, and the voiced affricates of Cyrillic ѕ, џ with dz, dž respectively. A variant of this system, also defined in ISO 9, allows for digraphs rather than diacritics in more cases, using zh, ch, sh rather than ž, č, š for Cyrillic ж, ч, ш.
A more recent norm, ISO 9:1995, opts entirely for a one-to-one mapping between letters and unique uniform mappings across all Cyrillic orthographies, using diacritic combinations rather than digraphs throughout. This involves rare diacritic combinations such as ẑ, ǰ, l̂, n̂. This system is not widely used in practice for Macedonian.
At the other end of the spectrum is a system that goes wholly without diacritics and prefers digraphs instead, making it easier for use in environments where diacritics may pose a technical problem, such as typing on computers. Common usage has gj, kj for ѓ, ќ, either dj or dzh for џ, and sometimes ts for ц. Such a diacritic-free system, with digraphs zh, gj, dz, lj, nj, kj, ch, sh, dj has reportedly been adopted since 2008 for use in passports of the Republic of Macedonia.
The palatal plosives ѓ, ќ are also sometimes rendered as Latin đ, ć, following a Serbian
convention (đ, ć are the Serbian Latin equivalents of Serbian Cyrillic ђ and ћ, which etymologically correspond to Macedonian ѓ, ќ in many words.) This convention is found in the system adopted by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and the British PCGN
in 1981, as well as by the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographic Names (UNCSGN). According to this system, ѓ, ќ are transliterated as plain g and k before front vowels (е, и), but as đ and ć respectively in other environments. Otherwise, this system is identical to that of ISO 9 (R:1968).
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...
of text in the Macedonian language
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
from the Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet
Macedonian alphabet
The orthography of Macedonian includes an alphabet , which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelling and punctuation....
into the 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...
. Romanization can be used for various purposes, such as rendering of proper name
Proper name
"A proper name [is] a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is that we are talking about" writes John Stuart Mill in A System of Logic , "but not of telling anything about it"...
s in foreign contexts, or for informal writing of Macedonian in environments where Cyrillic is not easily available. Official use of Romanization by Macedonian
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
authorities is found, for instance, on road signage and in passports. Several different codified standards of transliteration currently exist and there is widespread variability in practice.
For a number of Cyrillic letters, transliteration into matching Latin letters is straightforward. Cyrillic а, б, в, г, д, е, з, и, к, л, м, н, о, п, р, с, т, у, ф are matched with Latin a, b, v, g, d, e, z, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, f, according to all conventions. Cyrillic ц is mostly rendered as c, in accordance with the conventions for many other Slavic languages. The letter х is typically rendered as h, matching the pronunciation in Macedonian. For the Macedonian/Serbian letter ј, the preferred transliteration is its visual Latin counterpart j (rather than y, otherwise widely used in English for the rendering of the same glide sound in other languages). For other Cyrillic letters, the choice is between a single Latin letter with a diacritic
Diacritic
A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents...
, and a digraph
Digraph (orthography)
A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined...
of two Latin letters. This goes mainly for the letters denoting palatalised consonants, and for those denoting fricatives and affricates in the alveolar and palatal range.
A standardized system of transliteration is defined in ISO R9:1968
ISO 9
The international standard ISO 9 establishes a system for the transliteration into Latin characters of Cyrillic characters constituting the alphabets of many Slavic and some non-Slavic languages....
; this system was also adopted by the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1970, is regarded as officially codified today, and is taught in schools in the Republic of Macedonia. It uses letters with diacritics ž, č, š for Cyrillic ж, ч, ш respectively (as for many other Slavic languages), and for the special Macedonian letters ѓ, ќ. The palatalised consonants of Cyrillic љ, њ are rendered with diagraphs lj, nj, and the voiced affricates of Cyrillic ѕ, џ with dz, dž respectively. A variant of this system, also defined in ISO 9, allows for digraphs rather than diacritics in more cases, using zh, ch, sh rather than ž, č, š for Cyrillic ж, ч, ш.
A more recent norm, ISO 9:1995, opts entirely for a one-to-one mapping between letters and unique uniform mappings across all Cyrillic orthographies, using diacritic combinations rather than digraphs throughout. This involves rare diacritic combinations such as ẑ, ǰ, l̂, n̂. This system is not widely used in practice for Macedonian.
At the other end of the spectrum is a system that goes wholly without diacritics and prefers digraphs instead, making it easier for use in environments where diacritics may pose a technical problem, such as typing on computers. Common usage has gj, kj for ѓ, ќ, either dj or dzh for џ, and sometimes ts for ц. Such a diacritic-free system, with digraphs zh, gj, dz, lj, nj, kj, ch, sh, dj has reportedly been adopted since 2008 for use in passports of the Republic of Macedonia.
The palatal plosives ѓ, ќ are also sometimes rendered as Latin đ, ć, following a 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....
convention (đ, ć are the Serbian Latin equivalents of Serbian Cyrillic ђ and ћ, which etymologically correspond to Macedonian ѓ, ќ in many words.) This convention is found in the system adopted by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and the British PCGN
Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use
The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names is an independent inter-departmental body established in 1919. Its function is to establish standard names for places outside the UK, for the use of the British government....
in 1981, as well as by the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographic Names (UNCSGN). According to this system, ѓ, ќ are transliterated as plain g and k before front vowels (е, и), but as đ and ć respectively in other environments. Otherwise, this system is identical to that of ISO 9 (R:1968).
| Cyrillic | IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
ISO 9 ISO 9 The international standard ISO 9 establishes a system for the transliteration into Latin characters of Cyrillic characters constituting the alphabets of many Slavic and some non-Slavic languages.... (1995) |
BGN/PCGN BGN/PCGN romanization BGN/PCGN romanization refers to the systems for romanization and Roman-script spelling conventions adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names and the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use .The systems have been approved by the BGN and the PCGN for... /UN |
ISO 9 ISO 9 The international standard ISO 9 establishes a system for the transliteration into Latin characters of Cyrillic characters constituting the alphabets of many Slavic and some non-Slavic languages.... (R:1968) + National Academy |
ISO 9 ISO 9 The international standard ISO 9 establishes a system for the transliteration into Latin characters of Cyrillic characters constituting the alphabets of many Slavic and some non-Slavic languages.... (R:1968, b) |
In passports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| А а A (Cyrillic) A is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents an open front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨a⟩ in "father".The Cyrillic letter A is romanized using the Latin letter A.-History:... |
a | A a | ||||
| Б б Be (Cyrillic) Be is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the voiced bilabial plosive , like the English pronunciation of ⟨b⟩ in "bee"... |
b | B b | ||||
| В в Ve (Cyrillic) Ve is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced labiodental fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨v⟩ in "very".... |
v | V v | ||||
| Г г Ge (Cyrillic) Ge is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It is also known in some languages as He. In Unicode this letter is called "Ghe".It commonly represents the voiced velar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨g⟩ in "go".... |
ɡ | G g | ||||
| Д д De (Cyrillic) De is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.De commonly represents the voiced dental plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨d⟩ in admit.De is romanized using the Latin letter D.-History:... |
d | D d | ||||
| Ѓ ѓ Gje Gje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It is used in Macedonian to represent the voiced palatal plosive or the voiced alveolo-palatal affricate , similar to the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jet".... |
ɟ | Ǵ ǵ | G/Đ g/đ | Ǵ ǵ | Ǵ ǵ | Gj gj |
| Е е Ye (Cyrillic) Ye is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. In some languages this letter is called E.It commonly represents the vowel or , like the pronunciation of ⟨e⟩ in "yes".Ye is romanized using the Latin letter E.... |
ɛ | E e | ||||
| Ж ж Zhe (Cyrillic) Zhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced postalveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨s⟩ in "treasure".Zhe is romanized as ⟨zh⟩ or ⟨ž⟩.-History:... |
ʒ | Ž ž | Ž ž | Ž ž | Zh zh | Zh zh |
| З з Ze (Cyrillic) Ze is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced alveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨z⟩ in "zoo".Ze is romanized using the Latin letter ⟨z⟩.... |
z | Z z | ||||
| Ѕ ѕ Dze Dze is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used in the Macedonian language to represent the voiced alveolar affricate , pronounced like ⟨ds⟩ in "pods".... |
dz | Ẑ ẑ | Dz dz | Dz dz | Dz dz | Dz dz |
| И и I (Cyrillic) I is a letter used in almost all ancient and modern Cyrillic alphabets.It commonly represents the close front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "machine", or the near-close near-front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "bin".-History:The Cyrillic letter I was... |
i | I i | ||||
| Ј ј Je (Cyrillic) Je is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the palatal approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨y⟩ in "yes".-Usage:-Related letters and other similar characters:... |
j | J̌ ǰ | J j | J j | J j | J j |
| К к Ka (Cyrillic) Ka is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless velar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨k⟩ in "king".-History:... |
k | K k | ||||
| Л л El (Cyrillic) El is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.El commonly represents the alveolar lateral approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨l⟩ in "lip".-Form:... |
l | L l | ||||
| Љ љ Lje Lje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Lje represents a palatal lateral , a sound similar to the palatalized alveolar lateral which is represented by the digraph ЛЬ and pronounced like the ⟨ll⟩ in "million".Lje was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić... |
ʎ | L̂ l̂ | Lj lj | Lj lj | Lj lj | Lj lj |
| М м Em (Cyrillic) Em is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Em commonly represents the bilabial nasal consonant , like the pronunciation of ⟨m⟩ in "him".It is derived from the Greek letter Mu .... |
m | M m | ||||
| Н н En (Cyrillic) En is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the alveolar nasal consonant , like the pronunciation of ⟨n⟩ in "nice".-History:The Cyrillic letter En was derived from the Greek letter Nu .... |
n | N n | ||||
| Њ њ Nje Nje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It is a ligature of the Cyrillic letters En ⟨Н⟩ and Soft Sign ⟨Ь⟩. It was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. It corresponds to the digraph ⟨nj⟩ in the Serbian Latin and Croatian alphabets.It is used in Macedonian and Serbian, where it represents a... |
ɲ | N̂ n̂ | Nj nj | Nj nj | Nj nj | Nj nj |
| О о O (Cyrillic) O is a letter of the Cyrillic script.O commonly represents the close-mid back rounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨o⟩ in "go".-History:The Cyrillic letter O was derived from the Greek letter Omicron .... |
ɔ | O o | ||||
| П п Pe (Cyrillic) Pe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless bilabial plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨p⟩ in "pack".-History:... |
p | P p | ||||
| Р р Er (Cyrillic) Er is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the alveolar trill , like the "rolled" sound in the Scottish pronunciation of ⟨r⟩ in "curd".-History:... |
r | R r | ||||
| С с Es (Cyrillic) Es is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨s⟩ in "sand".-History:... |
s | S s | ||||
| Т т Te (Cyrillic) Te is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨t⟩ in "tick".-History:... |
t | T t | ||||
| Ќ ќ Kje Kje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used only in the Macedonian alphabet, where it It represents the voiceless palatal plosive , or the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate . Kje is the 24th letter In this alphabet... |
c | Ḱ ḱ | K/Ć k/ć | Ḱ ḱ | Ḱ ḱ | Kj kj |
| У у U (Cyrillic) U is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the close back rounded vowel , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨oo⟩ in "boot"... |
u | U u | ||||
| Ф ф | f | F f | ||||
| Х х | h | H h | H h | H h | Kh kh | H h |
| Ц ц Tse (Cyrillic) Tse is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨ts⟩ in "cats".In English, Tse is commonly romanized as ⟨ts⟩... |
ts | C c | C c | C c | Ts ts | C c |
| Ч ч Che (Cyrillic) Che or Cha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "change".... |
tʃ | Č č | Č č | Č č | Ch ch | Ch ch |
| Џ џ Dzhe Dzhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet used in Serbian and Macedonian to represent the voiced postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jump"... |
dʒ | D̂ d̂ | Dž dž | Dž dž | Dž dž | Dj dj |
| Ш ш Sha For other uses, see Sha .Sha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the voiceless postalveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨sh⟩ in "sheep", or the somewhat similar voiceless retroflex fricative . It is used in every variation of the Cyrillic alphabet, for Slavic and... |
ʃ | Š š | Š š | Š š | Sh sh | Sh sh |
See also
- Macedonian alphabetMacedonian alphabetThe orthography of Macedonian includes an alphabet , which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelling and punctuation....
- Macedonian languageMacedonian languageMacedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
- RomanizationRomanizationIn 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...
- Romanization of BelarusianRomanization of BelarusianRomanization or Latinization of Belarusian is any system for transliterating written Belarusian from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin.Some of the standard systems for romanizing Belarusian:...
- Romanization of BulgarianRomanization of BulgarianRomanization of Bulgarian is the practice of transliteration of text in the Bulgarian language from its conventional Cyrillic orthography into the Latin alphabet. Romanization can be used for various purposes, such as rendering of proper names and place names in foreign-language contexts, or for...
- Romanization of RussianRomanization of RussianRomanization of the Russian alphabet is the process of transliterating the Russian language from the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet...
- Romanization of UkrainianRomanization of UkrainianThe romanization or Latinization of Ukrainian is the representation of the Ukrainian language using Latin letters. Ukrainian is natively written in its own Ukrainian alphabet, a variation of Cyrillic....