<MSGID_1=3A153=2F716.0_1f889dc0@fidonet.org>
From: alexander koryagin <koryagin@newmail.ru>

Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from  30.07.2013 23:42
about Russian surnames.

 ak>> This question is for native speakers. When you read in a newspaper
 ak>> Russian second names, like Dudikoff,  Karloff,  Degtereff where do
 ak>> you put an emphasis? At the beginning of the name or at its end?

 AH> Not at the end, for sure. I regard the suffix as akin to "- son" in
 AH> British names from the POV that the emphasis belongs on a  syllable
 AH> which helps the listener make distinctions  between,  e.g.,  John's
 AH> son & Jack's son.... :-)

   It is an original idea to think that "off" is a kind of  "-->",  that
hints that a person belongs to a  certain  business,  expressed  in  the
surname root.  In reality,  such Russian suffixes (ov/off)  indeed  tell
about some connection between the noun  that  compose  the  root  and  a
person who has the surname which ends on "ov/off". For instance, GusArov
is connected with the word "hussar," BasArov,  with the  word  "bazaar."
Although now,  all the  assoßiations  lost  their  actuality.  Konovalov
("konoval" -- a horse doctor) almost for sure doesn't deal with horses.

 AH> Re polysyllabic British names, the emphasis is usually on the first
 AH> syllable... so native speakers of English may use that as a default
 AH> with names  they  haven't  seen  or  heard  before.  One  can  make
 AH> generalizations  from  examples  if  one  has  encountered   enough
 AH> *correct* examples.  I'm not sure, however,  that the examples I've
 AH> mentioned are accurate from your POV because I haven't  heard  them
 AH> pronounced *by native speakers of Russian*.  Now that  I've  run  a
 AH> bunch of examples through my head,  I think I'm beginning to figure
 AH> out where to put the emphasis...  but I  must  point  out  that  my
 AH> sources are North American here. :-)

<skipped>

             Horowitz, Asimov, Nabokov
             /  -  -   / - -   /  - -

             Dostoyevsky, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Moussorgsky
             - - / -  -   /    -  -    -   - / -     -   /   -

             Pavlov (from ed. psych.) & Pavlova (the ballerina)
             /   -                      /  -  -


   If you like to know, in Russia we have the following emphases:

HOrowitz,   AsImov  (pronounced  as   AzEmov),   NabOkov,   DostoyEvsky,
TchaikOvsky, ShostakOvich, MOUssorgsky, PAvlov & PAvlova.

 AH> Hmm.  Now I am making an educated guess that you'd  pronounce  your
 AH> surname with the emphasis on the "(y)a".  I won't bore my  audience
 AH> with how I made the leap from A to Z unless they're interested, but
 AH> I think I'm onto something.... ;-)

   Yes, my surname is KorYAgin.  But IMHO the rule is not very strict --
we have the famous composer BorodIn (Borodeen).  Suffix "in"  also  says
about an alleged relation to the root. My surname derived from "koryaga"
(in English it is a snag -- good for my tenent character ;-))",  Borodin
derived from "boroda" (a beard).

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
fido7.english-tutor 2013
--- ifmail v.2.15dev5.4
 * Origin: NPO RUSnet InterNetNews site (2:5020/400)