Cyrillization of Arabic

Cyrillization of Arabic is the conversion of text written in Arabic script into Cyrillic script. Because the Arabic script is an abjad (a writing system without vowels), an accurate transliteration into Cyrillic, an alphabet, would still require prior knowledge of the subject language to read. Instead, systems of transcription have normally been used.

Russian system

Basic alphabet

LetternameScientific TranscriptionPractical TranscriptionOther
IPACyrillicDIAlat.ru.
alif//а̄āa, aaа, я[1]ә
hamza/ʔ/’, ʾʼ, —ъ, Ӏ
bā’/b/бbbб
tā’/t/тttт
thā’/θ/с̱th, s, (t)[2][3]с, (т)[2][3]ҫ
jīm/d͡ʒ~ɡ/джǧj, dj, (g)[2][4]дж, (г, ж)җ, ж, ҹ, ӂ, џ
ḥā’ (pharyngeal)/ħ/х̣hхҳ, хӀ, хь
khā’/x~χ/х̱, х̮kh, xххь
dāl/d/дddд
zāl/ð/з̱dh, (z, d)[2][3]з, (д)[2][3]ҙ
rā’/r/рrrр
zayn/z/зzzз
sīn/s/сssс
shīn/ʃ/шšsh, chш
ṣād//с̣sссӀ
ḍād//д̣d, dhддӀ
ṭā’//т̣tттӀ, тъ
ẓā’/ðˁ~/з̣z, (zh, dh)[2][3]з, (д)[3]зӀ
‘ayn/ʕ/ʿʻ—, ъ, vowel doubling[5]Ӏ, гӀ
ghayn/ɣ/г, г̣ġg, ghгғ, ҕ, гӀ, гъ
fā’/f/фffф
qāf/q/к̣qq, k, (g, gh)[2][6]к, (г)[2][6]қ, ҡ, ҟ, къ, кь, хъ
kāf/k/кkk, cк
lām/l/лllл, ль[7]
mīm/m/мmmм
nūn/n/нnnн
hā’/h/х, һhhхһ, ҳ, хӀ, гь
wāw/w, /в, ў, ӯw, ūw, u, oo, ouв, у, ю[1]
yā’/j, /й, ӣy, īy, i, eeй,[1] и, ы[8]ј

Vowels

Note: The following tables use the letter hamza (ء) as a carrier to illustrate the use of diacritics. It is not part of these signs.

To record short vowels after a consonant, optional signs (fatḥah, ḍammah, kasrah) are used above this consonant. To write long vowels, the same signs are used plus the corresponding consonant letter.

LetterTitleScientific transcriptionPractical transcription
IPACyrillicDINlat.ru.
Short vowels
ءَfatḥah/a/аaa, eа, е, э
ءُḍammah/u/уuu, o, ouу, о
ءِkasrah/i/иii, eи, е, э
Long vowels
ءَاfatḥah-alif//а̄āa, aaа
ءٰalif-khanjariyah//а̄āa, aaа
ءَىfatḥah-alif-maqsurah//а̄āa, aaа
ءَىٰ//а̄āa, aaа
ءُوḍammah-waw//ӯūu, oo, ouу
ءِيkasrah-ya’//ӣīi, eeи
Diphthongs
ءَوfatḥah-waw/au/аўawaw, au, aouау
ءَيfatḥah-ya’/ai/айayay, ey, eiай, ей, эй
Combinations
ءُوّ/uːw, -uː/ӯвuwwuwwув
ءِيّ/iːj, -iː/ӣйiyyuyyий[1]

Hamza

The glottal stop (in Arabic hamza ) has complex notation rules. It can be written as a single character on the line ⟨ﺀ⟩, thus not distinguishing itself from other consonants, but much more often it is written above or below three carrier letters: alif, vav, ya. At the same time, hamza, like any consonant, can be both before and after a vowel. At the beginning of words, the hamza is written exclusively above or below the alif.The combination "alif-hamza + fatha + alif" (that is, أَا) is written in a special way through alif-madda.The absence of a hamza is occasionally recorded with a wasla sign (usually used only before the initial alif).In unvoiced texts, even the complete absence of over- or signed hamza is possible (thus hamza is indistinguishable from vav and ya), which further complicates transcription. Hamza is almost never written over the alif of the definite article.

LetterNamePhonetic TranscriptionPractical Transcription
IPACyrillicDINlat.ru.
Hamza before a vowel
أَalifa-hamza-fatḥah/ʔa/’аʾa’aа
أُalifa-hamza-ḍammah/ʔu/’уʾu’uу
إِalif-hamza-kasrah/ʔi/’иʾi’iи
آalif-maddah/ʔaː/’а̄ʾā’aа
ؤَwaw-hamza-fatḥah/ʔa/’аʾa’aа
ؤُwaw-hamza-ḍammah/ʔu/’уʾu’uу
ؤِwaw-hamza-kasra/ʔi/’иʾi’iи
ئَyā’-hamza-fatḥah/ʔa/’аʾa’aа
ئُyā’-hamza-ḍammah/ʔu/’уʾu’uу
ئِyā’-hamza-kasrah/ʔi/’иʾi’iи
Hamza after a vowel
ءَأalifa-hamza-fatḥah/aʔ/а’a’а
ءُأalif-hamza-ḍammah/uʔ/у’u’у
ءِأalif-hamza-kasrah/iʔ/и’i’и
ءَؤwaw-hamza-fatḥah/aʔ/а’a’а
ءُؤwaw-hamza-ḍammah/uʔ/у’u’у
ءِؤwaw-hamza-kasrah/iʔ/и’i’и
ءَئyā’-hamza-fatḥah/aʔ/а’a’а
ءُئyā’-hamza-ḍammah/uʔ/у’u’у
ءِئyā’-hamza-kasrah/iʔ/и’i’и
Absence of Hamza
ٱhamzatu-l-waṣl/∅/

Definite Article

As with the hamza, there are some difficulties in rendering the Arabic definite article. In neutral position, it is read and transcribed as al- ( el- ). In certain positions, the sound - l - can be assimilated with the subsequent consonant (see more at Sun and moon letters). After vowels, the initial a - ( e -) usually disappears (the so-called wallowing).

LetterNamePhonetic TranscriptionPractical Transcription
IPACyrillicDINlat.ru.
الalif-lam/ʔal-, ʔaCː-/аль-al-al-, el-аль-, эль-
assimilation al before sun consonants+++− / +− / +

Nunation

The term ‘’nunation’’ (or ‘’tanwīn’’ ) in Arabic grammar refers to the case endings of the “indefinite state” (corresponds to the indefinite article in other languages). Sometimes, for historical reasons, after the nunation, the silent letters alif-maksura or a simple alif are additionally written.

LetterNamePhonetic TranscriptionPractical Transcription
IPACyrillicDINlat.ru.
ءًtanwīn-fatḥah/an/анanан
ءًى/an/анanан
ءًا/an/анanан
ءٌtanwīn-ḍammah/un/унunун
ءٍtanwīn-kasra/in/инinин

Other signs

  • sukun over a consonant denotes the absence of any vowel after that consonant (including hamza ). Not transcribed at all.
  • shaddah over a consonant denotes the doubling of that consonant. Transcribed accordingly by doubling the letters (special case: джджддж ).


LetterNamePhonetic TranscriptionPractical Transcription
IPACyrillicDINlat.ru.
ءْsukūn/∅/
ءّshaddahconsonant doubling

Special Letters and Combinations

LetterNamePhonetic TranscriptionPractical Transcription
IPACyrillicDINlat.ru.
tāʾ marbūṭah/a, at/а, атh, ta, ah / atа, ат/ет
alif maqsura/aː/а̄āaа
lam-alif/laː/ла̄laля

Sample Text

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

Arabic text with harakat[9]RomanizationRussian CyrillizationTranslation
يُولَدُ جَمِيعُ النَّاسِ أحْرَاراً مُتَسَاوِينَ فِي الْكَرَامَةِ وَالحُقُوقِ. وَقَدْ وُهِبُوا عَقْلاً وَ ضَمِيراً وَ عَلَيهِمْ أنْ يُعَامِلَ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضاً بِرُوحِ اَلإخَاء.Yūladu jamī‘u n-nāsi aḥrāran mutasāwīna fī l-karāmati wa-l-ḥuqūq. Wa-qad wuhibū ‘aqlan wa-ḍamīran wa-‘alayhim an yu‘āmila ba‘ḍuhum ba‘ḍan bi-rūḥi l-ikhā’.Йӯладу джамӣ‘у н-на̄си ах̣ра̄ран мутаса̄вӣна фӣ л-кара̄мати ва-л-х̣ук̣ӯк̣. Ва-к̣ад вухибӯ ‘ак̣лан ва-д̣амӣран ва-‘алайхим ан йу‘а̄мила ба̄‘д̣ухум ба‘д̣ан би-рӯх̣и л-их̱а̄’.All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood

References

Further reading

  • Гиляревский, Р. С., ed. (2004). Praktičeskaja transkripcija familʹno-imennyx grupp Практическая транскрипция фамильно-именных групп (in Russian). Москва: Физматлит. pp. 46–59. ISBN 9785020337183.
  • Савина, В. И.; Цельникер, С. С. (1966). Наджарова, Н. М. (ed.). Instrukcija po peredače na kartax geografičeskix nazvanij arabskix stran Инструкция по передаче на картах географических названий арабских стран (in Russian). Москва: Наука. OCLC 899851736.
  • Сердюченко, Г. П. (1967). "Arabskij jazyk" Арабский язык. Russkaja transkripcija dlja jazykov zarubežnovo Vostoka Русская транскрипция для языков зарубежного Востока (in Russian). Москва: Наука. pp. 104–115. OCLC 1906956.
  • Юшманов, Н. В. (1928). "Pisʹmo i čtenije" Письмо и чтение. Grammatika literaturnovo arabskovo jazyka Грамматика литературного арабского языка (in Russian). pp. 6–18. OCLC 247994734.