BGN/PCGN romanization explained

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outlined in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency publication Romanization Systems and Policies (2012),[1] which superseded the BGN 1994 publication Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions.[2] Romanization systems and spelling conventions for different languages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.[3] 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 2012 system
BGN/PCGN national romanization system for Afghanistan 2007 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 1967 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 1956 system; BGN 1946, PCGN 1956
BGN/PCGN romanization 1981 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 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 2008 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 2007 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 1979 System
BGN/PCGN romanization 2013 agreement The agreement reflects the official Bulgarian system.[4]
BGN/PCGN romanization 1970 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 2008 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization 1979 agreement Chinese characters are romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the Pinyin system.
BGN/PCGN romanization 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 2010 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 2009 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 1996 agreement Greek is romanized by BGN/PCGN by means of the ELOT 743 system.
BGN/PCGN romanization (2018 agreement)
BGN/PCGN romanization 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 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 2008 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization 1979 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 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 Ministry of Culture and Tourism System (2000).
BGN/PCGN romanization 2007 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 1979 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 1966 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 2013 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 1988 agreement, with modifications 2009
BGN/PCGN romanization 2002 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization Mongolian (Cyrillic) 1964 system; PCGN 1957, BGN 1964
BGN/PCGN romanization 2011 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 2009 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 1968 system, 2017 revision
BGN/PCGN romanization 1958 system; updated 2019
BGN/PCGN romanization 1947 system; BGN 1944, PCGN 1947
BGN/PCGN romanization 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 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 1994 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 2005 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization 2002 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 2007 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 2000 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization 2011 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 2019 agreement Main article: Romanization of Ukrainian
BGN/PCGN romanization 2007 system
BGN/PCGN romanization 2023 agreement
BGN/PCGN romanization 2000 table of correspondences
BGN/PCGN romanization 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:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Romanization Systems and Policies. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 14 May 2017. 14 May 2017.
  2. Book: . Romanization Systems and Roman-Script Spelling Conventions . . 1994 . PDF . 8 January 2013 . 31881487.
  3. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/romanization-systems Romanization systems - GOV.UK
  4. http://geonames.nga.mil/gns/html/Romanization/Romanization_Bulgarian.pdf Romanization system for Bulgarian: BGN/PCGN 2013 System.
  5. The original publication refers to the language as Northern Lappish.