The major advantage ISO 9 has over other competing systems is its univocal system of one character for one character equivalents (by the use of diacritics), which faithfully represents the original spelling and allows for reverse transliteration, even if the language is unknown.
Earlier versions of the standard, ISO/R 9:1954, ISO/R 9:1968 and ISO 9:1986, were more closely based on the international scholarly system for linguistics (
), but have diverged in favour of unambiguous transliteration over phonemic representation.
The standard features three mapping tables: the first covers contemporary Slavic languages, the second older Slavic orthographies (excluding letters from the first), and the third non-Slavic languages (including most letters from the first). Several Cyrillic characters included in ISO 9 are not available as precomposed characters in Unicode, neither are some of the transliterations; combining diacritical marks have to be used in these cases. Unicode, on the other hand, includes some historic characters that are not dealt with in ISO 9.
Here is an example transliteration. The text in Cyrillic is the chorus of the
7.79 contains two transliteration tables.
System A: one Cyrillic character to one Latin character, some with diacritics – identical to ISO 9:1995
System B: one Cyrillic character to one or many Latin characters without diacritics
The verbatim translated text of ISO 9 is adopted as an inter-state standard in the countries listed below (the national designation is shown in parentheses). Other transcription schemes are also used in practice, though.
(GOST 7.79) (GOST 7.79) (GOST 7.79) (GOST 7.79–2000, adopted 2003-03-01) (GOST 7.79) (GOST 7.79) (GOST 7.79) (GOST 7.79) (GOST 7.79)
This is an older version of the standard, with different transliteration for different
, reflecting their phonemic differences. It is closer to the original international system of slavist
The languages covered are Bulgarian, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Serbian and Macedonian. ISO 9:1995 is shown for comparison.
style="font-weight:bold;"|ISO/R 9:1968 and ISO 9:1995
| Cyrillic |
1968 |
1995 |
Note |
АA is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents an open front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨a⟩ in "father".The Cyrillic letter A is romanized using the Latin letter A.-History:...
|
а |
A |
a |
A |
a |
|
БBe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the voiced bilabial plosive , like the English pronunciation of ⟨b⟩ in "bee"...
|
б |
B |
b |
B |
b |
|
| В Ve is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced labiodental fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨v⟩ in "very"....
|
в |
V |
v |
V |
v |
|
| Г Ge is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It is also known in some languages as He. In Unicode this letter is called "Ghe".It commonly represents the voiced velar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨g⟩ in "go"....
|
г |
G, H |
g, h |
G |
g |
h for Belarusian and Ukrainian, g else (see table below) |
| Ґ Ge with upturn is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. In Ukrainian, Urum and Rusyn, this letter is called "Ge", and the letter ⟨Г⟩ is called "He"...
|
ґ |
G |
g |
G̀ |
g̀ |
in Ukrainian |
| Д De is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.De commonly represents the voiced dental plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨d⟩ in admit.De is romanized using the Latin letter D.-History:...
|
д |
D |
d |
D |
d |
|
| Ѓ Gje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It is used in Macedonian to represent the voiced palatal plosive or the voiced alveolo-palatal affricate , similar to the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jet"....
|
ѓ |
Ǵ |
ǵ |
Ǵ |
ǵ |
in Macedonian |
| Ђ Dje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Dje is the sixth letter of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet and of the Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet, used in the Serbian language to represent the voiced alveolo-palatal affricate , similar to the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jet".Dje corresponds to the Latin...
|
ђ |
Đ |
đ |
Đ |
đ |
in Serbian |
| Е Ye is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. In some languages this letter is called E.It commonly represents the vowel or , like the pronunciation of ⟨e⟩ in "yes".Ye is romanized using the Latin letter E....
|
е |
E |
e |
E |
e |
|
| Ё Yo is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. In Unicode, the letter ⟨Ё⟩ is named CYRILLIC CAPITAL/SMALL LETTER IO.It commonly represents the sounds , like the pronunciation of ⟨Yo⟩ in "York"....
|
ё |
Ë |
ë |
Ë |
ë |
in Russian and Belarusian |
| Є Ukrainian Ye is a character of the Cyrillic script. It is considered as an individual letter of modern Ukrainian alphabet and as a variant form of Ye in modern Church Slavonic language...
|
є |
Je |
je |
Ê |
ê |
in Ukrainian |
ЖZhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced postalveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨s⟩ in "treasure".Zhe is romanized as ⟨zh⟩ or ⟨ž⟩.-History:...
|
ж |
Ž, Zh |
ž, zh |
Ž |
ž |
see table below |
| З Ze is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced alveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨z⟩ in "zoo".Ze is romanized using the Latin letter ⟨z⟩....
|
з |
Z |
z |
Z |
z |
|
ЅDze is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used in the Macedonian language to represent the voiced alveolar affricate , pronounced like ⟨ds⟩ in "pods"....
|
ѕ |
Dz |
dz |
Ẑ |
ẑ |
in Macedonian |
| И I is a letter used in almost all ancient and modern Cyrillic alphabets.It commonly represents the close front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "machine", or the near-close near-front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "bin".-History:The Cyrillic letter I was...
|
и |
I, Y |
i, y |
I |
i |
not in Belarusian, y for Ukrainian, i else (see table below) |
| I Dotted I , also called Decimal I, is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the close front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "machine"....
|
і |
I, Ī |
i, ī |
Ì |
ì |
not in Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian, archaic in Russian (see table below) |
| Ї Yi is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It represents the iotated vowel sound , like the pronunciation of ⟨yi⟩ in "playing", and is used in the Rusyn and Ukrainian alphabets....
|
ї |
Ï |
ï |
Ï |
ï |
in Ukrainian |
| Й Short I is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It is made of the Cyrillic letter И with a breve.Short I represents the palatal approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨y⟩ in toy....
|
й |
J, Ĭ |
j, ĭ |
J |
j |
not in Serbian and Macedonian (see table below) |
| Ј Je is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the palatal approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨y⟩ in "yes".-Usage:-Related letters and other similar characters:...
|
ј |
J |
j |
J̌ |
ǰ |
in Serbian and Macedonian |
| К Ka is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless velar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨k⟩ in "king".-History:...
|
к |
K |
k |
K |
k |
|
| Л El is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.El commonly represents the alveolar lateral approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨l⟩ in "lip".-Form:...
|
л |
L |
l |
L |
l |
|
| Љ Lje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Lje represents a palatal lateral , a sound similar to the palatalized alveolar lateral which is represented by the digraph ЛЬ and pronounced like the ⟨ll⟩ in "million".Lje was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić...
|
љ |
Lj |
lj |
L̂ |
l̂ |
in Serbian and Macedonian |
| М Em is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Em commonly represents the bilabial nasal consonant , like the pronunciation of ⟨m⟩ in "him".It is derived from the Greek letter Mu ....
|
м |
M |
m |
M |
m |
|
| Н En is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the alveolar nasal consonant , like the pronunciation of ⟨n⟩ in "nice".-History:The Cyrillic letter En was derived from the Greek letter Nu ....
|
н |
N |
n |
N |
n |
|
| Њ Nje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It is a ligature of the Cyrillic letters En ⟨Н⟩ and Soft Sign ⟨Ь⟩. It was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. It corresponds to the digraph ⟨nj⟩ in the Serbian Latin and Croatian alphabets.It is used in Macedonian and Serbian, where it represents a...
|
њ |
Nj |
nj |
N̂ |
n̂ |
in Serbian and Macedonian |
ОO is a letter of the Cyrillic script.O commonly represents the close-mid back rounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨o⟩ in "go".-History:The Cyrillic letter O was derived from the Greek letter Omicron ....
|
о |
O |
o |
O |
o |
|
| П Pe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless bilabial plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨p⟩ in "pack".-History:...
|
п |
P |
p |
P |
p |
|
| Р Er is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the alveolar trill , like the "rolled" sound in the Scottish pronunciation of ⟨r⟩ in "curd".-History:...
|
р |
R |
r |
R |
r |
|
СEs is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨s⟩ in "sand".-History:...
|
с |
S |
s |
S |
s |
|
ТTe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨t⟩ in "tick".-History:...
|
т |
T |
t |
T |
t |
|
ЌKje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used only in the Macedonian alphabet, where it It represents the voiceless palatal plosive , or the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate . Kje is the 24th letter In this alphabet...
|
ќ |
Ḱ |
ḱ |
Ḱ |
ḱ |
in Macedonian |
| Ћ Tshe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used only in the Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin alphabets, where it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "chew". The sound of Tshe is produced from the voiceless alveolar plosive by iotation....
|
ћ |
Ć |
ć |
Ć |
ć |
in Serbian |
| У U is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the close back rounded vowel , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨oo⟩ in "boot"...
|
у |
U |
u |
U |
u |
|
| Ў |
ў |
Ŭ |
ŭ |
Ŭ |
ŭ |
in Belarusian |
| Ф |
ф |
F |
f |
F |
f |
|
| Х |
х |
Ch, H |
ch, h |
H |
h |
h for Serbian and Macedonian, ch else (see table below) |
ЦTse is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨ts⟩ in "cats".In English, Tse is commonly romanized as ⟨ts⟩...
|
ц |
C, Ts |
c, ts |
C |
c |
see table below |
| Ч Che or Cha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "change"....
|
ч |
Č, Ch |
č, ch |
Č |
č |
see table below |
ЏDzhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet used in Serbian and Macedonian to represent the voiced postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jump"...
|
џ |
Dž |
dž |
D̂ |
d̂ |
in Serbian and Macedonian |
| Ш |
ш |
Š, Sh |
š, sh |
Š |
š |
see table below |
ЩShcha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. In Russian, it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative , similar to the pronunciation of ⟨sh⟩ in sheep ; in Ukrainian and Rusyn it represents the consonant cluster ; and in Bulgarian, it represents the consonant cluster .In English, Shcha is...
|
щ |
Šč, Št, Shch |
šč, št, shch |
Ŝ |
ŝ |
not in Belarusian, Serbian and Macedonian, št for Bulgarian, šč else (see table below) |
| Ъ The letter yer of the Cyrillic alphabet, also spelled jer or er, is known as the hard sign in the modern Russian and Rusyn alphabets and as er golyam in the Bulgarian alphabet...
|
ъ |
Ă
|ʺ, ă |
|ʺ |
not in Serbian and Macedonian, archaic in Belarusian and Ukrainian, ă for Bulgarian, ʺ else (see table below) |
ЫYery or Yeru is a letter in the Cyrillic alphabet. It represents the phoneme after non-palatalised consonants in the Belarusian and Russian alphabets...
|
ы |
Y |
y |
Y |
y |
Russian and Belarusian |
ЬThe soft sign , also known as yer, is a letter of the Cyrillic script. In Old Church Slavonic, it represented a short front vowel. As with its companion, the back yer, the vowel phoneme it designated was later partly dropped and partly merged with other vowels...
|
ь |
|ʹ |
|ʹ |
not in Serbian and Macedonian |
ѢYat or Jat is the thirty-second letter of the old Cyrillic alphabet. Its name in Old Church Slavonic is jěd’ or iad’ . In the common scientific Latin transliteration for old Slavic languages, the letter is represented by e with caron: .The yat represented a Common Slavic long vowel...
|
ѣ |
Ě |
ě |
Ě |
ě |
not in Serbian and Macedonian, archaic else |
ЭE , also known as Backwards E from , E oborotnoye, is a letter found amongst Slavonic languages only in Russian and Belarusian, representing the sounds and...
|
э |
Ė |
ė |
È |
è |
in Russian and Belarusian |
ЮYu is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. After a palatalized consonant, it represents the close back rounded vowel , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨oo⟩ in "boot"; elsewhere it is a so-called iotated vowel representing the combination , like the pronunciation of ⟨you⟩ in "youth"...
|
ю |
Ju, Yu |
ju, yu |
Û |
û |
not in Serbian and Macedonian (see table below) |
ЯYa is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, the civil script variant of Old Cyrillic Little Yus . Among modern Slavonic languages it is used by Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian to represent both the combination in initial or post-vocalic position and after a palatalised consonant; in...
|
я |
Ja, Ya |
ja, ya |
 |
â |
not in Serbian and Macedonian (see table below) |
| ’ The apostrophe is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritic mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet or certain other alphabets...
|
″ |
’ |
in Belarusian and Ukrainian, archaic in Russian |
| Ѫ |
ѫ |
Ȧ, ʺ̣ |
ȧ, ʺ̣ |
Ǎ |
ǎ |
archaic in Bulgarian (see table below) |
ѲFita is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet. The shape and the name of the letter are derived from the Greek letter Theta .In the Cyrillic numeral system, Fita has a value of 9.- Shape :...
|
ѳ |
Ḟ |
ḟ |
F̀ |
f̀ |
archaic in Russian |
| Ѵ Izhitsa is a letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet. It was used to represent ypsilon in words derived from Greek, such as . It represented the same sound /i/ as the normal letter и in Russian...
|
ѵ |
Ẏ |
ẏ |
Ỳ |
ỳ |
archaic in Russian |
Bulgarian: ъ and ѫ are not transliterated at the end of a word.
ISO/R 9 - 1968 permits some deviations from the main standard. In the table below, they are listed in the columns sub-standard 1 and sub-standard 2.
| Cyrillic |
ISO/R 9 - 1968 |
| variant 1 |
main |
variant 2 |
| г Ge is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It is also known in some languages as He. In Unicode this letter is called "Ghe".It commonly represents the voiced velar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨g⟩ in "go"....
|
h (ukUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, beThe Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
) |
g |
|
жZhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced postalveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨s⟩ in "treasure".Zhe is romanized as ⟨zh⟩ or ⟨ž⟩.-History:...
|
|
ž |
zh |
| и I is a letter used in almost all ancient and modern Cyrillic alphabets.It commonly represents the close front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "machine", or the near-close near-front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "bin".-History:The Cyrillic letter I was...
|
y (ukUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
) |
i |
|
| і |
i (ukUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, beThe Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
) |
ī |
|
| й Short I is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It is made of the Cyrillic letter И with a breve.Short I represents the palatal approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨y⟩ in toy....
|
|
j |
ĭ |
| х Kha or Ha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless velar fricative , like the Scottish pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "loch".Kha is romanized as ⟨kh⟩.-History:...
|
ch (ukUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, beThe Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
, ruRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
) |
h |
kh |
цTse is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨ts⟩ in "cats".In English, Tse is commonly romanized as ⟨ts⟩...
|
|
c |
ts |
| ч Che or Cha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "change"....
|
|
č |
ch |
| ш For other uses, see Sha .Sha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the voiceless postalveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨sh⟩ in "sheep", or the somewhat similar voiceless retroflex fricative . It is used in every variation of the Cyrillic alphabet, for Slavic and...
|
|
š |
sh |
| щ |
št (bgBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
) |
šč |
shch |
| ъ The letter yer of the Cyrillic alphabet, also spelled jer or er, is known as the hard sign in the modern Russian and Rusyn alphabets and as er golyam in the Bulgarian alphabet...
|
ă (bgBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
) |
ʺ |
|
юYu is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. After a palatalized consonant, it represents the close back rounded vowel , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨oo⟩ in "boot"; elsewhere it is a so-called iotated vowel representing the combination , like the pronunciation of ⟨you⟩ in "youth"...
|
|
ju |
yu |
яYa is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, the civil script variant of Old Cyrillic Little Yus . Among modern Slavonic languages it is used by Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian to represent both the combination in initial or post-vocalic position and after a palatalised consonant; in...
|
|
ja |
ya |
ѫLittle Yus and Big Yus , or Jus, are letters of the Cyrillic script, representing two Common Slavonic nasal vowels in the early Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets. Each can occur in iotified form , formed as ligatures with the letter Decimal I...
|
ȧ (bgBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
) |
ʺ̣ |
|