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Faux Cyrillic

Faux Cyrillic, pseudo-Cyrillic, pseudo-Russian[1] or faux Russian typography is the use of Cyrillic letters in Latin text, usually to evoke the Soviet Union or Russia, though it may be used in other contexts as well. It is a common Western trope used in book covers, film titles, comic book lettering, artwork for computer games, or product packaging[2][3] which are set in or wish to evoke Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, or Russia. A typeface designed to emulate Cyrillic is classed as an ethnic typeface.

A faux Russian T-shirt print reads "ШЗ́ДЯ" (WEAR). A Russian-speaker would read this as "shzdya ", a word that does not exist in the language. Moreover, the accent over the letter З never occurs in Russian, although it is a Cyrillic letter.

Letters are substituted regardless of phonetic matching. For example, R and N in RUSSIAN may be replaced with Cyrillic Я ("ya") and И ("i") to form the faux-cyrillic "ЯUSSIAИ" . Other examples include the use of Ш for W, Ц for U, Я/Г for R/backwards and upside-down L, Ф for O, Д for A, Б, Ь, or Ъ for B/b, З, Э, or Ё for E, Ч or У for Y. Outside the Russian alphabet, Џ (from Serbian) can act as a substitute for U, Ғ (from Turkic languages) for F, Ә (from Turkic languages, Abkhaz, Dungan, Itelmen, Kalmyk and Kurdish) or Є (from Ukrainian) for E, Ө (from Turkic, Mongolic and Uralic languages) for O, Һ (from Turkic and Mongolic languages and Kildin Sámi) for H, and Ћ (Serbian) for Th. A reversed is also sometimes used for G.[4] A common substitution is $ for S.[citation needed] Further variants include an inverted K (ꓘ), which is not used in any language.

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 typography, most upright lower case letters resemble smaller upper case letters, unlike the more distinctive forms of Latin-alphabet type. Cursive Cyrillic upper and lower case letters are more differentiated. Most Cyrillic letter-forms were derived from the Greek alphabet in the 9th century, but the modern forms have more closely resembled those in the Latin alphabet since Peter the Great's civil script reform of 1708.

Many versions of Tetris, including those by Atari/Tengen and Spectrum Holobyte, used faux Cyrillic to spell the name as TETЯIS to emphasize the game's Russian origins. The mockumentary film Borat (stylized as BORДT) makes use of faux Cyrillic; in Russian the word would be spelt Борат.

Characters

Cyrillic letter Latin look-alike Actual pronunciation
Б B, G, S, numeral 5 and numeral 6 /b/ as in boy
В B, ß /v/ as in vault, /w/ as in wind (Ukrainian)
Г r, upside-down L, same as Γ, T /ɡ/ as in goat, [ɦ]~[ɣ] similar to hill (Belarusian, Ukrainian)
Д A, O /d/ as in door
Ж X, asterisk, backwards and forwards K /ʐ/ similar to treasure
З E, numeral 3 /z/ as in zoo
И backwards N /i/ as in tree or [ɪ] as in him (Ukrainian)
Й N, Ñ, Ň /j/ as in you
К K /k/ as in car
Л N, JI, JΠ, same as uppercase Λ but in different fonts. /l/ as in love or [ɫ] as in coal
Н H /n/ as in nose
П N, H (lowercase n, h, same as Π) /p/ as in spot
Р P /r/ as in rope (trilled)
С C /s/ as in soup
У Y in lowercase /u/ as in rule
Ф I, O, Q, Ø, numeral 0, same as Φ /f/ as in fawn
Х X /x/ as in Scottish English loch
Ц U, backwards and mirror-flipped L connected /ts/ as in cats
Ч Y, U, numeral 4 // similar to check
Ш W, rotated E, upside down M /ʂ/ similar to shrunk
Щ W, rotated E, backwards and mirror-flipped L connected /ɕː/ similar to wish sheep (Russian), /ʃ/ as in fresh cheese (Ukrainian and Rusyn), /ʃt/ as in schtick (Bulgarian)
Ы bI, backwards and upside-down P, letter L, numeral 61 /ɨ/ similar to roses in some dialects
Ь b, backwards and upside-down P, indicates the palatalization of the previous consonant, as in union as opposed to unite
Э E, backwards C , numeral 3 and Pan-Nigerian letter Ǝ. /ɛ/ as in echo
Ю IO, numeral 10 /ju/ as in you
Я backwards R /ja/ as in yard

The letters А, В, Е, Ѕ*, І*, Ј*, К, М, Н, О, Р, С, Т, Ү*, У, Ғ*, Ѵ*, and Х are strongly homoglyphic or related to Latin letters, depending on intended sound values to the point that their substitution may not be noticed, unlike those listed above. If compatibility issues arise that limit mixing of scripts, these can be used with faux Cyrillic letters in lieu of their Latin counterparts.

See also

References

  1. ^ Jen Chen, "Sweater Hip Check", The Pitch (Kansas City), February 15, 2007 online
  2. ^ "American Perceptions of Vodka Shaken, Not Stirred: An Analysis of the Importance of Vodka’s Foreign Branding Cues and Country-of-Origin Information", Jon Kurland, October 26, 2004 full text
  3. ^ Englis, Basil G. (1994). Global and Multinational Advertising. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 123. ISBN 0-8058-1395-0.
  4. ^ A reversed hammer and sickle is used for the word-finishing Gs on the poster for The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, as can be seen here.

External links

  • The Backwards R - Explains in greater detail with examples.
  • ҒДԞЄ ЯЦSSЇДИ GЄЙЭЯДҐФЯ - A Faux Cyrillic generator that uses lookalikes to replace Latin letters.

faux, cyrillic, pseudo, cyrillic, pseudo, russian, faux, russian, typography, cyrillic, letters, latin, text, usually, evoke, soviet, union, russia, though, used, other, contexts, well, common, western, trope, used, book, covers, film, titles, comic, book, let. Faux Cyrillic pseudo Cyrillic pseudo Russian 1 or faux Russian typography is the use of Cyrillic letters in Latin text usually to evoke the Soviet Union or Russia though it may be used in other contexts as well It is a common Western trope used in book covers film titles comic book lettering artwork for computer games or product packaging 2 3 which are set in or wish to evoke Eastern Europe the Soviet Union or Russia A typeface designed to emulate Cyrillic is classed as an ethnic typeface A faux Russian T shirt print reads ShZ DYa WEAR A Russian speaker would read this as shzdya a word that does not exist in the language Moreover the accent over the letter Z never occurs in Russian although it is a Cyrillic letter Letters are substituted regardless of phonetic matching For example R and N in RUSSIAN may be replaced with Cyrillic Ya ya and I i to form the faux cyrillic YaUSSIAI Other examples include the use of Sh for W C for U Ya G for R backwards and upside down L F for O D for A B or for B b Z E or Yo for E Ch or U for Y Outside the Russian alphabet Џ from Serbian can act as a substitute for U Ғ from Turkic languages for F Ә from Turkic languages Abkhaz Dungan Itelmen Kalmyk and Kurdish or Ye from Ukrainian for E Ө from Turkic Mongolic and Uralic languages for O Һ from Turkic and Mongolic languages and Kildin Sami for H and Ћ Serbian for Th A reversed is also sometimes used for G 4 A common substitution is for S citation needed Further variants include an inverted K ꓘ which is not used in any language This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA For the distinction between and see IPA Brackets and transcription delimiters 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 typography most upright lower case letters resemble smaller upper case letters unlike the more distinctive forms of Latin alphabet type Cursive Cyrillic upper and lower case letters are more differentiated Most Cyrillic letter forms were derived from the Greek alphabet in the 9th century but the modern forms have more closely resembled those in the Latin alphabet since Peter the Great s civil script reform of 1708 Many versions of Tetris including those by Atari Tengen and Spectrum Holobyte used faux Cyrillic to spell the name as TETYaIS to emphasize the game s Russian origins The mockumentary film Borat stylized as BORDT makes use of faux Cyrillic in Russian the word would be spelt Borat Contents 1 Characters 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksCharacters EditCyrillic letter Latin look alike Actual pronunciationB B G S numeral 5 and numeral 6 b as in boyV B ss v as in vault w as in wind Ukrainian G r upside down L same as G T ɡ as in goat ɦ ɣ similar to hill Belarusian Ukrainian D A O d as in doorZh X asterisk backwards and forwards K ʐ similar to treasureZ E numeral 3 z as in zooI backwards N i as in tree or ɪ as in him Ukrainian J N N N j as in youK K k as in carL N JI JP same as uppercase L but in different fonts l as in love or ɫ as in coalN H n as in noseP N H lowercase n h same as P p as in spotR P r as in rope trilled S C s as in soupU Y in lowercase u as in ruleF I O Q O numeral 0 same as F f as in fawnH X x as in Scottish English lochC U backwards and mirror flipped L connected ts as in catsCh Y U numeral 4 tɕ similar to checkSh W rotated E upside down M ʂ similar to shrunkSh W rotated E backwards and mirror flipped L connected ɕː similar to wish sheep Russian ʃtʃ as in fresh cheese Ukrainian and Rusyn ʃt as in schtick Bulgarian Y bI backwards and upside down P letter L numeral 61 ɨ similar to roses in some dialects b backwards and upside down P indicates the palatalization of the previous consonant as in union as opposed to uniteE E backwards C numeral 3 and Pan Nigerian letter Ǝ ɛ as in echoYu IO numeral 10 ju as in youYa backwards R ja as in yardThe letters A V E Ѕ I Ј K M N O R S T Ү U Ғ Ѵ and H are strongly homoglyphic or related to Latin letters depending on intended sound values to the point that their substitution may not be noticed unlike those listed above If compatibility issues arise that limit mixing of scripts these can be used with faux Cyrillic letters in lieu of their Latin counterparts See also EditHomoglyph IDN homograph attack Volapuk encoding vice versa of Faux Cyrillic i e encoding of Cyrillic letter with ASCII characters by using faux Latin homoglyph characters Translit Russian Chat Alphabet Informal romanizations of Russian Foreign branding Heavy metal umlaut for a similar practice in the field of heavy metal Leet for a similar manner of replacing Latin letters with other glyphs that resemble them Mimicry Ethnic Typefaces Samples of simulation typefaces Transformation of text UL Recognized Mark left italic YaU References Edit Jen Chen Sweater Hip Check The Pitch Kansas City February 15 2007 online American Perceptions of Vodka Shaken Not Stirred An Analysis of the Importance of Vodka s Foreign Branding Cues and Country of Origin Information Jon Kurland October 26 2004 full text Englis Basil G 1994 Global and Multinational Advertising Lawrence Erlbaum Associates p 123 ISBN 0 8058 1395 0 A reversed hammer and sickle is used for the word finishing Gs on the poster for The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming as can be seen here External links EditThe Backwards R Explains in greater detail with examples ҒDԞYe YaCSSYiDI GYeJEYaDGFYa A Faux Cyrillic generator that uses lookalikes to replace Latin letters Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Faux Cyrillic amp oldid 1142318916, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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