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Polivanov system is a system oftransliterating the Japanese language intoRussian Cyrillic script, either to represent Japanese proper names or terms in Russian or as an aid to Japanese language learning inthose languages.^[vague] The system was developed byYevgeny Polivanov in 1917.

In terms of spelling the system is a middle ground between Kunrei-shiki and Hepburn romanisations, matching the former everywhere except for moraehu andtu, which are spelled as in Hepburn (fu andtsu), moras starting with z (which are spelled with dz, as in archaic Hepburn, but following the consistency of Kunrei-shiki with Jun being spelled as Dzyun) and syllabic n, which is changed tom before b, p and m as in traditional Hepburn.

The followingcyrillization system for Japanese is known as the Yevgeny Polivanov system. Note that it has its own spelling conventions and does not necessarily constitute a direct phonetic transcription of the pronunciation into the standard Russian usage of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Hiragana andKatakana to Polivanov cyrillization correspondence table, for single/modified kana.^{[citation needed]}

Syllabic n (ん/ン) is spelled м (m) before b, p, m, and spelled нъ before vowels.

Grammar particles は and へ are written ва and э. Syllable を is written either во or о depending on pronunciation (albeitо is more preferred).

It is permitted to use й instead of и in diphthongs (e.g.shinjitai → синдзитай,seinen → сэйнэн). However,и is always used on a morpheme clash:Kawai (kawa + i) → Каваи.

Yevgeny Polivanov recommended (but not prescribed as mandatory) to useй for Sino-Japanese (on'yomi) words, andи for native Japanese (kun'yomi) words. Another Polinanov's recommendation is to spell the diphthongei as a long vowelэ:, but this recommendation is almost never followed in practice. Instead, long vowelē in the name ending-bē is often transliterated as-эй, e.g.Gonbē → Гомбэй.

Consonants are geminated exactly as they are inromaji: e.g.-kk- > -кк-.

Long vowels may be marked by macron as in Hepburn, but since letter ё has a diacritical mark already it is permitted and much more common to mark long vowels by using a colon (e.g. сё:гун). The sequenceei may be written э:, эй or эи. In regular texts long vowels are usually unmarked.

Normally, vowels in the Polivanov system are always spelled, even if they are not pronounced. However, the voicelessu in the name ending-suke may be omitted:

Ryūnosuke → Рюноскэ.

Some translators tend to omit voicelessu in all cases whensu (and, less often,tsu) is followed by ak-syllable, e.g.Akatsuki →Акацки,Daisuki →Дайски. However, this omission is considered non-standard.

Another non-standard (if not controversial) practice is omitting the voicelessu at the end of words, mostly indesu → дэс andmasu → мас. This spelling can be found in some learning materials, but most professional translators oppose it, because native speakers may pronouncesu at the end of the word with a distinctiveu sound (especially in "feminine" speech).

In English texts, Japanese names are written with theHepburn system. Attempts may be made to transcribe these as if they were English, rather than following a dedicated Japanese Cyrillization scheme.

A common example of this is attempting to transcribeshi (Polivanov: си) as ши andji (Polivanov: дзи) as джи. This is inadvisable for use inRussian, because ши is actually pronounced like шы in Russian, and джи like джы, thus making the vowel (/ɨ/) closer to Japanese/u/ than to Japanese/i/. Whereas, щи would have a correct vowel sound, but be pronounced more like Japanesesshi.

Equally often, people transcribecha,chi,chu,cho as ча, чи, чу, чо. This is phonetically correct, but does not conform with the Polivanov scheme (тя, ти, тю, тё), which more closely resembles theKunrei-shiki romanisations (tya,ti,tyu,tyo) for these particular characters.

Sometimes е, rather than э, is used fore, despite е being pronouncedye in Russian (though not in other languages). This is typically not done in the initial position, despite older romanisations such as "Yedo" doing so. In any case, it does not conform with the Polivanov scheme, although it is seen as more acceptable for words that are in general use (e.g.kamikaze > камикадзе instead of камикадзэ). Replacing ё (yo) with е (ye) is incorrect, however, as it will change the Japanese word too much.

The soundyo (Polivanov: ё), when in the initial position or after a vowel, is often written as йо (yo), which has the same pronunciation: Ёкосука -> Йокосука (Yokosuka), Тоёта -> Тойота (Toyota). Although, the spelling "йо" is not common in Russian words, these are more generally accepted for Japanese names than the transliterations using "ё". "Ё" is not often used in Japanese Cyrillization due to its facultative use in the Russian language (and possible substitution with the letter "Е" which would affect the pronunciation), but for professional translators, the use of ё is mandatory.^{[citation needed]} Some personal names beginning with "Yo" (or used after a vowel) are written using "Ё" (e.g.Йоко forYoko Ono, butЁко forYoko Kanno and all other Yokos).

Some proper names, for historical reasons, do not follow the above rules. For example, the geographical names of Japan in Russian are transmitted according to special instructions for the transfer of geographical names (other language names, for example from theAinu language, do not fall under the Polivanov system).^[1] Other Japanese names and concepts were adapted into Russian from other languages (for example, under the influence of Hepburn or other transliteration systems). Those include but are not limited to:^{[citation needed]}

• Japanese language education in Russia
• Romanization of Japanese
• Cyrillization of Japanese

• Online Japanese→Polivanov transcription converter
• Proposal for a coordinated Japanese transcription system for several Slavic languages
• Automatic cyrillization of hiragana and katakana
• Kiriji and Yevgeny Polivanov

• Cyrillization
• Japanese writing system
• Japan–Russia relations
• Japan–Soviet Union relations

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