Romanization of Ukrainian in Journalism & Non-Academic Writing
1. А = A
2. Б = B
3. В = V
4. Г = H [ Григорій = Hryhoriy; гуцул = hutsul; Галичина = Halychyna; Гунчак = Hunchak; Гречанюк = Hrechaniuk]
5. Ґ = G [ Ґеруляк = Geruliak; Ґудзяк = Gudziak; Караґанда = Karaganda]
6. Д = D
7. Е = E
8. Є = Ye [At the beginning of a word: Євген = Yevhen]
= ie [іn the middle of a word: Мєчислав = Miechyslav]
9. Ж = Zh [ Жаботинський = Zhabotynsky ]
10. З = Z
11. И = y [ Микита = Mykyta; Марина = Maryna ]
12. І = I
13. Ї = Yi [ їжак = yizhak; пір’їна= piryina] [exception: Київ = Kyiv]
14. Й = Y [e.g., Йосип = Yosyp; копійка = kopiyka; Андрій = Andriy]
[Omitted at the end of surnames, e.g., Комаринський = Komarynsky; Грушевський = Hrushevsky ]
15. К = K
16. Л = L
17. М = M
18. Н = N
19. О = O
20. П = P
21. Р = R
22. С = S
23. Т = T
24. У = U
25. Ф = F
26. Х = Kh [ Харків = Kharkiv; Хома = Khoma; Хуст = Khust; Харитина = Kharytyna ]
27. Ц = Ts [ Цимбалюк = Tsymbaliuk]
28. Ч = Ch [ Чернівці = Chernivtsi; Маркевич = Markevych]
20. Ш = Sh [ Шевченко = Shevchenko; Мишанич = Myshanych ]
30. Щ = Shch [ Щербанюк = Shcherbaniuk ]
31. ь [Usually not Romanized: кінь = kin; Львів = Lviv ]
= i [If preceding a vowel іn the middle of a word: Сластьон = Slastion ]
32. Ю = Yu [ At the beginning of a word: Юркевич = Yurkevych; Юстина = Yustyna]
= iu [іn the middle of a word: бюст = biust ]
33. Я = Ya [At the beginning of a word: Ярослав = Yaroslav ]
= ia [іn the middle of a word of a word: м’ясо = miaso ]
34. ’ [The Ukrainian apostrophe (hard sign) is not Romanized in non-academic writing: м’ясо = miaso; м’язи = miazy; бур’ян = burian ]
A note about personal names: The above rules apply only when transliterating Ukrainian texts in to English; they do not pertain to legal names established in English-language documents.
The legal spelling of Ukrainian names and surnames on this continent often reflects the history of individuls, as well as the linguistic conventions of the political entity in power when they originally left their native land. For example, the Ukrainian families Хомяк and Горіх which emigrated from Western Ukraine in the early 20th century, would most probably have had their surnames spelled according to the Polish convention for rendering Ukrainian sounds (e.g., Chomiak, Horich, instead of Khomiak, Horikh). Similarly, Ukrainians displaced by WWII who obtained legal documents in German camps for refugees would most probably have had their surnames transliterated according to the German convention for rendering Ukrainian sounds (e.g., Ilnytzkyj instead of Il'nyc'kyj / Ilnytsky; Wlasenko instead of Vlasenko). On the other hand, Ukrainian nationals who obtained their passports during the Soviet period or the early years after independence, might have had their names and surnames transliterated from the Russian (e.g., Igor, Bogdan, Elena, Ganna, Grushetsky, Oleg, Logvin, Svetlana, Tatiana, Verevka) instead of the Ukrainian language (Ihor, Bohdan, Olena, Hanna, Hrušeč'kyj / Hrushetsky, Oleh, Lohvyn, Svitlana, Tetiana, Ver'ovka / Veriovka). All of these are legal forms and should be respected.
In scholarly works, when citing from a Ukrainian text the name of an individual whose legal name in the country of their residence differs (differed) in spelling from the Ukrainian original, transliterate first from the Ukrainian using one of the academic systems; then provide in brackets the legal spelling. For example:
(IS) Emma Andijevs'ka [ Andijewska ]
(LC) Emma Andiievs'ka [ Andijewska ]
(IS) Dmytro Čyževs'kyj [ Dmitrij Tschižewskij ]
(LC) Dmytro Chyzhevs'kyi [ Dmitrij Tschižewskij ]
(IS) Roman Il'nyc'kyj [ Ilnytzkyj ]
(LC) Roman Il'nyts'kyi [ Ilnytzkyj ]
(IS) Ihor Kostec'kyj [ Eaghor Kostetzky ]
(LC) Ihor Kostets'kyi [ Eaghor Kostetzky ]
(IS) Oleh Zujevs'kyj [ Zujewskyj ]
(LC) Oleh Zuievs'kyi [ Zujewskyj ]
