BGN/PCGN romanization are the systems for romanization and Roman-script spelling conventions adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN).
The systems have been approved by the BGN and the PCGN for application to geographic names, but they have also been used for personal names and text in the US and the UK.
Details of all the jointly approved systems are outlined in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency publication Romanization Systems and Policies (2012), which superseded the BGN 1994 publication Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions. Romanization systems and spelling conventions for different languages have been gradually introduced over the course of several years. The currently used set is available on the UK government site. A complete list of BGN/PCGN systems and agreements covering the following languages is given below (the date of adoption is given in the parentheses). The status "agreement" refers to systems which were created by authorities of the corresponding nations and then adopted by BGN and PCGN.
Systems
| File link | Language | System | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Adyghe | 2012 system | |
| BGN/PCGN national romanization system for Afghanistan | Pashto and Dari | 2007 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Amharic | 1967 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Arabic | 1956 system; BGN 1946, PCGN 1956 | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Armenian | 1981 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Avar | 2011 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Azerbaijani (Cyrillic script) | 2002 table of correspondences | Note that the Government of Azerbaijan abandoned the Cyrillic script in 1991 and adopted the Latin alphabet to replace it. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Baluchi | 2008 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Bashkir | 2007 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Belarusian | 1979 System | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Bulgarian | 2013 agreement | The agreement reflects the official Bulgarian system. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Burmese | 1970 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Chechen | 2008 table of correspondences | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Chinese | 1979 agreement | Chinese characters are romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the Pinyin system. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Chuvash | 2011 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Dzongkha | 2010 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Georgian | 2009 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Greek | 1996 agreement | Greek is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the ELOT 743 system. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Hebrew | (2018 agreement) | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Inuktitut | 2013 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Japanese (Kana) | 2017 agreement | Japanese is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the modified Hepburn system. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Kabardian | 2011 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Karachay-Balkar | 2008 table of correspondences | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Kazakh | 1979 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Khmer | 1972 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Korean (North Korea) |
BGN/PCGN 1945 agreement | Korean is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the McCune–Reischauer system. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Korean (South Korea) |
2011 agreement | Korean is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the Revised Romanization of Korean. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Kurdish | 2007 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Kyrgyz | 1979 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Lao | 1966 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Macedonian | 2013 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Maldivian | 1988 agreement, with modifications 2009 | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Moldovan | 2002 table of correspondences | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Mongolian (Cyrillic) | 1964 system; PCGN 1957, BGN 1964 | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Nepali | 2011 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Ossetian | 2009 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Pashto | 1968 system, 2017 revision | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Persian | 1958 system; updated 2019 | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Russian | 1947 system; BGN 1944, PCGN 1947 | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Rusyn | 2016 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Serbian (Cyrillic script) | 2005 table of correspondences | Serbian is not romanized by BGN/PCGN; instead, the Latin script that corresponds to the Cyrillic script is used. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Shan | 2011 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Modern Syriac | 2011 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Tajik | 1994 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Tatar | 2005 table of correspondences | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Thai | 2002 agreement | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Tigrinya | 2007 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Turkmen | 2000 table of correspondences | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Udmurt | 2011 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Ukrainian | 2019 agreement | Main article: Romanization of Ukrainian |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Urdu | 2007 system | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Uyghur | 2023 agreement | Uyghur is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the Uyghur Latin alphabet. |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Uzbek | 2000 table of correspondences | |
| BGN/PCGN romanization | Yakut | 2012 system |
In addition to the systems above, BGN/PCGN adopted Roman Script Spelling Conventions for languages that use the Roman alphabet but use letters not present in the English alphabet. These conventions exist for the following four languages:
- BGN/PCGN romanization of Faroese (1968 agreement)
- BGN/PCGN romanization of German (2000 agreement)
- BGN/PCGN romanization of Icelandic (1968 agreement)
- BGN/PCGN romanization of Northern Sami (1984 agreement)
Notes
- The original publication refers to the language as Northern Lappish.
References
- "Romanization Systems and Policies". National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
- US Board on Geographic Names (1994). Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions (PDF). Defense Mapping Agency. OCLC 31881487. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- Romanization systems - GOV.UK Guidance on the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN)/Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN) romanization systems.
- Romanization system for Bulgarian: BGN/PCGN 2013 System. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, September 2014.
- ROMANIZATION OF UYGHUR (Uighur): BGN/PCGN 2023 Romanization Agreement National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, October 2024.
| Romanization | |
|---|---|
| By publisher (for several languages) | |
| By language or writing system | |
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