Germans from Russia Language and Languages: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:41, 7 December 2022

Germans from Russia Wiki Topics
Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church in Goessel, Kansas
Beginning Research

Introduction Search Strategies	Record Finder Records at FS Library
Original Records
Cemeteries Census Church Records Civil Registration Concordia Collection Directories Emigration & Immigration Land Records	Military Records Naturalization Newspapers Obituaries Probate Records Taxation Vital Records see Civil Registration
Settlement Groups
Volga Germans Black Sea Germans	Volhynia Germans
Concordia Collection
Bound Research Materials Pedigree Charts	Books, Census, & Maps
Compiled Sources
Biography Genealogies	Periodicals
Background Information
Gazetteers Handwriting Historical Geography	History Languages Maps Periodicals
Finding Aids
Archives/Libraries FamilySearch Centers Further Reading	Societies Websites

Map of historic German language areas in dark green.

German[edit | edit source]

Most materials used to research Germans from Russia is written in German or Russian. However you do not need to speak or read these languages to do research in the records. You will need to know some key words and phrases to understand the records. Language aids that will help you understand German are described in the “Language and Languages” page of the Germany Wiki page.

Russian[edit | edit source]

A dictionary that will help you understand Russian is:

Smirnitsky, A. I.Русско-Английский словарь = Russian-English Dictionary (Russko-Angliĭskiĭ slovar). Izd. 7oe. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo “Sovetskaia Entsiklopediia”m 1965. (FS Library book 491.7321 Sm48r; film 1045410 item 2).Place name in search book.

More Russian Cyrillic alphabet examples are found in the "Handwriting" page.

Transliterating Russian Place Names[edit | edit source]

The Library has used two transliteration systems in the FamilySearch Catalog to write Russian words using Roman letters.

Transliteration system used in the FamilySearch Catalog for Russian Cyrillic place names:

Cyrillic	Roman
А, а	a
Б, б	b
В, в	v
Г, г	g
Д, д	d
Е, е	e, ye ^[1]
Ё, ё	ë, yë ^[2]
Ж, ж	zh
З, з	z
И, и	i
Й, й	y ^[3]
К, к	k
Л, л	l
М, м	m
Н, н	n
О, о	o
П, п	p
Р, р	r
С, с	s
Т, т	t
У, у	u
Ф, ф	f
Х, х	kh
Ц, ц	ts ^[4]
Ч, ч	ch
Ш, ш	sh
Щ, щ	shch
Ъ, ъ	’’ (hard sign)
Ы, ы	y ^[3]
Ь, ь	’ (soft sign)
Э, э	e
Ю, ю	yu
Я, я	ya

^[5]

Transliterating Russian Authors, Titles, and Imprints[edit | edit source]

Bold letters show variations from the place name transliteration system.

Transliteration system used in the FamilySearch Catalog for Russian Cyrillic authors, titles, and imprints:

Cyrillic	Roman
А, а	a
Б, б	b
В, в	v
Г, г	g
Д, д	d
Е, е	e
Ё, ё	ë
Ж, ж	zh
З, з	z
И, и	i
І, і ^[6]	ī
Й, й	ĭ
К, к	k
Л, л	l
М, м	m
Н, н	n
О, о	o
П, п	p
Р, р	r
С, с	s
Т, т	t
У, у	u
Ф, ф	f
Х, х	kh
Ц, ц	ts
Ч, ч	ch
Ш, ш	sh
Щ, щ	shch
Ъ, ъ ^[7]	’’ (hard sign)
Ы, ы	y
Ь, ь ¹	’ (soft sign)
Э, э	ė
Ю, ю	iu
Я, я	ia
Ѧ, ѧ ^[8]	ę

^[9]

References[edit | edit source]

↑ The Cyrillic letter e is transliterated as ye initially, after vowels, and after ъ and ь; elsewhere as e.
↑ The letter ё is not considered a separate letter of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, and the dieresis is often omitted. When printed in Cyrillic as ё, it is transliterated as yë or ye initially, after vowels, and after ъ and ь; elsewhere as ë or e; that is, the use of the dieresis is optional.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Both й and ы are transliterated as y, but these letters rarely occur initially and the likelihood of confusion is slight; the й usually occurs only as the second part of dipthongs, while the ы occurs before other vowels or between consonants.
↑ This system provides no means of distinguishing between the transliterations of the Cyrillic letter ц and the тс letter combination; however, the latter occurs infrequently.
↑ The above table was adapted from page ix of United States. Board on Geographic Names. Official Standard Names for U.S.S.R. Washington, D.C.: USGPO, 1970. (FS Library Ref book 947 E5u 1970 v. 1; fiche 6001801-807 [136 fiches]).
↑ Do not confuse with similar part of the letter Ы, ы (transliterated Y, y).
↑ Letter is disregarded in transliteration when found at the end of a word.
↑ Church Slavic letter occasionally found in the modern Russian Cyrillic alphabet.
↑ The above table was adapted from pages 184-185 of ALA-LC Romanization Tables: Transliteration Schemes for Non-Roman Scripts. 1997 ed. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1997. (FS Library book 411 AL11a 1997).

[1] The Cyrillic letter e is transliterated as ye initially, after vowels, and after ъ and ь; elsewhere as e.

[2] The letter ё is not considered a separate letter of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, and the dieresis is often omitted. When printed in Cyrillic as ё, it is transliterated as yë or ye initially, after vowels, and after ъ and ь; elsewhere as ë or e; that is, the use of the dieresis is optional.

[ny-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Both й and ы are transliterated as y, but these letters rarely occur initially and the likelihood of confusion is slight; the й usually occurs only as the second part of dipthongs, while the ы occurs before other vowels or between consonants.

[4] This system provides no means of distinguishing between the transliterations of the Cyrillic letter ц and the тс letter combination; however, the latter occurs infrequently.

[5] The above table was adapted from page ix of United States. Board on Geographic Names. Official Standard Names for U.S.S.R. Washington, D.C.: USGPO, 1970. (FS Library Ref book 947 E5u 1970 v. 1; fiche 6001801-807 [136 fiches]).

[6] Do not confuse with similar part of the letter Ы, ы (transliterated Y, y).

[7] Letter is disregarded in transliteration when found at the end of a word.

[8] Church Slavic letter occasionally found in the modern Russian Cyrillic alphabet.

[9] The above table was adapted from pages 184-185 of ALA-LC Romanization Tables: Transliteration Schemes for Non-Roman Scripts. 1997 ed. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1997. (FS Library book 411 AL11a 1997).

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@@ Line 131: / Line 131: @@
 | bgcolor="#ffffff" | Я, я<br>
 | bgcolor="#ffffff" | ya<br>
-|}<ref> The above table was adapted from page ix of United States. Board on Geographic Names. [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog ''Official Standard Names for U.S.S.R.''] Washington, D.C.: USGPO, 1970. (FHL Ref book 947 E5u 1970 v. 1; fiche 6001801-807 [136 fiches]).</ref>
+|}<ref> The above table was adapted from page ix of United States. Board on Geographic Names. [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog ''Official Standard Names for U.S.S.R.''] Washington, D.C.: USGPO, 1970. (FS Library Ref book 947 E5u 1970 v. 1; fiche 6001801-807 [136 fiches]).</ref>
 ==== Transliterating Russian Authors, Titles, and Imprints ====