Automatic transliteration and transcription using a spreadsheet: the case of Russian language into Italian language

In this paper we describe a computer application aimed at automatically transliterate and transcribe a text in Russian language. On the one hand, the transliteration converts a text written in Cyrillic alphabet into a text written in Latin alphabet. On the other hand, the transcription aims at matching as close as possible the original pronunciation and suggesting to a native speaker of a different language (in this case, an Italian speaker) how to pronounce the Russian text. Our solution uses a spreadsheet and its features in order to provide a tool which proves to be both (i) portable over different computing environments and (ii) didactically useful; in fact, (i) the rules of transliteration and transcription can be adapted to different computer systems and applications, and (ii) they can be easily modified by non-expert computer users.