Transliteration
Transliteration in a narrow sense is a mapping from one
script into another script. It tries to be lossless, i.e., the informed reader should be able to reconstruct the original spelling of unknown transliterated words. To achieve this, it may define complex conventions about how to transliterate letters that have no simple correspondence in the goal script.
Romaji, as an example, is a transliterating method.
This is opposed to
transcription, which maps the
sounds of one
language to the script of another language. Still, most transliterations map the letters of the source script to letters pronounced similarly in the goal script, for some specific pair of source and goal language.
Another usage of the word
transliteration is to describe the use of an English
computer keyboard to type in a language that uses a different alphabet, such as in Russian. While the first usage of the word implies seeking the best way to render foreign words into a particular language, the typing transliteration is a purely pragmatic process of inputting text in a particular language. Transliteration from English letters is particularly important for users who are only familiar with the English keyboard layout, and hence could not type quickly in a different alphabet even if their software would actually support a keyboard layout for another language. Some programs, such as the
Russian language word processor Hieroglyph provide typing by transliteration as an important feature. The rest of the article concerns itself with the first meaning of the word, that is rendering foreign words into a different alphabet.
If the relations between letters and sounds are similar in both languages,\na transliteration may be (almost) the same as a transcription.\nIn practice, there are also some mixed transliteration/transcription systems,\nthat transliterate a part of the original script and transcribe the rest.\n
Greeklish is an example of such a mixture.
In a broader sense, the word
transliteration is used to include both transliteration in the narrow sense and
transcription.\n
Anglicizing is a transcription method.\n
Romanization encompasses several transliteration and transcription methods.
Example to illustrate the difference between transliteration and transcription
In Modern Greek, the letters <η> <ι> <υ> and the letter combinations <ει> <oι> <υι> are all pronounced [i] (in SAMPA notation).\nA transcription consequently renders them all as <i>,\nbut a transliteration still distinguishes them, for example by transliterating to <ē> <i> <y> and <ei> <oi> <yi>.\n(As the old Greek pronunciation of <η> was [E:],\nthis proposal uses the character appropriate for an Old Greek transliteration or transcription <ē>,\nan <e> with a macron.)\nOn the other hand, <ευ> is sometimes pronounced [ev] and sometimes [ef], depending on the following sound.\nA transcription distinguishes them, but this is no requirement for a transliteration.\n
| Greek word | Transliteration | Transcription |
|---|
\n| Ελληνική Δημοκρατία | \nEllēnikē Dēmokratia | Elliniki Dimokratia |
\n| Ελευθερία | \neleutheria | eleftheria |
\n| Ευαγγέλιο | \nEuaggelio | Evangelio |
\n| των υιών | \ntōn yiōn | ton ion |
Uses of transliteration
Transliterations in the narrow sense are used in situations where the original script is not available to write down a word in that script, while still high precision is required. For example, traditional or cheap typesetting with a small character set; editions of old texts in scripts not used any more (such as Linear B); some library catalogues (see
[1]).
For example, the
Greek language is written in the 24-letter
Greek alphabet, which overlaps with, but differs from, the 26-letter version of the
Roman alphabet in which
English is written. Etymologies in English dictionaries often identify Greek words as ancestors of words used in English. Consequently, most such dictionaries transliterate the Greek words into
Roman letters.
Transliteration
in the broader sense is a necessary process when you use words or concepts expressed in a language with a script other than yours.
The idea of transliteration is complicated by the genuine use in multiple languages of different common nouns for the same person, place or thing.\nThus, "
Muhammad" is in common use now in English and "Mohammed" is less popular, though there are excellent reasons for each transcription (and similarly for "
Muslim" and "Moslem").
Muslim and Mohammedan are less interchangeable, but the typical
French usage "Musulman" is considered offensively colonialist in
English language contexts.
Transliteration is also used for simple
encryption.
Many people believe that transliterations of the original language should be preferred for places, people and things over anglicised terms. For example, they might hold that what is now commonly called in English Munich should instead be called in English München, just as it in German. There is an increasing tendency in English to do exactly this, although the anglicised forms of most words are still more common, with a few notable exceptions (e.g. Beijing). Others do not approve of this trend.
Explanations for this may be a desire on the part of English speakers to be "authentic" and "correct", the increasing usage of English by native speakers of non-English languages (who may prefer to use their native language form for a native person or place even in English), and as a reaction to the spread of the English language, which threatens non-English languages--using the native forms of such words may be viewed as a way of compensating for the use of English.
Issues in transliterating particular languages
\nSome languages and scripts present particular difficulties to transcribers. These are discussed on separate pages.\n*Transliterating cuneiform languages\n*
Romaji Transliterating Japanese to latin script\n*
Transcribing English to Japanese\n*
Cyrillization of Japanese\n*
Transliteration of Russian into English\n*Transliteration of
Indic languages \n*Transliteration systems for Chinese to latin script\n**
Pinyin\n**
Wade-Giles\n**
Bopomofo\n**
Penkyamp
Transliteration sites
\n*Automatic Cyrillic Converter