UDI 2021-007V2 Guidelines for transcribing names from languages that do not use the Latin alphabet into Norwegian

1. Introduction

These guidelines regulate the transcription of place names and personal names from languages that do not use the Latin alphabet into Norwegian, in accordance with UDI 2021-007 Registration of identity information and personal data registered in the national population register. In these guidelines, the general term ‘transcription’ is used to refer to changes from one spelling system to another, instead of the more narrower terms transliteration, Latinisation or Romanisation. The guidelines are only intended to cover languages used as the national or regional language of administration in at least one country. Languages granted status as official languages in states of India are not included in this overview, as the need for transcription from these languages into Norwegian is assumed to be limited.

For some of the languages covered by these guidelines, the Norwegian Language Council has established standards for transcription into Norwegian. This applies to Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Greek.

For some languages, the authorities of the language’s home country have adopted transcription standards that can be used, with or without modifications, for transcription into Norwegian. This includes Chinese (Mandarin), Georgian and Thai. Where such standards use diacritics, they should be omitted in transcription into Norwegian.

For some languages, the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) and language experts at the University of Oslo have developed standards for transcription into Norwegian. So far, this applies to Arabic, Kurdish and Persian/Dari.

For languages where the national authorities have not adopted a transcription standard, we must rely on other sources. This includes Urdu, Armenian and Amharic. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) have established standards that can be used, with or without modifications, for transcription into Norwegian. Similarly, the US Library of Congress has established standards that can be used. Where such standards use diacritics, they shall be omitted in transcription into Norwegian. For these languages, the UDI will consider developing standards in cooperation with language experts at the University of Oslo as needed.

There are also a number of languages that use Latin script, but with diacritics that are not part of the standard Norwegian set of characters. This includes Polish, Serbian, Turkish and Somali. For these languages, we must, for now, use the original spelling, but leave out diacritics in transcription into Norwegian. These languages are not included in the list below.

A complete list of transcription standards is available from the UDI’s language unit (SPRÅK). Interpreters and translators working for the immigration authorities can receive a transcript of these standards as needed. For other interested parties, the standards will be made available in electronic format. Any errors and deficiencies should be reported to the language unit.

2. The immigration authorities’ transcription standards:

• Abkhaz (Cyrillic script)
  • No established standard
• Amharic (Ge’ez script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Arabic (Arabic script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Directorate of Immigration
• Armenian (separate script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007* / Library of Congress recommended)
• Azerbaijani (Cyrillic/Arabic script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Balochi (Arabic script)
  • No established standard
• Bengali (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Bulgarian (Cyrillic script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Norwegian Language Council
• Burmese (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007* / Library of Congress recommended)
• Dhivehi (separate script)
  • The Maldives’ official transcription standard of 1987*, as reproduced in UNGEGN 2007
• Dzongkha (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007* (or the Library of Congress standard for Tibetan) recommended)
• Georgian (separate script)
  • Georgia’s official transcription standard*, as reproduced in UNGEGN 2007
• Greek (separate script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Norwegian Language Council
• Hebrew (separate script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 update / Library of Congress recommended)
• Hindi (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN / UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Belarus (Cyrillic script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Norwegian Language Council
• Japanese (separate writing system)
  • Modified Hepburn System*, as reproduced by UNESCO, in UNGEGN 2007 and Library of Congress
• Kazakh (Cyrillic script)
  • No established standard (UNESCO / BGN/PCGN 1979* as reproduced in UNGEGN 2007, recommended)
• Khmer (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Chinese (Mandarin) (separate writing system)
  • China’s, and from 2009 also Taiwan’s, official transcription standard Hanyu Pinyin, as reproduced in the dictionaries Xiandai Hanyu Cidian and Xinhua Zidian, and by UNESCO. (Library of Congress not recommended because of the word division issue.)
• Kyrgyz (Cyrillic/Arabic script)
  • No established standard (BGN/PCGN 1979* as reproduced in UNGEGN 2007, recommended)
• Korean (separate writing system)
  • South-Korea’s official transcription standard of 2000*, as reproduced by UNESCO and in UNGEGN 2007
• Kurdish (Arabic script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Directorate of Immigration
• Lao (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007* / Library of Congress recommended)
• Macedonian (Cyrillic script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Norwegian Language Council
• Mongolian (Cyrillic/separate script)
  • No established standard (UNESCO, UNGEGN 2007* / UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Nepali (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007)
• Pashto (Arabic script
  • No established standard (BGN/PCGN 1968* as reproduced in UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress, recommended)
• Persian/Dari (Arabic script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Directorate of Immigration
• Punjabi (Arabic/Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Russian (Cyrillic script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Norwegian Language Council
• Serbian (Cyrillic script)
  • Serbia’s official transcription standard, as reproduced by UNESCO and in UNGEGN 2007
• Sindhi (Arabic/Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (Library of Congress recommended)
• Sinhalese (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007* / Library of Congress recommended)
• Tajik (Cyrillic script)
  • No established standard (BGN/PCGN 1994* as reproduced in UNGEGN 2007, recommended)
• Tamil (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN / UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Thai (Brahmi script)
  • Thailand’s official transcription standard, as reproduced in UNGEGN 2007
• Tibetan (Brahmi script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Tigrinya (Ge’ez script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 update / Library of Congress recommended)
• Uighur (Arabic / Cyrillic script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)
• Ukrainian (Cyrillic script)
  • Transcription standard established by the Norwegian Language Council
• Urdu (Arabic script)
  • No established standard (UNGEGN / UNGEGN 2007 / Library of Congress recommended)

* Not granted final approval by UNGEGN. (See UNGEGN 2007 (ISBN: 978-92-1-161500-5))

The standards are available from the UDI’s language unit.