Cyrillization: Difference between revisions

{{cleanup rewrite|date=February 2018}}

'''Cyrillization''' or '''Cyrillisation''' is the process of rendering words of a language that normally uses a writing system other than [[Cyrillic script]] into (a version of) the [[Cyrillic alphabets|Cyrillic alphabet]]. Although such a process has often been carried out in an ad hoc fashion, the term "cyrillization" ususallyusually refers to a consistent system applied, for example, to transcribe names of German, Chinese, or English people and places for use in [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] or [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] newspapers and books. Cyrillization is analogous to [[romanization]], when words from a non-[[Latin script|Latin-script]]-using language are rendered in the Latin alphabet for use (e.g., in [[English literature|English]], [[German literature|German]], or [[Francophone literature]].)

** to provide a practical approximate [[phonetic transcription]] in a [[phrase book|phrasebook]] or a [[bilingual dictionary]];

** or to convert a language to a Cyrillic writing system altogether (e.g., [[Dungan language|Dungan]], [[Kazakh alphabet|Kazakh]])

* Linguistic and/or political inclinations of the designers of the system (see, for example, the use—or disuse—of the letter [[Ghe with upturn|Ґ]] for rendering the "G" of foreign words in the [[Ukrainian alphabet|Ukrainian]]).

When the source language uses a fairly phonetic spelling system (e.g., Spanish, Turkish), a Cyrillization scheme may often be adopted that almost amounts to a [[transliteration]], i.e., using a mapping scheme that simply maps each phonemeletter of the source alphabet to some letter of the destination alphabet, sometimes augmented by position-based rules. Among such schemes are several schemes universally accepted in [[Eastern Slavic languages]]:

* [[Cyrillization of English]] - e.g. Cyrillisch

* [[Kurdish alphabets|Cyrillization of ArabicKurdish]]

* [[Transliterations of Manchu|Cyrillization of HindiManchu]]

* [[Cyrillization of AfrikaansPortuguese]]

* [[Cyrillization of KikongoSpanish]]

* [[Cyrillization of AlbanianTurkish]]

Similarly, simple schemes are widely used to render Spanish,words Italian,from etc.Latin-script wordslanguages into Russian, Ukrainian,Cyrillic-script etclanguages.

When the source language does not use a particularly phonetic writing system—most notably English and French—its words are typically rendered in Russian, Ukrainian, or other Cyrillic-based languages using an approximate phonetic [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]] system, which aims to allow the Cyrillic readers to approximate the sound of the source language as much as it is possible within the constraints of the destination language and its orthography. Among the examples are the ''Practical transcription of English into Russian'' ({{lang-ru|Правила англо-русской практической транскрипции}}), which aims to render English words into Russian based on their sounds, and ''Transliteration of foreign words by a Cyrillic alphabet'' ([[:uk:Транслітерація іншомовних слів кирилицею]]) and ''Cyrillization of the English language'' ([[:uk:Кирилізація англійської мови]]) in the case of Ukrainian. While this scheme is mostly accepted by a majority of Russian and Ukrainian authors and publishers, transcription variants are not uncommon.

Similarly, phonetic schemes are widely adopted for Cyrillization of French, especially considering the fairly large number of French loanwords that have been borrowed into Russian.

* [[:bg:Транскрибиране на български език|Транскрибиране на български език]] {{bgin iconlang|bg}} -– ''Transcription into the Bulgarian''

* [[:ru:Транскрипция (лингвистика)|Транскрипция]] {{ruin iconlang|ru}} -– the articles on ''Transcription'' in the Russian Wikipedia

** [[:ru:НемецкоАнгло-русская практическая транскрипция|TranscriptionRules offor Germanpractical intoEnglish-Russian Cyrillictranscription]] {{ruin iconlang|ru}}

* [[:uk:Транскрипція (лінгвістика)|Транскрипція]] {{ukin iconlang|uk}} -– the articles on ''Transcription'' in the Ukrainian Wikipedia

** [[:uk:Кирилізація англійської мови|Cyrillization of English]] {{ukin iconlang|uk}}

** [[:uk:Транслітерація іншомовних слів кирилицею|Transliteration of English and German words by a Cyrillic alphabet]] {{ukin iconlang|uk}}

* [[:mk:Македонска транскрипција на странските јазици|Македонска транскрипција на странските јазици]] {{mkin iconlang|mk}} -– ''Macedonian transcription of foreign languages''