Polivanov system
Polivanov system is a system of transliterating the Japanese language into Russian Cyrillic script, either to represent Japanese proper names or terms in Russian or as an aid to Japanese language learning in The system was developed by Yevgeny Polivanov in 1917.
In terms of spelling the system is a middle ground between Kunrei-shiki and Hepburn romanisations, matching the former everywhere except for morae hu and tu, which are spelled as in Hepburn, moras starting with z and syllabic n, which is changed to m before b, p and m as in traditional Hepburn.
The following cyrillization system for Japanese is known as the Yevgeny Polivanov system. Note that it has its own spelling conventions and does not necessarily constitute a direct phonetic transcription of the pronunciation into the standard Russian usage of the Cyrillic alphabet.
Main table
Hiragana and Katakana to Polivanov cyrillization correspondence table, for single/modified kana.Syllabic n is spelled м before b, p, m, and spelled нъ before vowels.
Grammar particles は and へ are written ва and э. Syllable を is written either во or о depending on pronunciation.
Diphthongs
It is permitted to use й instead of и in diphthongs. However, и is always used on a morpheme clash: Kawai → Каваи.Yevgeny Polivanov recommended to use й for Sino-Japanese words, and и for native Japanese words. Another Polinanov's recommendation is to spell the diphthong ei as a long vowel э:, but this recommendation is almost never followed in practice. Instead, long vowel ē in the name ending -bē is often transliterated as -эй, e.g. ''Gonbē → Гомбэй.''
Geminate consonants
Consonants are geminated exactly as they are in romaji: e.g. -kk- > -кк-.Long vowels
Long vowels may be marked by macron as in Hepburn, but since letter ё has a diacritical mark already it is permitted and much more common to mark long vowels by using a colon. The sequence ei may be written э:, эй or эи. In regular texts long vowels are usually unmarked.Vowel omission
Normally, vowels in the Polivanov system are always spelled, even if they are not pronounced. However, the voiceless u in the name ending -suke may be omitted:Ryūnosuke → Рюноскэ.
Some translators tend to omit voiceless u in all cases when su is followed by a k-syllable, e.g. Akatsuki → Акацки, Daisuki → Дайски. However, this omission is considered non-standard.
Another non-standard practice is omitting the voiceless u at the end of words, mostly in desu → дэс and masu → мас. This spelling can be found in some learning materials, but most professional translators oppose it, because native speakers may pronounce su at the end of the word with a distinctive u sound.
Common mistakes and deviations
In English texts, Japanese names are written with the Hepburn system. Attempts may be made to transcribe these as if they were English, rather than following a dedicated Japanese Cyrillization scheme.A common example of this is attempting to transcribe shi as ши and ji as джи. This is inadvisable for use in Russian, because ши is actually pronounced like шы in Russian, and джи like джы, thus making the vowel closer to Japanese than to Japanese. Whereas, щи would have a correct vowel sound, but be pronounced more like Japanese.
Equally often, people transcribe cha, chi, chu, cho as ча, чи, чу, чо. This is phonetically correct, but does not conform with the Polivanov scheme, which more closely resembles the Kunrei-shiki romanisations for these particular characters.
Sometimes е, rather than э, is used for e, despite е being pronounced ye in Russian. This is typically not done in the initial position, despite older romanisations such as "Yedo" doing so. In any case, it does not conform with the Polivanov scheme, although it is seen as more acceptable for words that are in general use. Replacing ё with е is incorrect, however, as it will change the Japanese word too much.
The sound yo, when in the initial position or after a vowel, is often written as йо, which has the same pronunciation: Ёкосука -> Йокосука, Тоёта -> Тойота. Although, the spelling "йо" is not common in Russian words, these are more generally accepted for Japanese names than the transliterations using "ё". "Ё" is not often used in Japanese Cyrillization due to its facultative use in the Russian language, but for professional translators, the use of ё is mandatory. Some personal names beginning with "Yo" are written using "Ё".
Exceptions
Some proper names, for historical reasons, do not follow the above rules. For example, the geographical names of Japan in Russian are transmitted according to special instructions for the transfer of geographical names. Other Japanese names and concepts were adapted into Russian from other languages. Those include but are not limited to:| English | Russian spelling | Cyrillization | Japanese |
| Japan | Япония | Нихон, Ниппон | 日本 |
| Tokyo | Токиo | То:кё: | 東京 |
| Kyoto | Киото | Кё:то | 京都 |
| Yokohama | Иокогама | Ёкохама | 横浜 |
| Yokosuka | Йокосука | Ёкосука | 横須賀 |
| Toyota | Тойота | Тоёта | トヨタ |
| jujitsu | джиу-джитсу | дзю:дзюцу | 柔術 |
| yen | иена | эн | 円 |