To buy a plane ticket, a future traveler needs to choose a suitable site for this and fill out a special form for purchasing tickets, and here most Internet users may have problems. Airlines require personal data in the Latin alphabet, and the number of letters in the Russian alphabet is greater than in any other that uses the Latin alphabet, such as English. The main difficulty is the translation from Russian into Latin of those letters that are found only in the Russian alphabet. How, then, to write your data correctly? This article lists all the nuances that translate from Russian into Latin for air tickets.
What is transliteration
The method of replacing Russian-Cyrillic letters with Latin ones is called transliteration, or transliteration. The main goal of the method is to bring each letter of the Russian alphabet to the maximum correspondence to a similar Latin letter or their combination.
The current (data as of July 2018) transliteration standards are regulated by the Order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia No. 4271 dated March 29, 2016 and comply with the international standards of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).
Buying a ticket
Note! Until 2016, the Orders of the FMS of Russia dated 2010, 2012 and 2014 were in force on the territory of the Russian Federation. On the Internet, you can find sites containing an online translator for full name for air tickets (from English online translit), but often the information provided there may already be outdated, so you should use such sites very carefully, carefully checking the results of their work.
Do not confuse transliteration with transcription: transcription is not used for air tickets. Transcription is a combination of special characters that determine the sound of the word. During transliteration, the word is rewritten with letters of another alphabet without changing its meaning.
Important! Transliteration for online tickets is used without fail when filling in the data for buying a ticket abroad, and it does not matter whether the passenger plans to fly with a Russian or foreign airline.
Even if a Russian-language site is used to purchase a ticket, which does not contain direct instructions how to enter data, you must use only Latin letters.
The websites of some Russian airlines allow you to enter data in Russian, then the replacement of words will be carried out automatically.
Note! In this case, there is a possibility that the data on the ticket and in the foreign passport will differ, which may cause problems during check-in for the flight. It is better to transliterate manually.
For domestic trips in Russia, the use of transliteration to purchase an air ticket is not necessary: it will be correct to fill in both Russian and Latin.
Using transliteration to buy tickets in 2018
After a suitable site for purchasing an air ticket is found, the necessary flight is selected, in order to complete the purchase procedure, it is required to enter the passenger's personal data, in particular, full name, in a special form on the site.
For example, on the website of the Aeroflot airline, it looks like the one shown below.
Aeroflot website
The general rules for buying air tickets are: the translation of the name and surname is carried out in strict accordance with the data of the document on which such a ticket will be issued.
There may be options here:
- If this is a passport issued after March 2016, you just need to enter your data on the site as it is written in the passport with Latin letters.
- If this is a passport issued before March 2016, you must also enter your full name in Latin, as in the passport. In this case, the rule of correspondence between the entered data and the passport data dominates the transliteration rules adopted by the Ministry. The law of the Russian Federation provides for the right of every citizen to apply and issue a foreign passport with the spelling of the full name in Latin, which is already used for his bank card, driver's license or other documents.
- If this is a general passport or birth certificate, then the transliteration of the name and surname will have to be done independently.
On the Internet, you can find information that in a general passport issued after 07/01/2011, the Latin version of the name and surname can be viewed in a machine-readable entry on the photo page. This is not entirely true. The rules for filling out a machine-readable entry in a civil passport are currently regulated by another normative act Russian Federation - by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 851 dated November 13, 2017 - and its norms diverge from international standards.
Machine-readable entry in the passport of the Russian Federation
How to transliterate yourself? Very simple - you need to replace each letter of the first and last name with a Latin letter or a combination of them in accordance with this table:
| Russian alphabet | Latin analogue |
|---|---|
| BUT | BUT |
| B | AT |
| AT | V |
| G | G |
| D | D |
| E | E |
| Yo | E |
| AND | ZH |
| 3 | Z |
| And | I |
| Y | I |
| To | To |
| L | L |
| M | M |
| H | N |
| O | O |
| P | R |
| R | R |
| FROM | S |
| T | T |
| At | U |
| F | F |
| X | KN |
| C | TS |
| H | CH |
| W | SH |
| SCH | SHCH |
| Kommersant | IE |
| S | Y |
| b | not used |
| E | E |
| YU | IU |
| I | IA |
Using the example of such common names as Alexander, Natalya, Vyacheslav, Dmitry, transliteration for air tickets will be carried out as follows:
- Alexander in Latin should be translated for the ticket like this: Aleksandr. If a passenger has more rare name- Alexander, - then it will be translated as Aleksander. The combination of Russian letters "ks" according to the old rules changed to the Latin "x", according to the new rules, it is written as "ks".
- Natalia should be transliterated for the air ticket as Natalia. The soft sign is ignored, and the Russian letter "ya" turns into the combination "ia".
- Vyacheslav in Latin for an air ticket is written as Viacheslav. AT this example the Russian “I” is changed to “ia”, “ch” becomes “ch”, the rest of the letters are translated into their more understandable Latin-English counterpart.
- Dmitri should be transliterated for the air ticket as Dmitrii. The Russian letter "y" changes in the same way as the Russian "and".
The translation of the surname into Latin for air tickets does not provide for the presence of a hyphen, if any, in the Russian version of the surname. For example, the surname Petrov-Vodkin is eventually converted into Petrovvodkin. The same rule applies to names.
The words obtained as a result of transliteration are entered into the appropriate fields of the site. On an English-language site, to enter a name, the Name, Given Name or first name, for a surname - the field Surname or Last Name, sometimes Familia.
Additional Information! To enter a middle name, the field is called middle name, it may not be available on some sites. Information about the patronymic can be entered in any language - this will not be considered an error, this is due to the fact that for trips abroad only information about the first and last name is required.
Correction of transliteration errors
Most often, users experience the following problems when filling in personal data:
- Error or typo in at least one character of the name or surname.
- Name and surname are interchanged.
- The name or surname on the ticket does not match what is written in the passport. For example, in the case of a woman buying a ticket for a previous surname before marriage.
The rules of all air carriers say that the ticket must be issued without errors and in accordance with the data of the document provided, for violation of these rules, various fines are provided in the company's tariffs. But in practice, many air carriers ignore minor errors if there are few (usually up to three), if the inconsistencies are only in transliteration and the sound of the name or surname has not changed significantly.
However, this is not to be hoped for. If an error is found when issuing a ticket, it is necessary to contact the airline as soon as possible and report the presence of inaccuracies in the ticket, it is possible that the errors will be corrected free of charge and as soon as possible.
The need to correctly translate your full name into another language is an integral part of buying a ticket for an air flight abroad. Transliteration rules in Russia in last years often changed, so you should carefully consider how correctly the full name will be written, especially if online translators are used for this.
The main thing to remember is that each letter should be replaced separately, but in such a way that there are no discrepancies with the document on which the ticket is purchased. Even if the name in the passport is indicated using the old transliteration rule, this is the spelling that will be the most correct. The main thing is not the correctness of the translation of letters into Latin for the air ticket, but the correspondence of the data in the plane ticket and in the passport.
Using these basic rules will help to avoid possible problems when buying a ticket and when checking in for a flight, which means it will save time and money, which is so necessary for travel.
The writing of the Russian language is based on the Cyrillic script. However, most of the world's languages use the Latin alphabet for this. Later in the article we will tell you how to write in Latin letters correctly. This is a very important skill that can come in handy in any situation. As an example, you need to be able to write your name correctly in Latin when traveling abroad.
History of the Latin alphabet
Historically, the Latin alphabet is divided into archaic and classical. The first one is very similar to Greek from which it probably originated.
The composition of the original alphabet included 27 letters, some of which were practically not used. The composition of the same classical alphabet included 23 letters. Latin was the official language in Ancient Rome, and due to Roman expansion, this alphabet became widespread. In the process historical development a few more letters were added to the Latin alphabet, and at the moment the "basic Latin alphabet" has 26 letters and completely coincides with modern English.
However, almost every language that uses the Latin alphabet today has its own additional Latin characters, such as the letter "thorn" (Þ), which is used in Icelandic. And there are many examples of such expansion of the Latin alphabet.
And how to write uppercase Latin letters that are included in the "basic Latin alphabet"? There are several rules. And according to them, some capital letters are reduced copies of capital letters, some of the letters are slightly different.
Russian Latin
The very first cases of using the Latin alphabet for writing East Slavic languages date back to the period of the 16th-17th centuries, when the Latin alphabet appeared in the documents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth.
Later, already on the territory of the Russian state, the question of changing the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin alphabet was repeatedly raised. At first, this idea came to Peter I, who, against the background of the economic transformations of the European bias, also conceived the language reform. However, Peter never fulfilled his desire.
Calls for a change in the alphabet intensified even more in the 19th century. Representatives of the “Westernizers” movement especially advocated for this. And again, there was no change in the alphabet. After all, the opponents of the Latin alphabet had many supporters. Including Minister Uvarov, the author of the theory of official nationality. The introduction of the Latin alphabet, according to opponents of the transition, would mean the loss of cultural uniqueness.
After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks planned to translate all nationalities into the Latin alphabet. Several options for the Russian language have been proposed. However, the period of "Latinization" quickly ended, and the leadership of the USSR began, on the contrary, to translate all languages into Cyrillic. After that, the issue of changing the alphabet in the USSR was closed.
After the fall of the communist regime, the issue of parallel circulation of the Cyrillic alphabet with the Latin one, as in Uzbekistan, was also repeatedly raised, but the public blocked such proposals. Despite all the ambiguity of this issue, the introduction of the Latin alphabet could be useful for the Russian language. This would make it open to further cultural expansion. But the introduction of the Latin alphabet in Russian has a small minus - it will be difficult for the older generation to understand how to write in Latin letters.
Transliteration from Cyrillic to Latin
There are no uniform rules for transliteration from Cyrillic to Latin. However, at present in Russian Federation a certain standard is used, which is followed by employees of the Federal Migration Service.
It is periodically criticized, but accepted as official. In it, letters are replaced by phrases that are not in the Latin alphabet: E, Sh, Shch, Yu, Zh, C, Ch, Ya. The rest of the letters are actually identical to their Latin counterparts.
How to write a last name and first name
Usually this procedure must be completed when obtaining a foreign passport or visas. All documents that require transliteration are filled out according to the ISO 9 rule, which is followed by the Federal Migration Service. According to this rule, surnames are translated into Latin. We offer you a transliteration scale.
Thanks to this table, any word written in Cyrillic can be written in Latin. For example, Ivanovich in Latin will be Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich.
Conclusion
Disputes about which alphabet the Russian language needs do not subside for a long time. Each of the opinions has its own advantages and disadvantages. Discussions have been going on in our country for centuries, and there is no end in sight yet. However, being able to write in Latin letters is quite an important skill. It can be useful when obtaining a foreign passport, visa, paperwork in other states.
In this article, we showed how to write your first and last name in Latin letters correctly. But that's not all. Using the table given here, you can write any Cyrillic word in Latin. We hope that after reading this article you have understood how to write in Latin letters.
In every language there is such a category of words as proper names: names, surnames, all kinds of names. Any of us at least once necessarily faced with the need not to translate, namely write Russian word in English. For example, when we are dealing with names, surnames, names of cities, streets, various establishments (such as cafes, restaurants, hotels), we need to convey the sound of the word, make it readable in English. The names of cultural and religious events, the names of holidays, national elements that are not in the English-speaking culture also require transmission in English, because we communicate about these things with foreigners, talk about our country and culture.
For this purpose, there are rules transliteration - a method of writing words of one language by means of another. Each letter of the Russian alphabet (Cyrillic) has a corresponding English (Latin) letter or a combination of letters.
There are many systems and standards for transliteration. But first, let's talk about transliteration standards. Now, when almost everyone has a passport, when we travel abroad and fill out documents and forms in English, you just need to know the rules of transliteration that are accepted in the world.
Below are the transliteration options for letters and combinations of the Russian alphabet:
|
Russian letters |
English letters and combinations |
soft sign and solid mark are not transmitted by letter. Some letters are transmitted in combinations of two letters, and the letter Щ is a combination of four: shch.
For example:
Surname Shcherbakov will be written Shcherbakov.
Vowels E and Yo transliterated as YE if they are at the beginning of a word or after a vowel:
Yezhov - Yezhov
Hedgehogs - Yezhikov
Sergeyev - Sergeyev
In Russian, letter combinations are often found Y with vowels, and each of the combinations has a correspondence:
|
Russian combinations |
English combinations |
Many countries have transliteration rules for passports. In Russia, for example, there are following rules for international passports:
A-A, B-B, C-V, G-G, D-D, E-E, E-E, F-ZH, Z-Z, I-I, Y-I, K-K, L- L, M-M, H-N, O-O, P-P, R-R, S-S, T-T, U-U, F-F, X-KH, C-TC, H-CH, W-SH, W-SHCH, S-Y, E-E, Yu-IU, I-IA.
Transliteration of names and surnames for international passports takes place according to this standard using a special program into which your data is entered in Russian. If you have a passport, you must use the spelling of your first and last name that is presented in the document.
Transliteration is used not only in the preparation of documents. We have already mentioned the groups of words for the transmission of which we use transliteration. For example, in English texts it is easy to meet the words borshch, pelmeni, matryoshka, Perestroyka and many others that have no equivalent in English.
And, perhaps, you remember the times when mobile phones did not support Russian, and we exchanged SMS in English. At the same time, everyone intuitively invented their own rules of transliteration. Reading these messages was not easy, but very funny. For example, to send a letter AND used the letters G, J, Z, ZH. with a letter S it was generally difficult: it was written as I, U, Y, JI. Those times are long gone, but the need to master the transliteration system has not disappeared, but, on the contrary, has increased. Use the acquired knowledge and communicate in English fluently. I wish you success!
Subscribe to our communities
