Transliteration is the transfer of a word from the letters of one language to the letters of another, when the written alphabets are not identical.

Greek offers fine examples of this need, for the alphabets are not the same. For example, the 'B' sound in English is indicated by the letter 'b,' but in Greek by the letter beta. If typesetters do not have access to a Greek font (or alphabet), they can, nonetheless, represent the Greek word by transliterating the word from the Greek alphabet to the English alphabet.

In transliteration, g is written as 'n' before another g. Except in diphthongs, u is written as 'y.'