Notes on transliterations
When searching our holdings for titles in the original script (Arabic, Cyrillic, Armenian or Georgian letters), you must use the transliteration commonly used in the German library system.
Here you will find information on the rules of the various alphabets.
Rules of the different alphabets
Arabic
- Notes on transliteration [PDF - not barrier-free]
- Arabic transliteration rules [EROMM]
- DIN standard 31635 for the transcription of Arabic [Wikipedia]
- the classic DMG transliteration rules of the Arabic script from the year 1935 [book on MENAdoc]
Persian
- Persian transliteration rules (EROMM)
- Marburg Guide to the Transcription of New Persian [PDF - not barrier-free]
- Iranian languages in Cyrillic script [PDF - not barrier-free]
Turkish languages
- Transcription for Turcica (Turkish languages in Cyrillic script) [PDF - not barrier-free]
- In the case of the Azerbaijani Latin alphabet, please transliterate the letter "ə" with "ä".
- Ottoman titles are rendered in the modern Turkish spelling (see Özege: Eski harflerle basılmış Türkçe eserler kataloğu, 1971-82).
- For Ottoman manuscripts a transcription based on the İslam Ansiklopedisi recommended.
- Information on the new "Common Turkic Alphabet".
Armenian
- Notes on the transliteration of Armenian [PDF- not barrier-free]
Caucasian languages
- Caucasian languages in Cyrillic script [PDF- not barrier-free]
- Transliteration of the Georgian script [PDF- not barrier-free]
Moroccan Tamazight
- For the transcription of the standardised Berber language in Morocco we recommend the ALA-LC Romanisation rules [PDF- not barrier-free]
International transliteration systems
- ALA-LC Romanisation rules (for Arabic, Persian and many other languages)
Transcriptions of renowned reference works/specialist journals
- IJMES Transliteration System (for Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Ottoman) [PDF- not barrier-free]
- Transliteration table for Brill Online
(for Arabic, Persian and Turkish)