transliteration from russian into english

10
Transliteration from Russian into English Author(s): C. B. Source: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 13, No. 38 (Jan., 1935), pp. 413-419+1-2 Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4203010 . Accessed: 10/06/2014 00:15 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Slavonic and East European Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Upload: c-b

Post on 09-Jan-2017

222 views

Category:

Documents


3 download

TRANSCRIPT

Transliteration from Russian into EnglishAuthor(s): C. B.Source: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 13, No. 38 (Jan., 1935), pp. 413-419+1-2Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4203010 .

Accessed: 10/06/2014 00:15

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and EastEuropean Studies are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Slavonic andEast European Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

TRANSLITERATION FROM RUSSIAN INTO ENGLISH

IN this article the question of transliteration from Russian into English is treated from a different angle from that taken by Mr. N. B. Jopson and Mr. W. A. Morison. Their witty and ingenious suggestions reveal a much wider purpose than that of the present writer, for their object is to establish a transliteration which would serve all countries using the Latin alphabet. In their choice of letters they are influenced by the orthographies of many nations, and thus do not produce a scheme which is specially favourable for transliterating into English.

The question of devising a system of transliteration is entirely different from that of devising a new alphabet. In the opinion of the writer a scheme of transliteration from Russian into English should be limited and modest in its aims: limited in that it should not attempt to satisfy all nations using Latin characters and modest because it should not strive to supplant the Cyrillic alphabet.

It is advisable that each nation should have its own system of transliteration, for each nation attaches different sound-values to many of the Latin letters. It is difficult, for example, to imagine a German representing the initial sound, say, of yes by y and not by j,; the initial sound of ship by sh and not by sch/; or to imagine a Frenchman representing the latter sound by anything but ch. The system recommended by the Conference of University Teachers of Russian in England is different from one that would be worked out by teachers of Russian in France or in Germany.

Two principles should be taken into consideration when planning a system of transliteration from Russian into English: Cyrillic characters should be transliterated into Latin characters chosen, as far as is practicable, in accordance with English perceptions of those characters, and the represented Russian words, when read aloud, should be intelligible to a Russian. This latter implies that all significant phonetic phenomena should be plainly indicated.

The characteristic features of the Russian language are the palatalisation of consonants before back as well as before front vowels and the presence of a vowel glide (y) between vowels. These peculiarities are shown in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet, not by indicating the consonants in question as palatalised and not by the use of a special letter to indicate the glide between vowels, but by means of a set of vowel letters which in certain old grammars were

4I3

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

4I4 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.

described by such misleading and confusing terms as " hard " and "soft " vowels. Those designated as " hard " are a, a, o, y, w; those as " soft " , e, e, xo, ia. The letters representing " soft "

vowels are, in isolation, pronounced ya, ye, yo, yu, i. With the exception of the latter they are not always so pronounced in words, and should not always be so transliterated.

When the letters a, e, e, io occur after consonant letters they indicate that the sounds represented by those consonant letters are palatalised (or soft), the following vowel in each case being pro- nounced with its so-called " hard " quality, i.e. as a, e, o, u; e.g. TR- t'a (not tya), Te = l'a (not tye), Te = t'o (not tye), TIO - t'u

(not tyu). When a, e, 6, io are used initially or after vowels in the body

of a word they represent two sounds, the front vowel glide y and the " hard " vowel a, as in a, o or H, i.e. they are pronounced ya, y3, yo, yu; e.g. a; yad (poison), MaaI mayak (lighthouse); eM yem (I eat), IIMeeT

imeyet (has); es yozh (hedgehog), 3aeM zayom (loan); ior jug (south), YIOT ujsit (cosiness).

It would not be wise to adopt the Russian principle of indicating the palatalisation of consonants by a special set of vowel letters which, though ingenious, are misleading even to Russians, most of whom do not understand that in syllables like T5 it is the con- sonant which is " soft " and the vowel which is " hard."

In order to make words phonetically clear to one who is not altogether ignorant of the spoken language palatalised consonants before back vowels should be marked. The writer advocates that this should be done by means of the apostrophe placed after the consonant letter. This marking is essential because the substitution of a palatalised for a non-palatalised consonant before a back vowel changes the meaning of a word, e.g. paca r'asa (cassock frock) paca rasa (race); paR r'ad (row) pag rad (glad); T6aIRa t'olka (heifer) TOJ[IKa tolka (meaning, sense gen.); Ben v'ol (he led) -BO vol (ox); TIOR t'uk (bale, package) - TYR tuk (manure used as fertiliser); nioic l'uk (trap-door) = nyic luk (onion).

Final palatalised consonants, marked in orthography by the soft sign, should also be indicated in transliteration, because here again the substitution of a palatalised for a non-palatalised con- sonant is significant, e.g. yrojib tigol' (coal) = yroji tigol (corner); KpOBE krov' (blood) = KpOB krov (shelter, roof); 6paM brat' (to take) = 6paT brat (brother); siaa klad' (load, cargo) = maA klad (treasure); eji, yel' (fir-tree) - en yel (I ate); geai tsel' (aim) = geg tsel (whole).

The writer also advocates the indication of a palatalised con-

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

RUSSIAN INTO ENGLISH. 4I5

sonant occurring in juxtaposition with a non-palatalised consonant. Palatalisation of one of the consonants may sometimes change the meaning of a word. In orthography this palatalisation is marked by the soft sign, e.g. nomica pol'ka (Polish woman) iioAKa p6lka (shelf); 6aHbRa ban'ka dim. of 6aHa (steam-baths) 6aHica banka (jar); BapbKa var'ka (dim. of BapBapa Barbara) Bapica varka (cooking), etc.

The marking of palatalised consonants before front vowels may be omitted, since words containing consonants so placed would be recognisable even if those consonants were pronounced without palatalisation, e.g. JIeTIIT letit (flies), AeTia deti (children), BMeCTe vmeste (together), rmnaH pili (they drank), etc.

One of the greatest stumbling-blocks to a learner of Russian is the position of stress which, as in English, has no fixed place in a word or in a sentence. Russian, again like English, is a language of strong and weak syllables and of strong and weak vowels; and the tendency in both languages is to pronounce the strong syllables with strong vowels and the weak syllables with weak vowels. It follows that if the strong syllables are marked in transliterated words the English reader is helped to use strong and weak vowels in their right places: the stress-mark gives him permission to indulge in one of his own speech habits. The ability to place the stress correctly is of the utmost importance. Many Russian words are quite unintelligible if pronounced with wrong stress and, con- sequently with the wrong distribution of strong and weak vowels, to say nothing of the wrong intonation and rhythm. After all, in devising a scheme for transliteration one must provide for the fact that not only have transliterated words to be intelligible to the eye but also to the ear.

The writer recommends that stress be marked by an acute accent placed over the vowel letter of the stressed syllable.

The following examples illustrate the significance of stress in Russian:

(a) Change of stress in the same word may indicate change of case: 6oita boka (of the side) = 6oia boka (sides); pyiur rYuk (of the hand) pyica riuki (hands); AORTopa doktora (of the doctor)- AORTopa doktora (doctors), etc.

(b) Change of stress in the same word may change the meaning: p;opora dor6ga (road, way) = gopora doroga (dear, expensive fem.); BOpOT vorot (neckband) _ BOpOT voYOt (of the gates); 3aMOR zamok (castle) saMoi zamok (lock); myRca miTha (torment) = myia mukad (flour), etc.

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

4I6 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.

(c) Change of stress may make the word unrecognisable BAaJieKe vdaleke instead of vdaleke' (in the distance). BMeCTO vmesto , ,, vme'sto (instead of). Bpoge vrodd ,, ,, vr'de (like). Bmiaxa vidatcha ,, ,, vtdatcha (distribution). Aoca;a dosada ,, ,, dosdda (vexation). AOHOC donos ,, ,, donos (information), etc.

TRANSLITERATION OF VOWELS In accordance with the foregoing remarks the so-called "hard"

vowels, a, 3, o, y, would be transliterated as a (with the value of the a of calm, not of came or of cat or of want, etc.), e (with the value of e of met, not of meter or of pretty), o (with the value of o of cross, not of so or son, or of wolf), u (with the value of u of rule, not of tube or of tub).'

The " soft " vowels a, e, e, io would be transliterated initially and medially after vowels as ya, ye, yo, yu, after consonants as a, e, o, u the preceding consonants being marked as palatalised.

Below each Russian vowel letter is given with its transliteration letter and examples.

(b) Medially after a vowel: TaeT tayet (it thaws), iMeeT imeyet (has), Heaywr iyezuit (Jesuit), 3AaHrne zdaniye (building), HOeT noyet [nags (of pain)], yea3 uyJzd (district), BMIe3A vtyezd (departure).

e Transliterated as: (i) o and (2) yo. (i) o after a consonant with the indication of the preceding

palatalised consonant: JIeH l'on (flax), TeJIma t'olka (heifer), Bea v'ol (he led).

(2) yo (a) initially: 6axa yolka (Christmas tree), ft yozh (hedgehog), epm yorsh (ruff).

(b) Medially after a vowel: AaeT dayot (gives), IIOeT pOyot (sings), KyeT kuyot (forges).

Note.-In order not to violate the alphabetical order in libraries o and yo might be represented as e and ye, i.e. (i) l'en (flax), TeJnta t'elka (heifer), BeR V''I (he led); (2) (a) aita yelka (Christmas tree), eac yezh (hedgehog), epm yersh (ruff); a transliterated as (I) a, (2) ya.

(i) a after a consonant with the indication of the preceding palatalised consonant: paA r'ad (row), MMTa m'ata (mint), Aqap d'ad'a (uncle).

I The valves given here are not precise phonetically, but they are sufficiently accurate for the purpose of transliteration.

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

RUSSIAN INTO ENGLISH. 4I7

(2) ya (a) initially: -ya (T), ama ydma (pit), qg yad (poison); (b) medially: maai mayak (lighthouse), mea sheya (neck), AHHHR lfniya (line), Moa moya (my fem.), c6pya sbrtiya (hamess).

e Transliterated as (i) e and (2) ye. (i) e after a consonant: Meii mel (chalk), Jiec les (wood, forest),

Bec ves (weight), TeCTO testo (dough). (2) ye (a) initially: eM yem (I eat), ecJnH yesli (if), e,a yeda (meal,

food). Note.-Of all Russian words beginning with e there is one foreign

proper name EBa which is pronounced by some speakers Eva instead of the more normal Yeva. aBa eva is a Russian interjection.

(b) paeT dayet (gives), fleeT poyet (sings), KYdT kuyet (forges). If e were used there would be no need for a stress-mark, since the stress always falls on the syllable containing e'.

io transliterated as (i) u and (2) yu. (I) u after a consonant with the indication of the preceding

palatalised consonant: TIOI t'uk (bale, package), AiHa d'una (dune), aioic l'uk (trap-door).

(2) yu (a) initially: ior yug (south), Io6Ka yusbka (skirt), loHoMa

yunosha (youth, young man); (b) medially: AaIOT dayu't (they give), yMelOT umeyut (they are able), aIHHIO liniyu (the line, acc), OIIOT poyxt (they sing), YIOT uyu't (cosiness).

u transliterated as i, is the corresponding " hard" vowel to the soft i-vowel (u in Russian orthography) which is a front sound with the lips spread. u is a type of i-sound retracted towards the back of the palate with an u-quality (as in rule), but with lips spread exactly as for i. It occurs only after hard, non-palatalised con- sonants and never initially (whereas i occurs only initially and after soft, palatalised consonants). If words beginning with u have a prefix ending in a hard, non-palatalised consonant the u changes to ui. Cf. HgyigiIif (going) = -pegu,yiiIl (preceding); HrpaTb (to play) IIOAbIrpaTb (to accompany, to play to); Hcic (suit, claim) pO3bTCE (inquest, inquiry); HTOM*CTE (to total) -= 1IOLITO0MHT6 (to total up); iciaTE (to search) = nogcHcaT6 (to find something suitable).

It is logically correct to transliterate u as i as belonging to the same family. The symbol i for i is recommended by the Conference of University Teachers of Russian.

u transliterated as i (with the value of the i of machine).

Note.-In the few foreign loans words initial u with the following e (ye) ought to be transliterated as iye: aepapx iyerdrh (hierarch),

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

4I8 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.

HepemHaxa iyerimidda (jeremiad), He3Y1T iyezuit (Jesuit), HeroBa Iyegova (Jehovah), etc. Yerarh, yezuit would be a phonetic tran- scription of the spoken word and not a transliteration of the written word. In all these words the first letter is I not At.

Ai transliterated as y.

TRANSLITERATION OF CONSONANTS. x transliterated as h. The English aspirate, represented by h,

is fairly similar in acoustic effect to Russian x; so much so that Russians, in attempting to pronounce English words like hot, head, how often use the sound of Russian instead of h. The combination letters kh would always be taken by an Englishman to represent the sound of k which he invariably uses in pronouncing words like khaki, khan, khedive. The transliteration of x by kh would be inadequate and misleading. It would result in the reading of transliterated words like Hx (their), Tex (those), Bcex (all), etc., as ik, tek, vsek. The transliteration of x by kh is, in the writer's opinion, incorrect and misleading.

Note.-In the group cx which occurs in very few words of Greek origin, eg. cxema (scheme), cxu3ma (schizm), cxoJIaCTHKa (scholastics), and in some compound words with the prefixes c, pac, BOC, HHC before x: cxop; (peasant meeting), BOCXO, (rise), pacxog (expense), CHHCXOJIHTb (to condescend), s may be separated from the h by a hyphen, so as not to be taken for sh, representing Russian m: s-he'ma, s-hizma, s-holastika, s-hod, vos-hod, ras-h6d, snis-hodit'.

A transliterated as ts. x transliterated as tch, and not as ch; tch has always the same

value in English, whereas ch is often pronounced as sh: champagne, machine, etc. Besides, tch is more effective for ig (mTm).

E transliterated as sh. E transliterated as shtch. ur transliterated as zh. ,L or' omitted when final, and transliterated as y after a con-

sonant in the body of a word: O$IMB14Tb obyavit' (to announce), 06?SeRT obyekt (object), OT%e3b otydzd (departure), noAre3A podyezd (porch, entrance), pabe3g razye'zd (departure).

h transliterated with an apostrophe when final (see above) and, as y after a consonant in the body of a word: fl6SH pyan (drunk) 6b1eT bjot (or bjet) (beats), 6bIo byu (I beat).

Note.-A distinction should be made between LI;apbw Ddrya (woman's name) and BapaVdr'a (dim. of BapBapa Barbara); MaiaraH Maldnya (woman's name) and TaHa Tdn'a (dim. of TaTbHa).

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

RUSSIAN INTO ENGLISH. 4I9

SUMMARY OF SYSTEM.

a a (as in calin) A a, ya e e (as in met) e e, ye bI H n i

o o (as in cross) e o, yo (or e, yg) y u (as in rule) 10 U, Yu ii v m sh xh aczh A Is IA sh/ch q tchs B y when necessary to transliterate

b ' and y

(6 -b, B =V, r g, ,=d, 3 =Z, X=-k, 3I=1, M=m, H n, o =o, 0, p, p = r, c = s, T=t, =f; h=e, o = f).

The following passages transliterated by Mr. Morison and Mr. Jopson are here transliterated according to my system.

(a) Poydu( teper' mezavisimo ot vseh sobiraf gribl' a to moi priobre- teniya nezametni-skazil on i poshol odin s opu'shki lesa, gde oni hodili po shelkovistoy nizkoy trave mezhdu redkimi, starimi ber'ozami (or ber'ezami), v seredinu lesa, gde mezhdu belimi ber'ozovimi (or ber'e- zovimi) stvolami sereli stvoli osini i temneli kusI oreshnika. Otoyd'a shagov sorok i zayd'a za ku'st bereskleta v polnom tsvetui s yego rozovo-krasnimi ser'ozhkami (or ser'ezhkami) Sergey Ivanovitch, znaya, tchto yego ne vid'at, ostanovils'a. Vokruig nego, bilo sovershenno tiho. Tol'ko vverhu' ber'oz (or ber'ez), pod kotorimi on stoyal, kak roy ptchol, neumolkayemo shumeli muihi, i izredka donosilis' golosa detey.

(b) Petru'shka ! Vetchno ti s obn6vkoy-s razodrannim lokfom (or lok'tem)! Dostan'-ka kalendar'. Tchitay, ne tak, kak ponomar', A s tchuivstvom, s tolkom, s rasstanovkoy. Na liste tcherkni na zapisnom Protivu buidushtchey nedeli: K Praskovye F'6dorovne (or F'edorovne) v dom Vo vtornik zvan ya na foreli. Kuda kak tchuiden sozdan svett! Pofilosofstvuy-uim vskruzhits'a! . . .

(c) V odnom iz stolitchnih utchrezhdeniy po lesnitsam hodili lomoviki vfazholih sapogTh, snosili, vniz stoli, shkapi, pil'niye sv'azki bum6ag i klali in ha voza, tchtobi vezti v drugoye pomeshtcheniye. Mezhdu lomovi- kami sovilas' staru'shka v bol'sh6m platke i iz pod riuk zagl'adivala vverh polestnitse, gde snovgli vzad i vper'od (or vpered) l'uidi i sheptala pro seb'a:

- gospodi, bafushka . . . kak v lesu'. - Pusti stariiha, nogu otdavl'ui. Tchto tebe nado tut? - Posobiye, bafushka, prishla polutch't.

C. B.

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

ERRATA in article by C.B. on Transliteration from Russian into English.

Slavonic Review Vol. XIII. No. 38 (January I935) P. 4I3.

TRANSLITERATION OF VOWELS

In accordance with the foregoing remarks the so-called " hard" vowels, a, 3, o, y, would be transliterated as a (with the value of the a of calm, not of came or of cat or of want, etc.), e (with the value of e of met, not of meter or of pretty), o (with the value of o of cross, not of so or son, or of wolf), u (with the value of u of rule, not of tube or of tub).'

The " soft " vowels a, e, e, io would be transliterated initially and medially after vowels as ya, ye, yo, yu, after consonants as a, e, o, u the preceding consonants being marked as palatalised.

Below each Russian vowel letter is given with its transliteration letter and examples.

X transliterated as (I) a, (2) ya.

(i) a after a consonant with the indication of the preceding palatalised consonant: pqg r'ad (row), maTa m'ata (mint), ,g,A d'ad'a (uncle).

(2) ya (a) initially: a ya (I), aqa ydma (pit), RA yad (poison); (b) medially: Maaic mayak (lighthouse), mea she'ya (neck), 3ILHHH

liniya (line), Moa moya (my fem.), c6pyR sbr4ya (harness).

e Transliterated as (i) e and (2) ye.

(i) e after a consonant: Mea nmel (chalk), aec les (wood, forest), nec ves (weight), TeCTO tdsto (dough).

(2) ye (a) initially: eM yem (I eat), ecaiH yesli (if), ega yeda (meal, food).

Note.-Of all Russian words beginning with e there is one foreign proper name EBa which is pronounced by some speakers Eva instead of the more normal Yeva. DBa ! e'va! is a Russian interjection.

(b) Medially after a vowel: TaeT tayet (it thaws), iMeeT ime'yet (has), HeayHT iyezuit (Jesuit), 3JaHHe zdaniye (building), HoeT noyet [nags (offpain)], ye3g, uydzd (district), Brbe3A vtyezd (departure).

e Transliterated as: (i) o and (2) yo.

1 The values given here are not precise phonetically, but they are sufficiently accurate for the purpose of transliteration.

[P.T.O.

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

(i) o after a consonant with the indication of the preceding palatalised consonant: aR6H l'on (flax), TeMIta t'6lka (heifer), BeM v'ol (he led).

(2) yo (a) initialy: eaita yolka (Christmas tree), es yozh (hedgehog), epm yorsh (ruff).

(b) Medially after a vowel: AaeT dayot (gives), HIOeT jboy6t (sings), Iy6T kuy6t (forges).

Note.-In order not to violate the alphabetical order in libraries o and yo might be represented as e and ye, i.e. (i) 1'en (flax), TeIKa&

t'elka (heifer), BeJI v'el (he led); (2) (a) iawia yelka (Christmas tree), ft yezh (hedgehog), epm yersh (ruff); (b) AaeT dayel (gives), fOeT poyet (sings), RyeT kuyet (forges). If e were used there would be no need for a stress-mark, since the stress always falls on the syllable containing e.

Page 4I4'5for " hard " vowel a, as in 3, o or ii, read " hard " vowel a, a, o or y.

4I42-5 for _ read-.

4I42 fory eA read - lea. 4156 for BapRa varka read - -Bapica varka.

,473 for u transliterated as i read HI transliterated as s. ,4814 for ix (mT). read ig (in + q).

4I916 for mezavisimo read nezavisimo.

4I92 for kusi read kustr.

4I914 for lok'tem) ! read lokt'em.

A4'%98 for vtazholih read v t'azholih. ,, 4197 for in ha read-ih na.

,, 4I95 for polestnitse, read po lesnitse. A,I P$ for (or vpered) read (or vper'ed).

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.69 on Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:15:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions