transliterations
Alphabet-to-alphabet renderings
Transliterations are conversions of text from one writing system to another, letter by letter or character by character, preserving the sounds rather than the meanings of the original.
When you see *Moskva* for Moscow or *Beijing* for 北京, you're looking at transliterations that help readers approximate pronunciation across alphabets.
The process differs from translation, which converts meaning; transliteration converts sound representation.
The transliterations of Russian names vary depending on whether you use French or English conventions.
Script-to-alphabet conversion process
- latinizationAdapting to Roman patterns
- alphabetLanguage's letter system
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- orthographyStandard writing conventions
syllabary · graphemes · glyphs · Pinyin · Hangul · Arabic script · Hebrew script · Greek alphabet
Adopted foreign vocabulary
- borrowingsMoney taken on credit
- anglicizationAdapting to English conventions
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
- localizationAdapting for specific markets
proper names · place names · personal names · brand names · toponyms · foreign words · cross-cultural · international
Written version of speech
- conversionAct of changing states
- renderingInterpretive depiction or performance
- representationDepiction or likeness
- encodingConverting data to format
mapping · substitution · transformation · standardization · systematization · round-trip · reversibility · lossless
Manner of speaking words
- phonemesMinimal sound distinctions
- soundsAudible vibrations
- articulationClear vocal expression
- vowelsLetters with unblocked airflow
consonants · syllables · stress · tone · aspiration · voicing · nasals · diphthongs
romanization
Script-to-alphabet conversion process
- latinizationAdapting to Roman patterns
- alphabetLanguage's letter system
- charactersPersons in a narrative
orthography · syllabary · graphemes · glyphs · Pinyin · Hangul · Arabic script · Hebrew script · Greek alphabet · Cyrillic
loanwords
Adopted foreign vocabulary
- borrowingsMoney taken on credit
- anglicizationAdapting to English conventions
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
localization · proper names · place names · personal names · brand names · toponyms · foreign words · cross-cultural · international · multilingual
transcription
Written version of speech
- conversionAct of changing states
- renderingInterpretive depiction or performance
- representationDepiction or likeness
encoding · mapping · substitution · transformation · standardization · systematization · round-trip · reversibility · lossless · one-to-one
pronunciation
Manner of speaking words
- phonemesMinimal sound distinctions
- soundsAudible vibrations
- articulationClear vocal expression
vowels · consonants · syllables · stress · tone · aspiration · voicing · nasals · diphthongs · phonology
- Sanskrit StudiesSanskrit, Upanishads, declensions, conjugations, word roots
- dictionariesdictionary, dictionaries, definitions, definition, entries
transliterationstranslations
Converted linguistic texts
interpretations · paraphrases · glosses · localizations · transcriptions