YIVO Transliteration Chart
EXCEPTION: When the word אויף is used as a preposition, it is pronounced and therefore transliterated as af (not oyf), following modern convention.
*Yiddish consonants with checkmarks occur only in words of Hebrew or Aramaic origin.
This chart is based on the Yiddish Alef-Beys (Alphabet) of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and on Sten Vikner's Yidisher Alef-Beys, which also includes handwritten letter forms, phonetic charts, and a chart of dialect differences.
Yiddish Spelling
using YIVO transliteration
| Spelling | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| kh | (not ch) | khazer, ikh | (not chazer, ich) |
| sh | (not sch) | shof | (not schof) |
| ts | (not tz) | tsu, kats | (not tzu, katz) |
| tsh | (not ch, tch, tsch) | tshaynik, mentsh | (not chaynik, mentch, mentsch) |
| -k | (not -ck) | shtik | (not shtick) |
| ay | (not ai, ei) | nayn | (not nain, nein) |
| ey | (not ai, ei) | eyn | (not ain, ein) |
| oy | (not oi) | moyl | (not moil) |
| no e with final -l, -n | (not -el, -en) (unless n follows m, n, ng, nk) |
shlimazl, shpiln (but nemen, kenen, trinken) |
(not shlimazel, shpilen) |
| no doubled consonants (unless doubling results from adding a prefix to a root) |
yidish, rinen (but: aynnemen = ayn+nemen) |
(not yiddish, rinnen) | |
| no h after vowels | mitsve | (not mitsveh) | |
