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 |
Romanization |
Special provision |
Examples |
А (а) |
A (a) |
None |
Азов = Azov |
Б (б)
|
B (b)
|
None
|
Барнаул = Barnaul |
В (в) |
V (v) |
None |
Владимир = Vladimir |
Г (г) |
G (g)
|
None
|
Грозный = Groznyy |
Д (д) |
D (d) |
None |
Дзержинский = Dzerzhinskiy |
E (e) |
Ye (ye) |
|
|
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. |
|
Ë (ë) |
All other cases |
Озёрный = Ozërnyy |
|
Ж (ж) |
Zh (zh) |
None |
Жуков = Zhukov |
З (з) |
Z (z) |
None |
Звенигород = Zvenigorod |
И (и)
|
I (i) |
None |
Иркутск = Irkutsk |
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 |
|
К (к)
|
K (k) |
None |
Киров = Kirov Енисейск = Yeniseysk |
Л (л)
|
L (l) |
None |
Ломоносов = Lomonosov |
М (м) |
M (m) |
None |
Менделеев = Mendeleyev |
Н (н) |
N (n) |
None |
Новосибирск = Novosibirsk |
О (о)
|
O (o) |
Р (р)
|
Омск = Omsk |
П (п)
|
P (p) |
This letter does not occur in the beginning of a word. |
Петрозаводск = Petrozavodsk |
Р (р)
|
R (r) |
None |
Ростов = Rostov |
С (с)
|
S (s) |
None |
Сковородино = Skovorodino |
Т (т)
|
T (t) |
None |
Тамбов = Tambov |
У (у)
|
U (u) |
None |
Углич = Uglich |
Ф (ф)
|
F (f) |
None |
Фурманов = Furmanov |
Х (х) |
Kh (kh) |
None |
Хабаровск = Khabarovsk |
Ц (ц)
|
Ts (ts) |
None |
Цимлянск = Tsimlyansk |
Ч (ч)
|
Ch (ch) |
None |
Чебоксары = Cheboksary |
Ш (ш) |
Sh (sh) |
None |
Шахтёрск = Shakhtërsk |
Щ (щ) |
Shch (shch) |
None |
Щёлково = Shchëlkovo |
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’ |
|
Ь (ь) |
’ |
This letter does not occur in the beginning of a word. |
|
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 |
|
Ю (ю) |
Yu (yu) |
None |
Юбилейный = Yubileynyy |
Я (я)
|
Ya (ya) |
None |
Якутск = Yakutsk |
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 |