Feminine surname endings in America?

MagdalenaThreads: 5 Posts: 1,389 Joined: Aug 15, 07 ♀	Nov 12, 11, 16:07 #31
mafketis: and presumably Pepikistan ...and what country would that be, kind sir?

Sidliste_ChodovThreads: 2 Posts: 683 Joined: Jul 27, 11 ♂	Nov 12, 11, 16:10 #32
teflcat: She'll probably correct you if you're right. She's an expert in law, medicine, aviation, architecture, and is also Polish - how could she possibly be wrong? ;)

mafketisThreads: 17 Posts: 1,880 Joined: Mar 31, 08 ♂	Nov 12, 11, 17:32 #33
Magdalena: ...and what country would that be, kind sir? Nevíš?

MagdalenaThreads: 5 Posts: 1,389 Joined: Aug 15, 07 ♀	Edited by: Moderator Nov 12, 11, 20:19 #34
mafketis: Nevíš? Byloby mnohem lépe, kdybych nemusela vědět. Please keep to the language of the forum, which is English!

mafketisThreads: 17 Posts: 1,880 Joined: Mar 31, 08 ♂	Nov 12, 11, 21:11 #35
"Please keep to the language of the forum, which is English!" Boy, you guys want to take the fun out of everything!

♂

Nov 14, 11, 13:03 #36

mafketis:

Boy, you guys want to take the fun out of everything!

They always spoil the fun. Nothing wrong with a bit of Czech now and again - it livens things up a bit. Like adding a second ball to a dull game of rugger, really. haha :)

Besides, all Poles know Czech, don't they? (sarcasm ;) ).

David_18:

But how can a zero cultured redneck understand something like that?

Even worse... they often change the spelling completely to make it "easier to pronounce". No-one does that in the UK! And why should we - no-one Sri Lankan or African changes their name to something easier for the English (they wouldn't be expected to), so why should we? I'm glad we haven't fallen for all this American dumbing-down.

♂

Nov 14, 11, 14:22 #37

trener zolwia:

Is that the law, or just a cultural rule?
Kinda weird that a woman changes her last name and not even to her new husband's name, technically.

It is more of a language apspect - masculine and feminine language genders (as mentioned before).
It's not weird at all: it is the same name Kowalski and Kowalska. The ending is a grammatical gender suggesting the sex of the person at the same time. Useful thing.
Mafketins has put it out very well.

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,835 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Nov 14, 11, 15:17 #38
Speaking of feminine surnames, anyone know Icelandic? I understand that the son is called Olaffsson (spelling?) whilst a female child uses the Olaffsdottir surname. Anyone know what the American legal system does with that one?

gumishuThreads: 17 Posts: 3,943 Joined: Apr 6, 09 ♂	Nov 14, 11, 20:32 #39
Polonius3: Olaffsdottir surname. which makes no sense as her father was no Olaff (typically)

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,835 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Nov 15, 11, 11:48 #40
Obviously it's a hsitorical thing. Most Johnsons do not have fathers named John, but the original Johnson was a patronymic nick to identify John's son. The Olaffsdottir surname exists in Icelandic to this day.

Lyzko	Nov 15, 11, 17:47 #41
In addition, in Reykjavik, the local telphone directory is listed solely by FIRST names, since last names are so common and repetitive. While there must be a thousand Gudrunsdottir or Gulbransson families in the capital alone, there may be only one Olaf-David Gulbransson or Britt-Marie Gudrunsdottir floating around within a particular district.

♂

Nov 15, 11, 18:34 #42

While in America I am not aware of any laws restricting feminine use of surnames, I personally don't know any women who have taken feminine forms when being married or born in America. However, I do know many women who, being born or married in Poland, have kept the feminine form after immigrating to America. I remember one girlfriend I had, whose younger sister was born in Japan. Her sister also kept the feminine form of her surname, so apparently there weren't any laws against it in Japan either.

OlafThreads: 8 Posts: 1,369 Joined: Oct 29, 09 ♂	Nov 15, 11, 19:37 #43
It's a matter of common sense. Not keeping feminine form of Polish name (and not only Polish, all that have it) makes all Mrs Kowalski sound dumb and ridiculous - aith only exception if it's a person that has no idea about the language of their parents.

andersm	Nov 24, 11, 20:47 #44
English is gender neutral so there's nothing in the language except pronouns referring to specific people that denotes masculine or feminine gender. So that might be one reason the -ska suffix disappeared. Another might be the English culture was rigidly patronymic until a few decades ago. Bottom line neither the mindset nor the culture is flexible enough to adapt to Polish naming conventions.

Lyzko	Nov 29, 11, 17:42 #45
Comtemporary modern English has definitely simplified in contrast with Old English, a language still rich in gender morphology much as Old Norse ...

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