Languages in Multiple Scripts

The scripts/alphabets of some languages have changed at different periods in their historical and political development. For example, under the Soviet Union, the Turkic and Iranian languages of Central Asia, various languages groups in Siberia, Romanian in Moldova (then called Moldavian or Moldovan), and the languages of many ethnic groups in the Caucasus region were written in Cyrillic, in addition to their traditional scripts, which were mostly modified Latin or Arabic. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and the subsequent geopolitical changes in the Eurasian region, these countries continued to use the Cyrillic script but in some cases also adopted new vernacular scripts or resurrected older ones.

Catalogers dealing with materials from different time periods may occasionally come across publications in unconventional or obsolete scripts for these languages, and must properly represent and designate the appropriate script for the language of the item in hand.

In descriptive cataloging, it is important to properly identify the script of the language. Under RDA, as well as AACR2, when an item is in a script other than the primary one for the language, name both the language and the script in a 546 language note. The section in RDA which deals with scripts is 7.13.2.

LC-PCC PS 7.13.2.3. Form of Script Name

LC practice/PCC practice: Use the English language names of scripts found at: http://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-en.html. Generally do not include the parenthetical information found in the list when recording the script name. If a resource is in a language that is commonly written in more than one script, name both the language and the script.

If the resource is in a script other than the primary one for the language, name both the language and the script in the language note (MARC field 546).

Some languages however, for example, Turkic and Iranian languages of the former Soviet Union, have gone through periods when several scripts were used concurrently (e.g. Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic) and therefore determining the “primary” script might be very subjective. In addition, the script used in emigré publications might not correspond to the primary script used in the Soviet Union. In cases of doubt about a primary script, err on the side of supplying the name of the script in the language note.

When working with these languages, the MARC 546 Language note is important as it may be the only way to describe and represent the alphabet, script, or notation system used in the resource in hand.

Examples (in MARC format):

546 Belarusian; ‡b Arabic.

546 Azerbaijani. [for a publication using the Latin script]

but

546 Azerbaijani; ‡b Arabic. [for a publication using the Arabic script]

546 Azerbaijani; ‡b Cyrillic. [for a publication using the Cyrillic script]

LC-PCC PS for 7.13.2.4: Details of Scripts

LC practice/PCC practice: When recording complex notes involving multiple languages, record information about both the language and script in $a (Language note) of MARC field 546 (language and script in same subfield because $a is not repeatable).

Examples (in MARC format):

546 Container inserts written in English, French, and Inuktitut (both syllabic and Latin script).

546 Kazakh (Cyrillic), and Chagatai (Cyrillic and Arabic script).

Some of the more common languages (see also below) have in the past, or continue to use, a variety of scripts (Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic)

• • Azeri (formerly used the Cyrillic script as well as Arabic in the past).

  • Belarusian (also uses the Cyrillic script, and occasionally the Łacinka and Arabic alphabet)

  • Bosnian (along-side Latin script also uses the Cyrillic script and in the past has used the Arabic script form called Alhamijado or Arebica).

  • Romanian (Latin; formerly also used the Romanian Cyrillic alphabet)

  • Moldavian (Moldovan) (currently called Romanian; formerly used Cyrillic script in Moldavian SSR)

  • Serbian (both the Cyrillic script and the Latin script are official for Serbian in Serbia). Always name the script used for Serbian.

The following is a fuller list of some languages that use or have used Cyrillic script (courtesy of Wikipedia).

• • 2.1 East Slavic

    • 2.1.1 Russian

    • 2.1.2 Belarusian

    • 2.1.3 Ukrainian

    • 2.1.4 Rusyn

  • 2.2 South Slavic

    • 2.2.1 Bulgarian

    • 2.2.2 Serbian

    • 2.2.3 Macedonian

    • 2.2.4 Montenegrin

    • 2.2.5 Bosnian

  • 3 Uralic languages

    • 3.1 Karelian

    • 3.2 Kildin Sámi

    • 3.3 Komi-Permyak

    • 3.4 Mari

  • 4 Iranian languages

    • 4.1 Kurdish

    • 4.2 Ossetian

    • 4.3 Tajik

  • 5 Romance languages

  • 6 Romani

  • 7 Mongolian

    • 7.2 Khalkha

    • 7.3 Buryat

    • 7.4 Kalmyk

  • 8 Northwest Caucasian languages

    • 8.1 Abkhaz

  • 9 Northeast Caucasian languages

    • 9.1 Avar

    • 9.2 Lezgian

  • 10 Turkic languages

    • 10.1 Azerbaijani

    • 10.2 Bashkir

    • 10.3 Chuvash

    • 10.4 Kazakh

    • 10.5 Kyrgyz

    • 10.6 Tatar

    • 10.7 Turkmen

    • 10.8 Uzbek

  • 11 Chinese

    • 11.1 Dungan language

  • 12 Tungusic languages

  • 13 Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages

  • 14 Eskimo-Aleut languages

For additional information on different writing systems and scripts please see the following links:

• Writing systems (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_system

• Index of languages by writing systems (Omniglot, the online encyclopedia of writing systems and languages): http://www.omniglot.com/writing/langalph.htm

• List of languages by writing system (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_writing_system

• Cyrillic script: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_script

• Latin script: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_script

See also:

Azerbaijani Personal Names;
Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian (BCS);
Moldavian or Romanian

Revised: Aug. 21, 2015