BGN/PCGN romanization of Russian
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BGN/PCGN romanization system for Russian is a method for romanization of Cyrillic Russian texts, that is, their transliteration into the Latin alphabet.
There are a number of systems for romanization of Russian—the BGN/PCGN system is relatively intuitive for anglophones to pronounce. It is part of the larger set of BGN/PCGN romanizations, which includes methods for twenty-nine different languages. It 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.
This romanization of Russian 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.
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. Edward Allworth, for instance, uses a romanization system based upon BGN/PCGN in his 1971 book Nationalities of the Soviet East—Publications and Writing Systems; he transliterates е and ё always to e and ë respectively and substitutes an i for the y of й, ю and я, which makes the system also close to a version of the ALA-LC system without diacritic marks.
The following table describes the system and provides examples.
| Russian letter |
Romanization | Special provision | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| А (а) | A (a) | None | Азов = Azov Тамбов = Tambov |
| Б (б) | B (b) | None | Барнаул = Barnaul Кубань = Kuban’ |
| В (в) | V (v) | None | Владимир = Vladimir Ульяновск = Ul’yanovsk |
| Г (г) | G (g) | None | Грозный = Groznyy Волгодонск = Volgodonsk |
| Д (д) | D (d) | None | Дзержинский = Dzerzhinskiy Нелидово = Nelidovo |
| Е (е) | Ye (ye) |
|
|
| E (e) | All other cases | Белкин = Belkin | |
| Ё (ё) | Yë (yë) |
|
|
| Ë (ë) | All other cases | Озёрный = Ozërnyy | |
| Ж (ж) | Zh (zh) | None | Жуков = Zhukov Лужники = Luzhniki |
| З (з) | Z (z) | None | Звенигород = Zvenigorod Вязьма = Vyaz’ma |
| И (и) | I (i) | None | Иркутск = Irkutsk Апатиты = Apatity |
| Й (й) | Y∙ (y∙) | Before а, у, ы, or э. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. | Кайафа = Kay∙afa |
| Y (y) | All other cases | Йошкар-Ола = Yoshkar-Ola Бийск = Biysk |
|
| К (к) | K (k) | None | Киров = Kirov Енисейск = Yeniseysk |
| Л (л) | L (l) | None | Ломоносов = Lomonosov Нелидово = Nelidovo |
| М (м) | M (m) | None | Менделеев = Mendeleyev Каменка = Kamenka |
| Н (н) | N (n) | None | Новосибирск = Novosibirsk Кандалакша = Kandalaksha |
| О (о) | O (o) | None | Омск = Omsk Красноярск = Krasnoyarsk |
| П (п) | P (p) | None | Петрозаводск = Petrozavodsk Серпухов = Serpukhov |
| Р (р) | R (r) | None | Ростов = Rostov Северобайкальск = Severobaykal’sk |
| С (с) | S (s) | None | Сковородино = Skovorodino Чайковский = Chaykovskiy |
| Т (т) | T (t) | None | Тамбов = Tambov Мытищи = Mytishchi |
| У (у) | U (u) | None | Углич = Uglich Дудинка = Dudinka |
| Ф (ф) | F (f) | None | Фурманов = Furmanov Уфа = Ufa |
| Х (х) | Kh (kh) | None | Хабаровск = Khabarovsk Прохладный = Prokhladnyy |
| Ц (ц) | Ts (ts) | None | Цимлянск = TSimlyansk Ельцин = Yel’tsin |
| Ч (ч) | Ch (ch) | None | Чебоксары = Cheboksary Печора = Pechora |
| Ш (ш) | Sh (sh) | None | Шахтёрск = Shakhtërsk Мышкин = Myshkin |
| Щ (щ) | Shch (shch) | None | Щёлково = Shchëlkovo Ртищево = Rtishchevo |
| Ъ (ъ) | ” | This letter does not occur in the beginning of a word. | Подъездной = Pod”yezndoy |
| Ы (ы) | Y∙ (y∙) | Before а, у, ы, or э. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. | Выудить = Vy∙udit’ |
| ∙y | After any vowel. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. | <insert an example> | |
| Y (y) | All other cases. This letter does not occur in the beginning of words of Russian origin. | Ыттык-Кёль = Yttyk-Kël’ Тында = Tynda |
|
| Ь (ь) | ’ | This letter does not occur in the beginning of a word. | Тюмень = Tyumen’ |
| Э (э) | ∙e | After any consonant except й. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. | Двухэлементный = Dvukh∙elementnyy |
| E (e) | All other cases | Электрогорск = Elektrogorsk Радиоэлектроника = Radioelektronika |
|
| Ю (ю) | Yu (yu) | None | Юбилейный = yubileynyy Ключевская = Klyuchevskaya |
| Я (я) | Ya (ya) | None | Якутск = Yakutsk Брянск = Bryansk |
| Тс (тс) | T∙s (t∙s) | Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. | Соответствие = Sootvet∙stviye |
| Шч (шч) | Sh∙ch (sh∙ch) | Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. | Веснушчатый = Vesnush∙chatyy |
[edit] References
- U.S. Board on Geographic Names Foreign Names Committee Staff, 1994. Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions, pp. 84–85.
