Initials Note that because the Russian version of the Cyrillic alphabet has no letters for
dz or
dzh (although дз and дж are found in Bulgarian, and also ѕ and џ are found in Serbian and Macedonian Cyrillic), the digraphs цз and чж are used respectively.
Finals In composites, coda
ng is transcribed нъ when the following syllable starts with a vowel. For example, the names of the cities of ''
Chang'an and Hengyang'' are transcribed as Чанъань and Хэнъян. In syllables with no initial,
w is transcribed as в in all cases except
wu, transcribed as у. For example, the names of the cities of
Wuwei (both
Wuwei, Anhui and
Wuwei, Gansu) and
Wanning are transcribed as Увэй and Ваньнин.
Comparison chart This table establishes correspondence between the Russian Palladius system together with the two
Romanization systems most commonly used in English-speaking countries:
Pinyin and
Wade–Giles. It contains every syllable found in
Great Chinese–Russian Dictionary. Note that the Palladius system does not distinguish between pinyin
luo (as in , ) and the rare syllable
lo (as in , ); both are written ло.
Exceptions The names of the cities of
Beijing and
Nanjing are transcribed as (instead of ) and (instead of ), much as
Peking and
Nanking were still used in English-speaking countries until recently. Hong Kong () may be both () and (
Hong Kong); the latter is more common. In Russian borrowings from Chinese (such as place names), the syllable () is generally transcribed as (
Huizu, ) or occasionally (
Anhui, ); this is because is a
taboo word for "penis" in Russian and several other Slavic languages. Dictionaries, however, may contain the unaltered spelling; as is found in Palladius' own dictionary from 1888, and Oshanin's
Great Chinese–Russian Dictionary. Older documents contain variants мэн — мын, мэнь — мынь, фэн — фын, фэнь — фынь, пэн — пын, hence
Aomen (Macao) is traditionally spelled in Russian. Most modern texts contain
э, with some exceptions.
Pre-reform version Prior to the
reform of Russian orthography in 1918, the system differed in a few respects, as can be seen in Palladius's 1888 dictionary: • ъ was used at the end of a word ending in a consonant, as was standard in pre-reform orthography. • е → ѣ • ё → іо • эр → эрръ • -юэ → -юе • мэн, мэнь and фэн were written мынъ, мынь and фынъ, respectively; this did not affect фэнь, however. == Ukrainian system ==