Transliteration

In different humanities disciplines it is common to refer to certain concepts from languages written in non-Roman scripts. In Western philosophical works, Ancient Greek is often referenced, whereas works engaging Eastern philosophy and religion often use terms from Japanese, Mandarin, Sanskrit, and Tibetan.

As a rule, we prefer that uniform transliteration (romanization) standards. Moreover, in the case on non-alphabetical writing systems we prefer also the original orthography to be included. As an example of proper practice, see, for example A Buddha Land in This World by Lajos Brons.

For any scripts not mentioned here, we follow ALA-LC romanization.

Ancient Greek

For Greek we use the ALA-LC romanization standard, without indication of tone.

Greek

ALA-LC
(2010) α a αι ai β b γ g n (before velar stop) δ d ε e ει ei ζ z η ē θ th ι i κ k λ l μ m ν n ξ x ο o οι oi ου ou π p ρ rh (word-initially) r σ s ς τ t υ y u (in diphthongs) υι ui φ ph χ ch ψ ps ω ō

Japanese

For Japanese, we follow Hepburn romanization according to the ALA-LC romanization standard.

Mandarin

For Mandarin, we follow Pinyin romanization without tone marks, following the ALA-LC romanization standard. When other romanization standards for specific names (for example from Taiwan) are more common, these are used.

Russian

For Russian, we use the BGN/PCGN romanization.

А (а)

A (a)
Б (б) B (b)
В (в) V (v)
Г (г) G (g)
Д (д) D (d)
Е (е) Ye (ye)

1. Word-initially;

after vowels; after й; after ь; after ъ. E (e) All other cases Ё (ё) Yë (yë)

1. Word-initially;

after vowels; after й; after ь; after ъ. Ë (ë) All other cases Ж (ж) Zh (zh)
З (з) Z (z)
И (и) I (i)
Й (й) Y· (y·) Before а, у, ы, or э. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Y (y) All other cases К (к) K (k)
Л (л) L (l)
М (м) M (m)
Н (н) N (n)
О (о) O (o)
П (п) P (p)
Р (р) R (r)
С (с) S (s)
Т (т) T (t)
У (у) U (u)
Ф (ф) F (f)
Х (х) Kh (kh)
Ц (ц) Ts (ts)
Ч (ч) Ch (ch)
Ш (ш) Sh (sh)
Щ (щ) Shch (shch)
Ъ (ъ) ˮ This letter does not occur at the beginning of a word. Ы (ы) Y· (y·) Before а, у, ы, or э. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. ·y After any vowel. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. Y (y) All other cases. This letter does not occur at the beginning of words of Russian origin. Ь (ь) ʼ This letter does not occur at the beginning of a word. Э (э) ·e After any consonant except й. Used primarily for romanization of non-Russian-language names from Russian spelling. The use of this digraph is optional. E (e) All other cases Ю (ю) Yu (yu)
Я (я) Ya (ya)

Sanskrit & Pāli

For Sanskirt and Pāli we follow the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration.

Vowels and codas

Devanāgarī Transcription Category अ a A monophthongs आ ā Ā इ i I ई ī Ī उ u U ऊ ū Ū ऋ ṛ Ṛ syllabic liquids ॠ ṝ Ṝ ऌ ḷ Ḷ ॡ ḹ Ḹ ए e E diphthongs ऐ ai Ai ओ o O औ au Au ं ṃ Ṃ anusvara ः ḥ Ḥ visarga ँ ˜
chandrabindu^[2] ऽ '
avagraha

Consonants

velars palatals retroflexes dentals labials Category क
k  K च
c  C ट
ṭ  Ṭ त
t  T प
p  P tenuis stops ख
kh  Kh छ
ch  Ch ठ
ṭh  Ṭh थ
th  Th फ
ph  Ph aspirated stops ग
g  G ज
j  J ड
ḍ  Ḍ द
d  D ब
b  B voiced stops घ
gh  Gh झ
jh  Jh ढ
ḍh  Ḍh ध
dh  Dh भ
bh  Bh breathy-voiced stops ङ
ṅ  Ṅ ञ
ñ  Ñ ण
ṇ  Ṇ न
n  N म
m  M nasal stops ह
h  H य
y  Y र
r  R ल
l  L व
v  V approximants
श
ś  Ś ष
ṣ  Ṣ स
s  S
sibilants

Tibetan

For Tibetan, we follow the Wylie transliteration system, again according to ALA-LC standards.