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There are several systems for transliteration of theManchu alphabet, which is used for writing theManchu andXibe languages. These include transliterations inLatin script and inCyrillic script.

Theromanization used in most recent western publications on Manchu is the one employed by the American sinologistJerry Norman in hisComprehensive Manchu-English Dictionary (2013), a central reference tool in modern Manchu studies.^[1]

This system, which has become the de facto modern standard in English-language publications, is the most recent incarnation of a system originally designed by the German linguistHans Conon von der Gabelentz for his 1864 edition of the Manchu translation of theFour Books and other Chinese classics. As he explains:

"Because Manchu possesses an alphabetic script, it was acceptable, as being without any disadvantage whatsoever, to replace the indigenous Manchu script, the use of which would have made printing much more difficult and expensive, by our alphabet. I started out from the principle of substituting a single symbol for each Manchu letter, while avoiding the addition of diacritical marks as much as possible."^[2]

With his new system, Gabelentz did away with cumbersome transliterations such asdch, tch, kh, replacing them withj, c, h. The result has been described as a "simple and convenient system".^[3]

Gabelentz also used this transliteration in his Manchu-German dictionary (1864), and the system was adopted unchanged by other German manchurists such asErich Hauer for his dictionary (1952–55), andErich Haenisch for his grammar (1961).

In the 19th century the system was adopted, with minor changes, by the French linguistLucien Adam in his grammar (1873), by the Belgian linguistCharles de Harlez in his handbook (1884), and by the German diplomat and linguistPaul Georg von Möllendorff. In English-language publications, the latter is often incorrectly^{[citation needed]} credited with being the inventor of the system, probably because hisManchu Grammar (1892) was the first book in English to use it. Thus Norman himself refers to "the Möllendorff system of romanization".^[4] Authors writing in French and German generally recognize Gabelentz as its creator.

The system as used by Gabelentz (1864), Möllendorff (1892) and Norman (2013) is set out below, with the older system used by Gabelentz in his grammar (1832) added for comparison. Also in the table are thePinyin-based system designed by Hu (1994) which is the standard in Chinese-language publications, and the input system ofBabelPad. The table follows the traditional order of the Manchu alphabet.^[5]

The standard transliteration system follows the following conventions:

• The velar and uvular consonants are not differentiated: ⟨k⟩ and ⟨q⟩ are both transliterated ask, ⟨g⟩ and ⟨ɢ⟩ are bothg, and ⟨x⟩ and ⟨χ⟩ are bothh.

In Manchu orthography, the use of either the velars or the uvulars is largely predictable: velars beforee, i, u and uvulars beforea, o, ū. The standard transliteration leaves some ambiguity, as the spelling is not entirely predictable in syllable-final position. For exampleteksin "straight" can be written as ⟨teksin⟩ or as ⟨teqsin⟩.

• The spelling ⟨nk⟩ is transliterated asng, for example ⟨inenkgi⟩inenggi "day", ⟨cankqai⟩cangkai "only, just", ⟨gunk⟩gung "duke".

• The spelling ⟨ii⟩ is transliterated asi, for example ⟨baiita⟩baita "thing", ⟨meiihe⟩meihe "snake", ⟨duiin⟩duin "four".

In the standard transliteration, the spellingssh andth each represent two separate consonants, as ineshen/əsxən/ "uncle",butha/butχa/ "hunting, fishing". In Hu’s transliteration, separates andh are written ass’h (es’hen) to avoid confusion withsh (Normanš). Gabelentz (1864) used the transcriptionssḥ andtḥ, with a dot under theh (esḥen, butḥa).

The followingcyrillization (paired in the table below with the Norman system) was designed by the Russian diplomat and linguistIvan Zakharov and used in his important Manchu dictionary (1875) and grammar (1879). He applies the following rules:

• The velar and uvular consonants are not differentiated: ⟨k⟩ and ⟨q⟩ are both transliterated asк, ⟨g⟩ and ⟨ɢ⟩ are bothг, and ⟨x⟩ and ⟨χ⟩ are bothх.

• The velars are marked with a macron (к̄, г̄,х̄) when followed byа (a),о (o) andу (u);к̄ ⟨k⟩ is also used for the velar when it occurs in syllable-final position.

• The spelling ⟨nk⟩ is transliterated asн before velars and uvulars, for example ⟨inenkgi⟩инэнги "day", ⟨cankqai⟩чанкай "only, just"; before other consonants, and in word-final position, ⟨nk⟩ is transliterated asнъ, for example ⟨sinknambi⟩синънамби/siŋnambi/ "to listen", ⟨gunk⟩гунъ/ɡuŋ/ "duke".

• The back vowel [ʊ] is transliteratedу after the uvulars, andӯ after other consonants (see Table below).

• Syllable-final consonants are written with thehard sign (бъ,мъ, etc.), with the exception ofнь (n) which is written with thesoft sign becauseнъ stands for/ŋ/.

• The spelling ⟨-ii-⟩ is transliterated asй, for example ⟨baiita⟩байта "thing", ⟨meiihe⟩мэйхэ "snake", ⟨duiin⟩дуйнь "four".

• The ⟨-i-⟩ is not transliterated in the spellings ⟨-iya-⟩, ⟨-iye-⟩, ⟨-iyo-⟩, and ⟨-iyū-⟩.

• Combinations of ⟨y⟩ plus vowel are transliterated with the Cyrilliciotated vowel lettersя (ya),ѣ (ye),іō (yo),ю (yu), andю̄ (yū).

• Adam, Lucien (1873).Grammaire de la langue mandchou. Paris: Maisonneuve.
• Gabelentz, Hans Colon de la (1832).Elémens [sic] de la grammaire mandchoue. Altenbourg: Comptoir de la Littérature.
• Gabelentz, Hans Colon von der (1864).Sse-schu, Schu-king, Schi-king in Mandschuischer Uebersetzung mit einem Mandschu-Deutschem Wörterbuch. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Vol. III, part 1 (Text). Leipzig: Deutsche Morgenländische Gezellschaft.
• Gabelentz, Hans Colon von der (1864).Sse-schu, Schu-king, Schi-king in Mandschuischer Uebersetzung, mit einem Mandschu-Deutschen Wörterbuch. Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Vol. III, part 2 (Wörterbuch). Leipzig: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft.
• Haenisch, Erich (1961).Mandschu-Grammatik mit Lesestücken und 23 Texttafeln. Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie.
• Harlez, Charles de (1884).Manuel de la langue mandchoue. Grammaire, anthologie & lexique. Paris: Maisonneuve.
• Hauer, Erich (1952–1955).Handwörterbuch der Mandschusprache. Tokyo, Hamburg: Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens.ISBN 978-3-447-05528-4.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Hu Zhenyi, ed. (1994).Xin Man Han da cidian / Iche Manzhu Nikan gisun kamchibuha buleku bithe [New Comprehensive Manchu-Chinese Dictionary]. Ürümqi: Xinjiang renmin chubanshe.ISBN 7-228-02404-4.
• Ligeti, L. (1952)."À propos de l'écriture mandchoue"(PDF).Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae.II:235–301.
• Möllendorff, Paul Georg von (1892).A Manchu Grammar, with Analyzed Texts. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press.
• Norman, Jerry (2013).A Comprehensive Manchu-English Dictionary. Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, 85. Cambridge (Mass.), London: Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-674-07213-8.
• Roth Li, Gertraude (2010).Manchu: A Textbook for Reading Documents. Second Edition. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa: National Foreign Language Resource Center.ISBN 978-0-9800459-5-6.
• Захаров, Иван Ильич (1875).Полный Маньчжурско-Русскій Словарь [Comprehensive Manchu-Russian Dictionary](PDF). Санктпетербургъ: Типографія Императорской Академіи Наукъ.
• Захаров, Иван Ильич (1879).Грамматика Маньчжурскаго Языка [Grammar of the Manchu Language]. Санктпетербургъ: Типографія Императорской Академіи Наукъ.

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