Transliteration Scheme

Throughout this I use a Latinized version of the Russian text. This is not because I can't use the Cyrillic. For people who know Cyrillic and Russian, the correct version is more desired. However, for those who do not, it is easier for them to get the sense of something being words if it uses the Latin alphabet. (I may at some point put both forms up.)

To standardize this, I have changed the spelling of the names to use an identical transliteration.

My choice of transliteration and reason for this choice are:

а  --> a

б  --> b

в  --> v

г  --> g

д  --> d

е  --> ye / e  (e before consonants, ye otherwise)   *(†)

ё  --> yo      *(†)

ж --> zh

з  --> z

и  --> i

й  --> y        †

к  --> k

л  --> l

м  --> m

н  --> n

о  --> o

п  --> p

р  --> r

с  --> s

т  --> t

у  --> u

ф --> f

х  --> kh

ц  --> ts

ч  --> ch

ш --> sh

щ --> sch     ‡

ъ  --> "

ы --> y

ь  --> '

э  --> e

ю --> yu       (†)

я  --> ya       (†)

* е is used significantly more frequently than э, so the consonant before this will most likely be soft, but this will prevent too many excess y's. When not before consonants, this sound is pronounced, so it remains.

[For ё, Google seems to remove the y after consonants, but ё is rare and о is common, so doing this seems contrary to the point of removing the y and may be confusing.]

† While in Latin and other European languages, j may be appropriate for this sound, it is not in English. In English, y typically represents the same sound as й, (and soft consonants sound like they have that sound incorporated if followed by a vowel) while j is closer to ж (voiced ч / ch vs. voiced ш / sh).

‡ Many transliterations (without the extended Latin alphabet), including Google, use shch. I refuse to use a 4 letter Latinization when there exist shorter ones, so I use sch (which is also used by my textbook).


Notes on Translation: For the Russian text so far, I have written the text originally in English, then translated it by hand. Since I do not currently know much Russian, I use books to aid me, then give the translation to someone who knows the language to correct it (and help with the connotation and expressions).

Since I write the text in English first, then translate it, the English translations may not be literal. I also know that the subtleties in both versions may be different. If I did not after translating change the English text to match the Russian, I decided that the English was still close enough to the intended meaning.

Notes on Transliteration: While I use what is above and do check over the result, I may make mistakes. (The ones I have caught are: b instead of v, c instead of s, p instead of r.) If you find any, you can tell me and I will fix them.

Notes on Machine Translation: I do not use machine translation to produce the Russian text when writing this story. I also can't guarantee that the machine translation will give you the same results as what I have written. And I do not use the same Latinization as the programs do. So while I am not preventing you from putting the text into your favorite program, I can not tell you what the result will be. Do not tell me that Google (or any other program) translates what I wrote differently! I already know this is the case. This is not because the translation is wrong.