BGN/PCGN romanization of Russian

BGN/PCGN romanization system for Russian is a method for romanization of Cyrillic Russian texts, that is, their transliteration into the Latin alphabet as used in the English language.

There are a number of systems for romanization of Russian, but 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 29 different languages. It was developed by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and by the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN). 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 by using only the basic letters and punctuation found on English-language keyboards. No diacritics or unusual letters are required, but the interpunct character (·) is optionally used to avoid some ambiguity.

In many publications, a simplified form of the system is used to render English versions of Russian names, which typically converts ë to yo, simplifies -iy and -yy endings to -y and omits apostrophes for ъ and ь.

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 = Kubanʼ
В (в)V (v)None Владимир = Vladimir
Ульяновск = Ulʼyanovsk
Г (г)G (g)None Грозный = Groznyy
Волгодонск = Volgodonsk
Д (д)D (d)None Дзержинский = Dzerzhinskiy
Нелидово = Nelidovo
Е (е)Ye (ye)
  1. Word-initially;
  2. after vowels;
  3. after й;
  4. after ь;
  5. after ъ.
  1. Елизово = Yelizovo
  2. Чапаевск = Chapayevsk;
  3. Мейеровка = Meyyerovka;
  4. Юрьев = Yurʼyev;
  5. Объезд = Obˮyezd.
E (e)All other cases Белкино = Belkino
Ё (ё)Yё (yё)
  1. Word-initially;
  2. after vowels;
  3. after й;
  4. after ь;
  5. after ъ.
  1. Ёдва = dva;
  2. Змииёвка = Zmiivka;
  3. Айёган = Aygan;
  4. Воробьёво = Vorobʼvo;
  5. Кебанъёль = Kebanˮlʼ.
Ë (ё)All other cases Озёрный = Ozёrnyy
Ж (ж)Zh (zh)None Жуков = Zhukov
Лужники = Luzhniki
З (з)Z (z)None Звенигород = Zvenigorod
Вязьма = Vyazʼma
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. Тыайа = Ty·ay·a
Сайылык = Say·ylyk
Ойусардах = Oy·usardakh
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 = Severobaykalʼsk
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
Елец = Yelets
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)ˮThis letter does not occur at the beginning of a word. Куыркъявр = Ku·yrkˮyavr
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. Ыгыатта = Ygy·atta
Тыайа = Ty·ay·a
Тыэкан = Ty·ekan
·yAfter any vowel. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Суык-Су = Su·yk-Su
Куыркъявр = Ku·yrkˮyavr
Y (y)All other cases. This letter does not occur at the beginning of words of Russian origin. Ыттык-Кюёль = Yttyk-Kyuyëlʼ
Тында = Tynda
Ь (ь)ʼThis letter does not occur at the beginning of a word. Тюмень = Tyumenʼ
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. Улан-Удэ = Ulan-Ud·e
E (e)All other cases Электрогорск = Elektrogorsk
Руэм = Ruem
Ю (ю)Yu (yu)None Юбилейный = Yubileynyy
Ключевская = Klyuchevskaya
Я (я)Ya (ya)None Якутск = Yakut·sk
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. Вяртсиля = Vyart·silya
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. Ташчишма = Tash·chishma

See also

Notes

    References

    • U.S. Board on Geographic Names Foreign Names Committee Staff (1994). Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions (PDF). pp. 93–94.
    • "Russian romanization" (PDF). gov.uk. 2018.
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