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Transliteration Tool
Convert Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew into Latin letters.
Quick Tool Overview
The Transliteration Tool converts Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew into Latin letters using recognised romanisation standards. Several standards exist per script and they genuinely disagree, so which one is being used is a choice the tool names rather than an assumption it hides.
- What it does
- Converts non-Latin scripts into Latin letters
- You give it
- A name, place or passage in another script
- You get back
- The romanised form under a named standard
- Best for
- Names, places and citations in English text
About the Transliteration Tool
Transliteration converts letters between writing systems; translation converts meaning between languages. "Москва" transliterates to "Moskva" and translates to "Moscow" — two different operations with two different results, and they are constantly confused.
This transliterates Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew into Latin letters using recognised standards rather than an ad hoc scheme. Several standards exist for each script and they genuinely disagree — the Russian letter Х is "kh" under one and "h" under another — so the standard is a choice rather than an assumption, and the tool names which one it is using. Reverse transliteration back into the original script is available for Cyrillic and Greek.
Key features of the Transliteration Tool
Named standards
BGN/PCGN, ISO 9 and scientific transliteration produce different results, and the tool says which it applied.
Four scripts
Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew, with the script detected automatically.
Reversible for Cyrillic and Greek
Convert back into the original script when the standard allows it.
Explains the difference from translation
Transliteration preserves sound, translation preserves meaning — a distinction constantly confused.
Guidance on which to pick
BGN/PCGN for English prose, ISO 9 when the conversion must be lossless.
How to use the Transliteration Tool
-
1
Paste your text
A name, a place, a title or a passage in a non-Latin script.
-
2
Confirm the script
It is detected automatically, and can be set manually.
-
3
Choose a standard
Several exist per script and they disagree, so the tool names which one it is applying.
-
4
Read the Latin text
Or reverse the direction to go back into the original script.
Frequently asked questions
Transliteration converts letters between alphabets and preserves the sound; translation converts meaning between languages. "Москва" transliterates to "Moskva" and translates to "Moscow".
Because different bodies made different trade-offs. ISO 9 is strictly reversible, one character to one character. BGN/PCGN prioritises how an English speaker would pronounce it. Scientific transliteration follows linguistic convention. None is wrong.
BGN/PCGN for names and places in English text, since it is the one atlases and news organisations use. ISO 9 when the conversion must be reversible without loss, such as in a database.
It transliterates the letters written, and Arabic normally omits short vowels. Where vowel marks are present they are transliterated; where they are not, the result reflects the written form rather than the spoken one.
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