Cyrillization of German

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Cyrillization of German is the conversion of text written in the German Latin alphabet into the Cyrillic alphabet, according to rules based on pronunciation. Because German orthography is largely phonemic, transcription into Cyrillic follows relatively simple rules.

Contents

The most common cyrillization method is the one based on the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. It is officially employed in Russian-language media.

Transcription rules

The standard rules for orthographic transcription into Russian were developed by Rudzhero S. Giliarevski (ru) and Boris A. Starostin (ru) in 1969 for various languages; [1] they have been revised by later scholars including D. I. Ermolovich (ru) and I. S. Alexeyeva (ru). The established spellings of a few names which were already common before this time sometimes deviates from these rules; for example, the Ludwig is traditionally Людвиг (including in placenames), with ю instead of у. It was also historically common to render personal names into their Russian forms or cognates, rather than strictly transliterating them, as with Peter being rendered as Пётр . German phonemes which do not exist in Russian are rendered by their closest approximations: the umlauts ö and ü are rendered as ё (yo) and ю (yu), and ä and e are mostly rendered as е (not э). H (when not part of a cluster) is now rendered with х or omitted (when silent); it was historically often rendered with г (g), as in the name of Heinrich Heine (Russian : Генрих Гейне). The Cyrillic letters ы and щ are not used.

German originalRussian transcriptionBulgarian transcription [2]
aа (but at the end of a word, following i, я is used: Bavaria → Бавария)
aaа (Aachen → Ахен)
aetranscribed like ä when it stands for that letter; otherwise, transcribed like a + edepending on pronunciation
aiай (Mainz → Майнц)
ayай
äе after consonants, э after vowels and at the beginning of a wordе
äuой (historically also ей: Bäumler → Беймлер)ой
bб
cas к (Calw → Кальв) or ц (Celle → Целле) depending on pronunciationas к or ц depending on pronunciation
chх (or, in loanwords, ш, ч, к etc. based on pronunciation) (Chiemsee → Кимзе, historically also Химзе)к at the start of the word (Chiemsee → Кимзе); х after vowels (Achim → Ахим)
chhхг (traditionally), or хх (modern variant) [3] [4] (Hochhuth → Хоххут; Eichhorn → Айххорн)хх if ch and h belong to different morphemes (Hochheim → Хоххайм)
chsкс, when pronounced as x, otherwise transcribed like ch + s
ckк, or between vowels (and always, according to the rules for transcribing geographic names) [5] кк (Boris Becker → Борис Беккер)к
dд
eе after consonants, э after vowels and at the beginning of a word (Erfurt → Эрфурт)е
eelike e (Spree → Шпре)
eiай (Eider → Айдер) (historically also эй, ей: Einstein → Эйнштейн)ай
euой (Neumünster → Ноймюнстер) (historically also эй, ей: Neumann → Нейман)ой
eyай (Eider → Айдер) (historically also эй, ей: Meyer → Мейер)ай
fф
gг (in loanwords, before e, i, y, sometimes ж or дж based on pronunciation)г
gkгк (Woldegk → Вольдегк), sometimes г (Burgkmair → Бургмайр) ?
hх, when pronounced: Herne → Херне; Dietharz → Дитхарц; omitted when silent: Ehenbichl → Ээнбихль, Lahr → Лар (historically also transcribed with г)х at the start of a word or morpheme; otherwise not transcribed
iи at the beginning of a word or after consonants, й after vowels
ieи when e indicates a long i, ие when divided between two syllables (Marienberg → Мариенберг)
jй at the end of a syllable; at the beginning of a word or between vowels, jaя, е, jeе, joйо, йё, juю, йю; after consonants: jaья, ье, jeье, joьо, ьё, juью, ью; when between parts of a compound word, then ъ instead of ьdepending on the following vowel: jaя; je, йе (only at the start of the word or after a vowel, otherwise: е); ju, , juiю
kк
lл before vowels, ль before consonants or at the end of a word (exceptions include Karl → Карл); after l, u becomes ю instead of у in some traditional cases (Ludwigsburg → Людвигсбург)л
llлл except between consonants and vowels; at the end of a word is appended (exceptions include Rheinmetall → Рейнметалл)л
mм
nн (but -mann-ман)
oо
oetranscribed like ö when it stands for that letter; if it stands for a long o then transcribed as о: Coesfeld → Косфельд; if the two letters form separate syllables, then transcribed like o + etranscribed like ö when it stands for that letter; if it stands for a long o then transcribed as о: Coesfeld → Косфелд; if the two letters form separate syllables, then transcribed like o + e: Buchloe → Бухлое
ooо (Koopmann → Копман)
öэ at the beginning of a word, otherwise ё (Österreich (as a last name) → Эстеррайх)ьо after a consonant, otherwise йо
pп
phф, unless divided by a syllable boundary: Diepholz → Дипхольцф, unless divided by a syllable boundary: Diepholz → Дипхолц
quкв (Querfurt → Кверфурт)
rр
sз for /z/, с for /s/: Sassnitz → Засниц, Kiste → Кистеlikewise: з at the start of the word or if between vowels (or between a vowel and a sonorant), in all other cases: с
schш
spшп at the beginning of a word (including inside compound words), otherwise сп
ssсс or с (when ss stands for ß, then с), unless divided between two syllables: Ludwigsstadt → Людвигсштадтs unless at morpheme boundary
stшт at the beginning of a word (including inside compound words), otherwise ст: Rostock → Ростокщ at the beginning of a word (including inside compound words), otherwise ст
ßс
tт, but the suffix -tion-цион
tschч (unless divided between two syllables, in which case тш: Altschul → Альтшуль)ч
tzтц between vowels, otherwise ц (Ratzeburg → Ратцебург)ц: Рацебург
uу
uetranscribed like ü when it stands for that letter; if it stands for a long u then transcribed as у: Buer → Бур; if the two letters form separate syllables, then transcribed like u + e: Adenauer → Аденауэрtranscribed like ü when it stands for that letter; if it stands for a long u then transcribed as у: Buer → Бур; if the two letters form separate syllables, then transcribed like u + e: Adenauer → Аденауер
üи at the beginning of a word, otherwise ю (Neumünster → Ноймюнстер, Uelzen → Ильцен)ю
vф when pronounced like f; в when pronounced like w
wв (Wagner → Вагнер)
xкс
yи at the beginning of a word and after consonants (even when pronounced as ü) (Bad Pyrmont → Бад-Пирмонт), й after vowels; as a consonant, yaя (Yanina Wickmayer → Янина Викмайер)
zц
zschч (unless divided between two syllables, in which case цш: so, Delitzsch → Делич, but Nietzsche → Ницше)

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

OriginalGerman CyrillicTransliterationScientific transliteration
Alle Menschen sind frei und gleich an Würde und Rechten geboren. Sie sind mit Vernunft und Gewissen begabt und sollen einander im Geist der Brüderlichkeit begegnen.Алле Меншен зинд фрай унд глайх ан Вюрде унд Рехтен геборен. Зи зинд мит Фернунфт унд Гевисен бегабт унд золлен айнандер им Гайст дер Брюдерлихкайт бегегнен.Alle Menshen zind fray und glaykh an Vyurde und Rekhten geboren. Zi zind mit Fernunft und Gevisen begabt und zollen aynander im Gayst der Bryuderlikhkayt begegnen.Alle Menšen zind fraj und glajch an Vjurde und Rechten geboren. Zi zind mit Fernunft und Gevisen begabt und zollen ajnander im Gajst der Brjuderlichkajt begegnen.

See also

References

  1. Гиляревский Р. С., Старостин Б. А., Иностранные имена и названия в русском тексте: Справочник (М.: Международные отношения, 1969), pages 113—123.
  2. Наредба № 6 за транскрипция и правопис на чужди географски имена, 1995–1999
  3. Архипов, А. Ф., Письменный перевод с немецкого языка на русский язык. Рецензент: проф., к. ф. н., и. о. зав. кафедрой теории, истории и критики перевода МГЛУ Цвиллинг М. Я. — Изд.: Книжный дом «Университет» (КДУ), page 51, 2008, ISBN   978-5-98227-318-5
  4. Ермолович Д. И. (ru), Имена собственные: теория и практика межъязыковой передачи. (М.: Р. Валент, 2005, ISBN   5-93439-153-4, page 333: «Hochhuth — Хоххут»
  5. Инструкция по русской передаче немецких географических названий / сост.: В. С. Широкова; ред. Г. П. Бондарук. — Москва: Типография издательства «Известия», 1974, С. 10, 1000 экз., § 25

Further reading