Why Do We Write
“Hitler” as “Гитлер”
in Russian?
The History
of the Letter H
Have you ever wondered why the foreign name Hitler is written Гитлер in Russian instead of “Хитлер”? Or why the 19th-century German writer was Гофман, while the modern American actor is Дастин Хоффман? This all comes down to Russian phonetics, historical tradition, and how European sounds were perceived.
1. The Sound H and Russian
Modern Russian has no exact equivalent of the English or German [h].
Compare the sounds:
Although none of these sounds are identical, historical Russian speakers often perceived foreign [h] differently from the native Х [x], which sounds much harsher.
Compare the sounds:
Sound | Description |
English/German [h] | voiceless glottal fricative |
Russian Х [x] | voiceless velar fricative |
Old East Slavic / some dialects [ɣ] | voiced velar fricative |
Although none of these sounds are identical, historical Russian speakers often perceived foreign [h] differently from the native Х [x], which sounds much harsher.
2. Why Did Russian Use Г?
In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was no single standard for rendering foreign names.
Many names entered Russian through German, Polish, Latin or French rather than directly from English. At the same time, the pronunciation of the Russian letter г varied more than it does today. Besides the modern stop [g], a fricative pronunciation [ɣ] survived in some educated and regional speech and in Church Slavonic reading traditions.
For these historical reasons, many foreign H's came to be written with Г, and these spellings became established.
Examples:
Many names entered Russian through German, Polish, Latin or French rather than directly from English. At the same time, the pronunciation of the Russian letter г varied more than it does today. Besides the modern stop [g], a fricative pronunciation [ɣ] survived in some educated and regional speech and in Church Slavonic reading traditions.
For these historical reasons, many foreign H's came to be written with Г, and these spellings became established.
Examples:
- Adolf Hitler → Гитлер
- Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann → Гофман
- Thomas Henry Huxley → Гексли
- Hamburg → Гамбург
- Hudson River → Гудзон
3. The Shift Toward Х
During the 20th century, Russian transliteration gradually became more phonetic.
Instead of following older tradition, translators increasingly tried to reproduce the actual pronunciation.
Examples:
Instead of following older tradition, translators increasingly tried to reproduce the actual pronunciation.
Examples:
- Dustin Hoffman → Хоффман
- Aldous Huxley → Хаксли
- Houston → Хьюстон
Historical borrowings | Modern borrowings |
Гитлер | Хьюстон |
Гофман | Хоффман |
Гексли | Хаксли |
Гудзон | Хадсон (Mrs Hudson in Sherlock translations) |
- The difference is mostly historical, not linguistic.
4. Why Is Russian Х Written as Kh?
When Russian is transliterated into the Latin alphabet, Х is usually written kh:
- Хрущёв → Khrushchev
- Хабаровск → Khabarovsk
5. German h and ch
German actually has two different consonants:
h → [h]
h → [h]
- Haus
- Hamburg
- Hoffmann
- Bach → Бах
- Buch → Бух
- Nacht → Нахт
6. What About Ukrainian?
Modern Ukrainian preserves a pronunciation of г that differs from Russian.
Historically, East Slavic languages showed greater variation in the pronunciation of г than modern standard Russian does.
This historical background partly explains why earlier Russian speakers did not always associate foreign h with Russian Х.
Language | Pronunciation of г |
Russian | [g] |
Ukrainian | [ɦ] |
Belarusian (standard) | [ɣ] in many descriptions (with regional variation) |
This historical background partly explains why earlier Russian speakers did not always associate foreign h with Russian Х.
7. When H Disappears Completely
Sometimes Russian has no consonant at all.
This usually happened because the word was borrowed from French, where initial h is silent.
Examples:
This usually happened because the word was borrowed from French, where initial h is silent.
Examples:
- hôtel → отель
- histoire → история
- herbe → трава (not borrowed)
8. Three Different Outcomes
Foreign H has produced three different results in Russian:
There has never been one universal rule. The spelling usually reflects when and through which language a word entered Russian.
Result | Examples | Why? |
Г | Гитлер, Гофман, Гексли, Гудзон | Historical tradition |
Х | Хоффман, Хаксли, Хьюстон | Modern phonetic transcription |
Ø | история, отель | Borrowed through French, where H is silent |
Takeaways
- Г often reflects historical tradition, especially for older names.
- Х is preferred in modern phonetic transcription.
- Russian Х is transliterated as kh because it is pronounced [x], not [h].
- Different pronunciations of г in East Slavic languages help explain some historical spelling traditions, but they are not the sole reason why Russian writes Гитлер rather than Хитлер.
APRIL, 16 / 2026
© All Right Reserved. Daria Ledwon
