Wikipedia:Romanization of Russian
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This page documents an English Wikipedia naming convention. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should follow, though it should be treated with common sense and the occasional exception. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
The following system of transliteration of Russian from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet is currently endorsed by the Wikipedia naming conventions policy.
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[edit] Use conventional names
When possible, use a conventional English name instead of romanization.
[edit] Place names
A conventional name of a place is the name listed in major English dictionaries and should be preferred over romanization at all times.
- Clarifications
- If a dictionary lists several variants of the name, use the main one.
- Example: use "Moscow", not "Moskva"
- If different dictionaries list different main variants, use the one that's closest to the WP:RUS romanization guidelines.
- Example: suppose one dictionary lists the city of Тольятти under "Tolyatti" and another one—under "Togliatti". "Tolyatti" should be used as it is the variant produced by the WP:RUS guidelines.
- The WP:RUS variant must be mentioned in the lead in parentheses after listing the Russian name.
- Example: Moscow (Russian: Москва, Moskva)...
- The WP:RUS variant must be a redirect to the main article.
- Example: Sankt-Peterburg redirects to Saint Petersburg.
- If such a redirect cannot be set up due to a collision of meanings, a disambiguation page entry should be created instead.
- Titles of disambiguation and name pages are always romanized using WP:RUS.
- Example: the disambiguation page listing all the meanings of "Байкал" is to be located at Baykal (disambiguation), despite the fact that the most common English spelling of the primary meaning of the word (a lake in Russia) is "Baikal".
- Names of places located in Russia must be romanized from Russian. If a place has a name in another official language, it is mentioned in the lead.
- Example: the name of the city of Чебоксары is romanized "Cheboksary". The Chuvash name "Shupashkar" is mentioned in the lead, but cannot be used as the main title.
- Rationale: spelling of names of Russian places used in English sources is normally derived from the name in Russian, as local languages are rarely employed in international communications.
[edit] People
A person's conventional name is defined by the criteria outlined below. When spelling is selected based on one of these criteria, it must be documented on the article's talk page. In absence of verifiable documentation, romanization produced by the WP:RUS guideline must be used.
- If the person is an author of works published in English, the spelling of the name used in such publications should be used. When multiple spellings are used and no single spelling clearly predominates, use the one closest to the WP:RUS romanization guidelines.
- If the person's preference of spelling of his/her name in English is known and can be documented, that spelling should be used.
- If the person is the subject of English-language publications, the spelling predominantly used in such publications should be used. A preference is given to publications in the area in which the person specializes. When no single spelling predominates, use the one closest to the WP:RUS romanization guidelines.
- Example: the article on figure skater Александр Геннадиевич Зайцев is located at Alexander Gennadiyevich Zaitsev (not "Zaytsev"), because "Zaitsev" is the English spelling used by the International Skating Union, Figure Skating Federation of Russia, and in other publications about the person (ref).
- Selecting the most frequently used variant based on a search engine test is not acceptable.
- When in doubt, use WP:RUS.
- The WP:RUS variant must be mentioned in the lead in parentheses after listing the Russian name.
- Example: Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: Михаил Сергеевич Горбачёв, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov)...
- The WP:RUS variant must be a redirect to the main article.
- Example: Nikita Khrushchyov redirects to Nikita Khrushchev.
- If such a redirect cannot be set up due to a collision of meanings, a disambiguation or name page entry should be created instead.
- Titles of disambiguation and name pages are always romanized using WP:RUS.
- Example: the name page listing people with the last name of "Зайцев" is to be located at Zaytsev, despite the fact that names of some people listed on the page are romanized differently (e.g., Alexander Gennadiyevich Zaitsev).
- Rationale: simplification of maintenance of disambiguation and name pages; consistency.
- Clarifications
- It is important to remember that only the spelling of names used in the English-language sources should be considered. If a Russian person is widely known, for example, in France but virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, the title of the article about him/her should be romanized using WP:RUS; French spelling should not be used.
- French spelling can, however, be used if the person became a citizen of France and that spelling matches the person's official name.
- Same condition applies to the personal choice of spelling—it should only be used when the person in question has a clear preference for the English spelling of his/her name.
- In absence of documentation supporting one of the criteria of conventionality, any article utilizing a non-WP:RUS spelling can be moved to WP:RUS spelling. Editors performing such moves are encouraged to leave a notice on the articles' talk pages soliciting documentation and allowing a reasonable amount of time to get a response.
[edit] Romanization rules (modified BGN/PCGN romanization)
The following table describes a method to derive romanization of Russian names into the Latin alphabet, used in English Wikipedia and suitable for Anglophones.
It is a modification of BGN/PCGN romanization system. The modifications include the following rules:
- ё becomes yo;
- hard sign (ъ) is omitted;
- soft sign (ь) is omitted, except before a non-iotated vowel (а, э, ы, и, о, у), where it becomes y;
- -ый endings become -y;
- -ий endings in adjectives of Russian origin can optionally be changed from -iy to -y.
[edit] Notes
Abbreviations are usually romanized with capitalization as indicated, e.g., ДШК = DShK.
[edit] Romanization table
| Russian spelling |
English romanization |
Special provision | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| А (а) | A (a) | Аликово = Alikovo Поганкино = Pogankino |
|
| Б (б) | B (b) | Болотин = Bolotin Колбасин = Kolbasin |
|
| В (в) | V (v) | Воронин = Voronin Привалин = Privalin |
|
| Г (г) | G (g) | Галкин = Galkin Луговой = Lugovoy |
|
| Д (д) | D (d) | Дровяное = Drovyanoye Подгорск = Podgorsk |
|
| Е (е) | E (e) | Except in the cases below | Белкин = Belkin |
| Ye (ye) |
|
|
|
| Ё (ё) | Yo (yo) | Ёлкино = Yolkino Озёрск = Ozyorsk |
|
| Ж (ж) | Zh (zh) | Жиров = Zhirov Приволжское = Privolzhskoye |
|
| З (з) | Z (z) | 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 Бийск = Biysk |
| К (к) | K (k) | Киров = Kirov Галкин = Galkin |
|
| Л (л) | L (l) | Лапинск = Lapinsk Комсомольск = Komsomolsk |
|
| М (м) | M (m) | Мичурин = Michurin Колыма = Kolyma |
|
| Н (н) | N (n) | Нальчик = Nalchik Савино = Savino |
|
| О (о) | O (o) | Оха = Okha Грозный = Grozny |
|
| П (п) | P (p) | Петроград = Petrograd Ставрополь = Stavropol |
|
| Р (р) | R (r) | Родниковое = Rodnikovoye Высокогорск = Vysokogorsk |
|
| С (с) | S (s) | Ступино = Stupino Бирск = Birsk |
|
| Т (т) | T (t) | Тавричанка = Tavrichanka Ростов = Rostov |
|
| У (у) | U (u) | Улетайск = Uletaysk Шушенское = Shushenskoye |
|
| Ф (ф) | F (f) | Фёдоровка = Fyodorovka Корфу = Korfu |
|
| Х (х) | Kh (kh) | Хабаровск = Khabarovsk Оха = Okha |
|
| Ц (ц) | Ts (ts) | Царское = Tsarskoye Зарецкий = Zaretsky |
|
| Ч (ч) | Ch (ch) | Черемшаны = Cheremshany Зареченск = Zarechensk |
|
| Ш (ш) | Sh (sh) | Шадрин = Shadrin Моршанск = Morshansk |
|
| Щ (щ) | Shch (shch) | Щукино = Shchukino Рощинский = Roshchinsky |
|
| ъ (твёрдый знак) | Omitted | When followed by a vowel | Подъярский = Podyarsky |
| Ы (ы) | Y (y) | Except in an –ый ending (see below) | Ытык-Кюёль = Ytyk-Kyuyol Давыдов = Davydov |
| ь (мягкий знак) | Omitted |
|
|
| y | When followed by a non-iotated vowel (а, э, ы, и, о, у) | Ильинский = Ilyinsky | |
| Э (э) | E (e) | Элиста = Elista Тетраэдральный = Tetraedralny |
|
| Ю (ю) | Yu (yu) | Южный = Yuzhny Козючинск = Kozyuchinsk |
|
| Я (я) | Ya (ya) | Ярославль = Yaroslavl Бурянск = Buryansk |
|
| –ый endings | -y | Красный = Krasny | |
| –ий endings | -iy or -y | Синий = Siniy, Siny; Великий = Velikiy, Veliky |
