S11: Conversion systems
 
 

2. Terminology- D) Transliteration key

 


Transliteration key (also called conversion table) lists the characters of a particular source script together with the corresponding characters of a specific target script. In order to distinguish characters of the source script, ample use is made of all the character inventory of the target script, including, if necessary, diacritics (diacritical marks). These are small signs, placed above, below or across a letter or group of letters.

For example,

To compare transcription and transliteration methods, a page from Back (1997), is given here:

Another comparison between methods can be made on the basis of this German example (see image below):

burmanisch = Burmese
schriftgetreu = correctly transliterated
lautgetreu = phonetically correct
englisch = transcribed to be correctly pronounced in Enlish
deutsch = to be correctly pronounced in German
chinesisch = Chinese
amtlich = officially used conversion
postalisch = conversion in use by postal authorities

 
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Copyright United Nations Statistics Division and International Cartographic Association, July 2012