BGN/PCGN romanization system for Russian is a method for romanization of Cyrillic Russian texts, that is, their transliteration into the Latin alphabet as used in the English language. It is used by the Oxford University Press, among others, which refers to it as the British Standard.

There are a number of systems for romanization of Russian—the BGN/PCGN system is relatively intuitive for anglophones to pronounce. It is part of the larger set of BGN/PCGN romanizations, which includes methods for twenty-nine different languages. It was developed by the United States Board on Geographic Names and by the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use. The portion of the system pertaining to the Russian language was adopted by BGN in 1944, and by PCGN in 1947.

This romanization of Russian can be rendered using only the basic letters and punctuation found on English-language keyboards: no diacritics or unusual letters are required, although the interpunct character (·) can optionally be used to avoid some ambiguity.

In many publications a simplified form of the system is used to render English versions of Russian names, typically converting ë to yo, simplifying -iy and -yy endings to -y, and omitting apostrophes for ъ and ь.

The following table describes the system and provides examples.

Russian Romanization Special provision Examples
А (а) A (a) None Азов = Azov
Тамбов = Tambov
Б (б) B (b) None Барнаул = Barnaul
Кубань = Kuban’
В (в) V (v) None Владимир = Vladimir
Ульяновск = Ul’yanovsk
Г (г) G (g) None Грозный = Groznyy
Волгодонск = Volgodonsk
Д (д) D (d) None Дзержинский = Dzerzhinskiy
Нелидово = Nelidovo
Е (е) Ye (ye)
  1. Word-initially;
  2. after vowels;
  3. after й;
  4. after ь;
  5. after ъ.
  1. Елизово = Yelizovo
  2. Чапаевск = Chapayevsk;
  3. Майер = Mayyer;
  4. Юрьев = Yuryev;
  5. Съезд = Syezd.
E (e) All other cases Белкин = Belkin
Ё (ё) Yë (yë)
  1. Word-initially;
  2. after vowels;
  3. after й;
  4. after ь;
  5. after ъ.
  1. Ёлкин = lkin;
  2. Остриё = Ostri;
  3. Йёнчёпинг = Y·ënchëping;
  4. Громадьё = Gromad;
  5. Подъёмный = Podmnyy.
Ë (ë) All other cases Озёрный = Ozërnyy
Ж (ж) Zh (zh) None Жуков = Zhukov
Лужники = Luzhniki
З (з) Z (z) None Звенигород = Zvenigorod
Вязьма = Vyaz’ma
И (и) I (i) None Иркутск = Irkutsk
Апатиты = Apatity
Й (й) Y· (y·) Before а, у, ы, or э. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Кайафа = Kaafa
Y (y) All other cases Йошкар-Ола = Yoshkar-Ola
Бийск = Biysk
К (к) K (k) None Киров = Kirov
Енисейск = Yeniseysk
Л (л) L (l) None Ломоносов = Lomonosov
Нелидово = Nelidovo
М (м) M (m) None Менделеев = Mendeleyev
Каменка = Kamenka
Н (н) N (n) None Новосибирск = Novosibirsk
Кандалакша = Kandalaksha
О (о) O (o) None Омск = Omsk
Красноярск = Krasnoyarsk
П (п) P (p) None Петрозаводск = Petrozavodsk
Серпухов = Serpukhov
Р (р) R (r) None Ростов = Rostov
Северобайкальск = Severobaykal’sk
С (с) S (s) None Сковородино = Skovorodino
Чайковский = Chaykovskiy
Т (т) T (t) None Тамбов = Tambov
Мытищи = Mytishchi
У (у) U (u) None Углич = Uglich
Дудинка = Dudinka
Ф (ф) F (f) None Фурманов = Furmanov
Уфа = Ufa
Х (х) Kh (kh) None Хабаровск = Khabarovsk
Прохладный = Prokhladnyy
Ц (ц) Ts (ts) None Цимлянск = Tsimlyansk
Ельцин = Yel’tsin
Ч (ч) Ch (ch) None Чебоксары = Cheboksary
Печора = Pechora
Ш (ш) Sh (sh) None Шахтёрск = Shakhtërsk
Мышкин = Myshkin
Щ (щ) Shch (shch) None Щёлково = Shchëlkovo
Ртищево = Rtishchevo
Ъ (ъ) This letter does not occur in the beginning of a word. Подъездной = Podyezdnoy
Ы (ы) Y· (y·) Before а, у, ы, or э. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Выудить = Vudit’
·y After any vowel. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Суык-Су = Su·yk-Su
Y (y) All other cases. This letter does not occur in the beginning of words of Russian origin. Ыттык-Кёль = Yttyk-Kël’
Тында = Tynda
Ь (ь) This letter does not occur in the beginning of a word. Тюмень = Tyumen
Э (э) ·e After any consonant except й. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Двухэлементный = Dvukh·elementnyy
E (e) All other cases Электрогорск = Elektrogorsk
Радиоэлектроника = Radioelektronika
Ю (ю) Yu (yu) None Юбилейный = Yubileynyy
Ключевская = Klyuchevskaya
Я (я) Ya (ya) None Якутск = Yakutsk
Брянск = Bryansk
Тс (тс) T·s (t·s) Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Соответствие = Sootvet·stviye
Шч (шч) Sh·ch (sh·ch) Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Веснушчатый = Vesnush·chatyy

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source: Wikipedia 925-1000.com