Transliteration | Definition & Examples

Transliteration is the process of converting text from one writing system to another while preserving the pronunciation of the original language as much as possible.

Transliteration differs from translation, which focuses on preserving meaning. It’s commonly used in names of people and places.

Transliteration definition

The word transliteration comes from two Latin words: trans, meaning “across,” and littera, meaning “letter.” Essentially, transliteration converts letters from one writing system (or “script”) to letters in another system while striving to preserve the pronunciation of the original word.

Transliteration usually takes place at the grapheme level. A grapheme is “the smallest unit in a writing system that can express a different sound or meaning.” For example, in English, graphemes include “a” or “ch.” An example of a grapheme in Japanese is “あ.”

Through transliteration, speakers of one writing system can approximate the pronunciation of a word from another writing system. This is particularly useful for proper nouns (e.g., names and places) and technical terms.

Transliterated terms can be found in many contexts, like travel guides, academic writing, and language learning resources. However, despite its usefulness, transliteration poses some challenges:

• Different pronunciations of the same word across various dialects can result in multiple transliterations of that word.
• Sounds in certain languages may not have a direct equivalent in the target one, leading to approximations or inconsistencies.
• Multiple transliteration schemes may exist for the same language, leading to inconsistencies.
• Unique elements of pronunciation (e.g., tones in Mandarin) are not easily expressed in other scripts, which can affect meaning.

Keeping these challenges in mind, follow these best practices for transliteration:

1. Be consistent. If you decide to transliterate one word, then transliterate all words from that language. Follow the same transliteration scheme throughout your document.
2. Use words that have entered the target language as is. If a name is common enough in the target (e.g., “Ramadan” in English), you can use that version instead of transliterating it yourself. There may be exceptions here, like if you are writing for specialists, you’re transliterating whole phrases that include that word, or your style guide says differently.
3. Use formatting consistently. Some style guides recommend italicizing transliterated words. Check the one relevant to your work and follow its guidelines. Regardless, apply formatting consistently to all transliterated words.

Romanization

Transliteration can happen between any two languages. For example, Arabic can be transliterated to Russian (e.g., the Arabic name “محمد” is “Мухаммад” in Russian).

The transliteration of non-Latin scripts to the Latin—or Roman—script is called romanization. The same Arabic name, “محمد,” when romanized, is “Muhammad.”

There are different styles of romanization, depending on the language being transliterated. A few examples are:

• Hepburn: The primary system for the romanization of Japanese.
• Pinyin: The most common romanization system for Mandarin Chinese.
• ISO 9: An international system for romanizing Cyrillic characters.

Translation vs transliteration

Transliteration differs from translation, which conveys the meaning of a word in another language. Translation does not preserve pronunciation or map graphemes.

For example, “Γεια σου” is an informal way to say “hello” in Greek. The translation of this term is “hello,” but one transliteration of this word would be “geia sou.”

In some cases, translations and transliterations may look very similar. This is often because the word in the target language comes from the same roots as the word in the original language. For example, the English word “philosophy” comes from Greek, leaving it with a very similar sound to the transliterated Greek “filosofía.”

What is transcription?

Transcription is the conversion of sound to text. The meaning of transcription changes based on the context:

• In musical transcription, sounds of an instrument are converted to visual music notes.
• In legal transcription, audio and video from court hearings are transcribed to text.
• In medical transcription, a doctor’s recorded notes are transcribed to text.

In linguistics, there are two types of transcription:

• Phonetic transcription focuses on representing the actual sounds of speech in writing.
• Phonemic transcription focuses on a more general representation that only includes distinctive, meaningful sounds in a language, instead of exact pronunciation.

Phonetic transcription

Many phonetic transcription systems, like the ones used in dictionaries, rely on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The IPA is a set of symbols that was developed by the International Phonetic Association to create a standard way of writing down speech sounds from different languages.

Below you can see the differences between transliteration, IPA transcription, and translation. The Romanization “writes” the word in the Latin alphabet, the transcription captures the pronunciation, and the translation shows the meaning in English.

Frequently asked questions about transliteration

What is a grapheme?

A “grapheme” is the smallest unit of written language. Graphemes change based on the language used.

In English, graphemes include “ch” and “a.” But in Japanese, graphemes can be “あ,” which represents a syllable, or “山,” which represents a word.

Graphemes are used in transliteration to convert one language to the script of another.

You can plug different graphemes into QuillBot’s free Translator to discover their meaning in another language.

What is a phoneme?

A “phoneme” is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish words from one another. Phonemes don’t carry meaning by themselves but combine to form words.

Changing a single phoneme can result in a different word with a different meaning. For example, in the words “pat” and “bat,” /p/ and /b/ are phonemes.

Phonemes are important in transcription and transliteration. They are also relevant when learning the pronunciation of a new language.

Try QuillBot’s free Translator to translate words into a language you’re learning.

What is a dialect?

A dialect is a form of a language that is spoken in a specific geographic area or by a particular group of people. 

It includes unique features such as vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation that differentiate it from the standard or other dialects of the same language. 

British and American English both encompass different dialects of the English language, like Cockney, Received Pronunciation, Southern, and Midwestern.

These unique pronunciations across dialects affect the transliteration and transcription of a language.

What is a glyph?

A glyph is a visual representation of a character or symbol in written form. It refers to the specific shape or form that a character takes, which can be part of an alphabet, punctuation mark, or any other symbol used in writing.

Some examples of glyphs are “a,” “あ,” and “@.”

Glyphs are important in transliteration and translation. Try QuillBot’s free Translator to translate words from one language to another, and see how the glyphs change.