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BGN/PCGN romanization of Russian

 

BGN/PCGN romanization system for Russian is a method for romanization of CyrillicRussian texts, that is, their transliteration into the Latin alphabet as used in the English language. It is used by the Oxford University Press, among others, which refers to it as the British Standard.

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.

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

E (e)

Ye (ye)
  1. Word-initially;
  2. after vowels;
  3. after й;
  4. after ь;
  5. after ъ.
  1. Елизово = Yelizovo
  2. Чапаевск = Chapayevsk;
  3. Майер = Mayyer;
  4. Юрьев = Yur’yev;
  5. Съезд = S”yezd.

E (e)

All other cases

Белкин = Belkin

 

Ё (ё)

Yë (yë)

1.    Word-initially;

2.    after vowels;

3.    after й;

4.    after ь;

5.    after ъ.
  1. Ёлкин = Yëlkin;
  2. Остриё = Ostriyë;
  3. Йёнчёпинг = Yyënchëping;
  4. Громадьё = Gromad’yë;
  5. Подъёмный = Pod”yëmnyy

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, o, 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)

Р (р)

 

Омск = Omsk
Красноярск = Krasnoyarsk

П (п)

 

P (p)

This letter does not occur in the beginning of a word.

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”yezdnoy

 

 

 

Ы (ы)

 

 

Y· (y·)

Before а, у, ы, o, 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. Theuse

of this digraph is optional.

Суык-Су = Su·yk-Su

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·chaty

 

EN English version