Faux Cyrillic

[[File:Shzdya.JPG|thumb|Faux Russian T-shirt print "Ш3ДЯ" (WEAR). A [[Russian language|Russian]]-speaker would read this as "''shzdya''", a word which does not occur in the language.]] '''Faux Cyrillic''', '''pseudo-Cyrillic''', '''pseudo-Russian''' or '''faux Russian''' [[typography]] is the use of [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic letters]] in [[Latin alphabet|Latin text]] to evoke the [[Soviet Union]] or [[Russia]], regardless of whether the letters are phonetic matches. For example, ''R'' and ''N'' in ''RUSSIAN'' may be replaced by Cyrillic [[Ya (Cyrillic)|Я]] and [[I (Cyrillic)|И]], giving "ЯUSSIAИ". Other examples include Ш for W, Ц for U, Я and Г for r, Ф for O, Д for A, Б or Ь or Ъ for B, 3 or Э or Ё for E, [[Hammer and Sickle|☭]] for G, Ч and У for Y. This is a common [[Western world|Western]] [[trope (literature)|trope]] used in book covers, film titles, comic book lettering, [[art]]work for [[computer game]]s, or [[Packaging and labelling|product packaging]] which are set in or wish to evoke [[Eastern Europe]], the [[Soviet Union]], or the [[Russian Federation]]. An early example was the [[logo]] for [[Norman Jewison]]'s film ''[[The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming]]''. {{IPA notice}} This effect is usually restricted to text set in [[all caps]], because Cyrillic letter-forms do not match well with lower case Latin letters. In [[Cyrillic script#Letterforms and typography|Cyrillic typography]], most upright lower case letters resemble [[small caps|smaller upper case]] letters, unlike the more distinctive forms of Latin-alphabet type. [[Cursive]] Cyrillic upper and lower case letters are more differentiated. Cyrillic letter-forms are originally derived from tenth-century [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] manuscript, but the modern forms more closely resemble Latin since Peter the Great's [[Reforms of Russian orthography|civil script reform]] of 1708. ==Characters== {| class="wikitable" ! Cyrillic letter ! Latin look-alike ! Actual pronunciation |- | [[Be (Cyrillic)|Б]] | [[B]], [[G]], [[S]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/b/}} as in "''b''oy" |- | [[Ge (Cyrillic)|Г]] | [[r]], [[T]], [[F]]? |align="left"| {{IPA|/ɡ/}} as in "''g''oat" |- | [[De (Cyrillic)|Д]] | [[A]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/d/}} as in "''d''ay" |- | [[E |Є]]* | [[E]], [[C]]? |align="left"| {{IPA|/e/}} as in "y''e''s" |- | [[Zhe (Cyrillic)|Ж]] | [[X]], [[K]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/ʐ/}} similar to "trea''s''ure" |- | [[Ze (Cyrillic)|З]] | [[E]], [[3]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/z/}} as in "''z''oo" |- | [[I (Cyrillic)|И]] | [[N]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/i/}} as in "mach''i''ne" or {{IPA|/i/}} as in "t''i''n" |- | [[El (Cyrillic)|Л]] | [[J]], [[J]][[I]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/l/}} as in "''l''ove" |- | [[Pe (Cyrillic)|П]] | [[n]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/p/}} as in "''p''ond" |- | [[U (Cyrillic)|У]] | [[Y]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/u/}} as in "r''u''le" |- | [[Ef (Cyrillic)|Ф]] | [[O]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/f/}} as in "''f''ox" |- | [[Tse (Cyrillic)|Ц]] | [[U]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/ts/}} as in "ca''ts''" |- | [[Che (Cyrillic)|Ч]] | [[Y]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/tɕ/}} similar to "''ch''eck" |- | [[Sha|Ш]], [[Shcha|Щ]] | [[W]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/ʂ/}} similar to "''sh''runk" |- | [[Yery|Ы]] | [[b]][[l]] |align="left"| [[Close central unrounded vowel|{{IPA|/ɨ/}}]] similar to "ros''e''s" in some dialects |- | [[Soft sign|Ь]] | [[b]] |align="left"| indicates the palatalization of the previous consonant as in "u''n''ion" as opposed to "u''n''ite" |- | [[E (Cyrillic)|Э]] | [[E]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/ɛ/}} as in "''e''cho" |- | [[Yu (Cyrillic)|Ю]] | [[IO]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/ju/}} as in "''you''" |- | [[Ya (Cyrillic)|Я]] | [[R]] |align="left"| {{IPA|/ja/}} as in "''ya''rd" |} The letters [[А]], [[В]], [[Е]], [[Ѕ]]*, [[І]]*, [[Ј]]*, [[К]], [[М]], [[Н]], [[О]], [[Р]], [[С]], [[Т]], [[Ү]]*, [[Ғ]]*, [[Ѵ]]*, and [[Х]] are strongly [[homoglyph]]ic to Latin letters and, in the event compatibility issues arise, can be used with faux Cyrillic letters in lieu of their Latin counterparts. In addition, [[C]] may be replaced by Archaic [[Ҁ]]. (Letters with a *, however, are not in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet.) ==External links== * [http://www.theworldofstuff.com/other/cyrillic.html Fake Cyrillic Generator] – Converts Latin text to faux Cyrillic.