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Deborahjay (talk | contribs) Greek place names in English transliteration |
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For a list of keywords I maintain, I'm seeking an authoritative source for the [[English-language]] spelling (transliteration?) of geographical names in [[Greece]] and particularly [[Macedonia]]. Besides present time constraints preventing me from checking individual Wikipedia articles (as [[Talk:Serres, Greece|I did]] with [[Serres|Serrai > Serres]]), my supervisor in this project would prefer an outside source, preferably Web-accessible. What might you recommend? '' -- [[User:Deborahjay|Deborahjay]] 06:26, 7 July 2006 (UTC)''
:Unfortunately, there is no universal standard, and you will find all sorts of [[transliteration]]s and [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]]s. For an overview, see [[Transliteration of Greek to the Latin alphabet]]. Wikipedia articles are the most unreliable source for this, because all transliterations/transcriptions are very inconsistent. Greek sources are also inconsistent: the name as spelled on a roadside sign may differ from the on on the official web page, etc. For your purpose, the best solution is to find the original spelling in Greek characters (very reliable and consistent), and use one of the officially recognized systems (I would prefer the UN/ELOT one). Better still, stick to the Greek version (in Unicode), because none of the transliteration schemes is fully reversible ("η"and "ι" are both transliterated as "i"). Don't use [[Greeklish]], it is highly unscientific. Another caveat: Some place names have changed endings from Ancient Greek to Modern Greek to comply with modern Greek grammar (Serrai -> Serres). A few like Athinai -> Athina changed from plural to singular. Some places have variant names like Κεφαλληνία - Κεφαλονιά. [[User:Ανδρέας|<span style="color:white;background:#227"> <span style="background:#338"> <span style="background:#449">A<span style="background:#55a">n<span style="background:#66b">d<span style="background:#77c">r</span>e</span>a</span>s</span> </span> </span>]] <sup><font size="-2">[[User talk:Ανδρέας|(T)]]</font></sup> 13:58, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
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