From the questions received by the “Information Bureau” of “Gramoty.ru”:
- Hello, my surname is Ossa, the emphasis is on O, they wrote Osse in my diploma, and now I have to do an examination, which costs a lot of money to prove that the surname is not inclined.
- My last name is Pogrebnyak. It's a Ukrainian surname, and they don't seem to bow. Some people decline my last name, write Pogrebnyak, Pogrebnyak, Pogrebnyak. Is it possible?
- My surname is Eroshevich, she is of Polish origin (this is known for sure). I'm interested in the following question: is my surname declined? My relative (male) was issued a certificate in which the surname was declined. And with this certificate, they did not take him anywhere. They said that the surname does not decline. Teachers also say that they do not incline, but on your website it says that they incline. I am confused!
Such questions are not uncommon in the "Help Desk" of our portal. Most often they are asked in May-June and at the very beginning of September. This is due, of course, to the fact that at the end of the school year, graduates of schools and universities receive certificates and diplomas, and in September, children go to school and begin to sign notebooks. The certificate and diploma will definitely say to whom it was issued (i.e., surname in the dative case), and on the cover of the notebook - whose it is (i.e., surname in the genitive case). And in cases where the student's last name does not end in -ov(s), -in (-yn) or - sky (-sky)(i.e., it does not belong to the so-called standard ones), the question almost always arises: is it necessary to incline the surname and, if so, how exactly to incline? It is with him that native speakers turn to linguists for help. And this question is often followed by another: “How to prove that the surname is inclined?” or “How to defend the right to not decline the surname?”. The question "To incline or not to incline the surname?" often goes beyond the language, causing fierce disputes and leading to serious conflicts.
Of course, such questions come not only from students, their parents and teachers, they are asked throughout the year, but the peaks of calls to linguists are in May-June and September, due to the aggravation of this problem in schools and universities. This is no coincidence: after all, in educational institution many native speakers have their first meeting with a specialist - a teacher of the Russian language, and the teacher's requirement to change the surname in cases, which in the family has always been considered unchanged, surprises, annoys and rebuffs. Similar difficulties are experienced office workers(secretaries, clerks) who are faced with the categorical demands of the leadership not to inflect inflected surnames.
The experience of our "Information Bureau" shows that the laws of declension of surnames are really unknown to a large number of native speakers (and even to some philologists), although they are given in many reference books on the Russian language, including widely available ones. Among these manuals - "Handbook of Spelling and Literary Editing" by D. E. Rosenthal, stylistic vocabulary variants of L. K. Graudina, V. A. Itskovich, L. P. Katlinskaya " grammatical correctness Russian speech” (3rd edition – under the heading “Dictionary of grammatical variants of the Russian language”), “Dictionary of Russian personal names” by A.V. Superanskaya, research by L.P. Kalakutskaya “Surnames. Names. Patronymic. Writing and their declension” and many other sources. A study of Internet user requests and monitoring of the blogosphere allow us to conclude that there are many misconceptions among native speakers regarding the rules for declension of surnames. Here are the main ones: the decisive factor is the linguistic origin of the surname (“Georgian, Armenian, Polish surnames, etc. are not inclined”); in all cases, the declension of the surname depends on the gender of the carrier; surnames that match common nouns (Thunderstorm, Beetle, Stick) are not inclined. A considerable number of native speakers are convinced that there are so many rules for declension of surnames that it is not possible to remember them.
To show that all these ideas are not true, we present the basic rules for declension of surnames. They are taken from the sources listed above and formulated by us in the form step by step instructions, a kind of algorithm with which you can quickly find the answer to the question: "Does the surname decline?".
Here is the algorithm.
1. As stated above, declension of surnames ending in -ov (-ev,), -in (-yn), -sky (-tsky), i.e., the so-called standard surnames, does not cause difficulties for native speakers. You just need to remember two important rules.
A. Borrowed surnames on -ov, -in, which belong foreigners, in the instrumental form have the ending -ohm(as nouns of the second school declension, for example table, table): the theory was proposed by Darwin, the film was directed by Chaplin, the book was written by Cronin.(Interestingly, the pseudonym is also inclined Green, owned by a Russian writer: the book is written Green.) Homonymous Russian surnames have an ending - th in instrumental form: with Chaplin(from dialect word chaplya"heron"), with Cronin(from crown).
B. Female surnames on - ina type Currant, Pearl inclined in two ways, depending on the declension of the male surname ( Irina Zhemchuzhina and Irina Zhemchuzhina, Zoe Smorodina and Zoya Smorodina). If the male surname is Zhemchuzhin, then it is correct: arrival Irina Zhemchuzhina. If the male surname is Pearl, then it is correct: arrival Irina Zhemchuzhina(surname is declined as a common noun pearl).
2. Now we go directly to the so-called non-standard surnames. The first thing to remember is that, contrary to popular misconception, the gender of the bearer of a surname does not always affect inclination / non-inclination. Even less often, this is influenced by the origin of the surname. First of all, it matters what sound the surname ends with - a consonant or a vowel..
3. We will immediately describe several groups of indeclinable surnames. In modern Russian literary language do not bow Russian surnames, ending in -s, -ih (type Black, Long), as well as all surnames, ending in vowels e, i, o, u, s, e, u .
Examples: notebooks by Irina Chernykh, Lydia Meie, Roman Grymau; the diploma was given to Victor Dolgikh, Andrey Gretry, Nikolay Shtanenko, Maya Lee; meeting with Nikolai Kruchenykh and Alexander Minadze.
Note. AT colloquial speech and in the language of fiction, reflecting oral speech, is considered acceptable declination male surnames on the - uh, -ih (in Chernykh's scenario, meeting with Ryzhykh), as well as the declension of surnames of Ukrainian origin into -ko, -enko according to the declension of feminine nouns -a: go to Semashka, visiting Ustimenka. Note that Ukrainian surnames of this type were consistently declined in fiction 19th century ( at Shevchenko; Nalivaika's confession; poem dedicated to Rodzyanka).
4. If last name ends in a consonant(except for surnames on -oh, -them, which were mentioned above), then here - and only here! - the gender of the bearer of the surname matters. All male surnames ending in a consonant are inclined - this is the law of Russian grammar. All female surnames ending in a consonant are not declined. In this case, the linguistic origin of the surname does not matter. Men's surnames are also declined, coinciding with common nouns.
Examples: Mikhail Bock's notebook, diplomas issued to Alexander Krug and Konstantin Korol, meeting with Igor Shipelevich, visiting Andrey Martynyuk, daughter of Ilya Skalozub, work of Isaac Akopyan; notebook of Anna Bock, diplomas issued to Natalia Krug and Lydia Korol, meeting with Yulia Shipelevich, visiting Ekaterina Martynyuk, daughter of Svetlana Skalozub, work of Marina Akopyan.
Note 1. Male surnames of East Slavic origin, having a fluent vowel during declension, can be inclined in two ways - with and without loss of a vowel: Mikhail Zayats and Mikhail Zayets, with Alexander Zhuravel and Alexander Zhuravl, Igor Gritsevets and Igor Gritsevets. In a number of sources, declension without dropping a vowel is recognized as preferable (i.e. Hare, Crane, Gritsevets), because surnames also perform a legal function. But the final choice is up to the bearer of the surname. It is important to adhere to the chosen type of declension in all documents.
Note 2. Separately, it is necessary to say about surnames ending in a consonant th. If preceded by a vowel and(less often about), the surname can be inclined in two ways. Surnames such as Topchy, Pobozhiy, Boky, Ore, can be perceived as having endings -oh, -oh and inflect as adjectives ( Topchy, Topchy, feminine Topchaya, Topchaya), and it is possible - as having a zero ending with a declension similar to nouns ( Topchia, Topchia, feminine invariant form Topchy). If consonant th at the end of the surname preceded by any other vowel, the surname is subordinate general rules (Igor Shakhrai, Nikolai Adzhubey, but Inne Shakhrai, Alexandre Adjubey).
5. If last name ends in a vowel -я preceded by another vowel
(ex: Shengelaya, Breaking, Rhea, Beria, Danelia), she is bows down.
Examples: notebook by Inna Shengelai, diploma issued to Nikolay Lomaya, meeting with Anna Rhea; crimes of Lavrenty Beria, meeting with George Danelia.
6. If last name ends in a vowel -a preceded by another vowel
(ex.: Galois, Morois, Delacroix, Moravia, Eria, Heredia, Gulia), she is does not bow.
Examples: notebook Nicholas Galua, diploma issued to Irina Eria, meeting with Igor Gulia.
7. And the last group of surnames - ending in -а, -я, preceded by a consonant . Here - and only here! - the origin of the surname and the place of stress in it matter. There are only two exceptions to keep in mind:
BUT. Don't bow down French surnames with an accent on the last syllable: books by Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola and Anna Gavalda, aphorisms by Jacques Derrida, goals by Diarra and Drogba.
B. Predominantly do not bow Finnish surnames ending in - a unstressed: meeting with Mauno Pekkala(although in a number of sources it is recommended to incline them too).
All other surnames (Slavic, Eastern and others; ending in stressed and unstressed -and I) bow down. Contrary to a common misconception, surnames that coincide with common nouns are also declined.
Examples: Irina Groza's notebook, Nikolay Mukha's diploma, Elena Kara-Murza's lecture, Bulat Okudzhava's songs, Igor Kvasha's roles, Akira Kurosawa's films.
Note. There used to be fluctuations in the declension of Japanese surnames, but reference books note that in recent times such surnames are consistently declined, and in the “Grammar Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. A. Zaliznyak, an indeclinable version at Akutagawa along with the inflexible near Okudzhava, called "gross violation of the norm" .
Here, in fact, are all the main rules; As you can see, there aren't too many of them. Now we can refute the misconceptions listed above related to the declension of surnames. So, contrary to popular belief: a) there is no rule “all Armenian, Georgian, Polish, etc. surnames do not decline” - the declension of surnames obeys the laws of the grammar of the language, and if the final element of the surname lends itself to Russian inflection, it declines; b) the rule “male surnames decline, female ones do not” does not apply to all surnames, but only to those that end in a consonant; c) the coincidence of the surname in form with common nouns is not an obstacle to their declension.
It is important to remember: the surname is word and, like all words, it must obey the grammatical laws of the language. In this sense, there is no difference between sentences Certificate issued to Hunger Ivan(instead of correct Hunger Ivan) and The villagers were suffering from hunger.(instead of suffered from hunger), in both sentences - grammar mistake.
It is also important to follow the rules of declension of surnames because the refusal to change the cases of the declined surname can lead to misunderstandings and incidents, and disorient the addressee of the speech. In fact, imagine the situation: a person with the surname Thunderstorm signed his work: article by Nikolai Groz. According to the laws of Russian grammar, a male surname ending in the genitive singular. numbers on - a, is restored in its original form, in the nominative case, with zero ending, so the reader will make an unambiguous conclusion: the author's name is Nicholas Groz. Submitted to the dean's office work A. Pogrebnyak will lead to the search for a student (Anna? Antonina? Alice?) Pogrebnyak, and the student Alexander Pogrebnyak's belonging to her will still have to be proved. It is necessary to follow the rules of declension of surnames for the same reason that it is necessary to follow the rules of spelling, otherwise a situation arises similar to the famous “opteka” described by L. Uspensky in “Word about words”. The authors of the "Dictionary of grammatical variants of the Russian language" L. K. Graudina, V. A. Itskovich, L. P. Katlinskaya indicate: case of a surname from its oblique cases.
Therefore, we suggest that you remember the elementary truth number 8.
ABC Truth No. 8. The declension of surnames obeys the laws of the grammar of the Russian language. There is no rule "all Armenian, Georgian, Polish, etc. surnames are not bowed." The declension of the surname depends primarily on what sound the surname ends with - a consonant or a vowel. The rule "male surnames decline, female ones do not" does not apply to all surnames, but only to those that end in consonant. The coincidence of the surname in form with common nouns (Fly, Hare, Stick etc.) is not an obstacle to their declination.
Literature:
- Ageenko F. L. Dictionary of proper names of the Russian language. M., 2010.
- Graudina L. K., Itskovich V. A., Katlinskaya L. P. Dictionary of grammatical variants of the Russian language. -3rd ed., ster. M., 2008.
- Zaliznyak A. A. Grammatical Dictionary of the Russian Language. - 5th ed., Rev. M., 2008.
- Kalakutskaya L.P. Surnames. Names. Patronymic. Writing and declension. M., 1994.
- Rosenthal D. E. Handbook of spelling and literary editing. - 8th ed., Rev. and additional M., 2003.
- Superanskaya A.V. Dictionary of Russian personal names. M., 2004.
V. M. Pakhomov,
Candidate of Philology,
editor-in-chief of the Gramota.ru portal
Russia is a multinational country, so there are many names and surnames of different origins.
We have to sign notebooks, fill out documents, while we must put our last name in a certain case and not make a mistake with the ending. This is where difficulties await us. For example, how to say correctly: "reward Lyanka Elena or Lyanka Elena, Bavtruk Timur or Bavtruk Timur, Anton Sedykh or Anton Sedogo»?
Today we will try to deal with some aspects of the declension of the surnames of foreign and Russian-speaking, male and female.
Let's begin with that most of the surnames are native Russian similar in form to adjectives with suffixes -sk-, -in-, -ov- (-ev-): Hvorostovsky, Veselkin, Mikhalkov, Ivanov, Tsarev. They can be both masculine and feminine, and also used in the plural. At the same time, rarely anyone will have difficulty with the declension of such surnames.
I. p. (who? what?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovskaya, Hvorostovsky.
R. p. (whom? what?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky.
D. p. (to whom? to what?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky.
V. p. (whom? what?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky.
Etc. (by whom? by what?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky.
P. p. (about whom? about what?) about Hvorostovsky, about Hvorostovskaya, about the Hvorostovskys.
However, you need to be careful with surnames ending in a consonant or a soft sign. For example, Jackal, Tavgen, Korob, Great-grandfather. In this case, the declination will depend on whether What gender does the surname belong to? If we are talking about a woman, then similar 
e surnames are indeclinable, but male surnames are declined like nouns of the 2nd declension husband. R. (such as a table, a deer). This does not apply to surnames ending in - their(s). For example, go with Jackal Anna and Jackal Anton, talk about Tavgen Anastasia and about tavgJena Alexandra, stroll with Great-grandfather Daria and with Great-grandfather Emelyan.
Some surnames like Child, Kravets, Crane can have variant declension because they look like common nouns. When declensing nouns, there is dropping a vowel at the end of a word(jura flight ow me, bathe the rebbe nk a), when declining the surname, the vowel can be retained in order to prevent distortion or comic sounding of the surname (write Crane, dispatch from Child).
Don't bow down male and female surnames on th(s). Talk about Diana Sedykh and about Anton Sedykh, write Velimir Kruchenykh and Antonina Kruchenykh.
All female and male surnames ending in vowels, except -a or -I, are indeclinable. For example, Artmane, Amadou, Bossuet, Goethe, Galsworthy, Gramsci, Gretry, Debussy, Giusoyty, Dode, Camus, Cornu, Lully, Manzu, Modigliani, Navoi, Rustaveli, Ordzhonikidze, Chabukiani, Enescu and many others.
This includes last names ending in -about, and surnames of Ukrainian origin on -ko. For example, Hugo, La Rochefoucauld, Leoncavallo, Longfellow, Picasso, Craft, Khitrovo, Shamisso, Makarenko, Korolenko, Gorbatko, Shepitko, Savchenko, Zhivago, Derevyago, etc.
Declension of surnames ending in -a, causes the greatest difficulty. Here it is necessary to take into account several criteria: origin of the surname, stress and letter, after which -a located. Let's try to simplify the picture as much as possible.
Surnames don't inflect -a if this letter is preceded by a vowel (most often at or and): Gulia, Moravia, Delacroix, Heredia. This also applies to surnames. Georgian origin.
Surnames don't inflect -aFrench descent with stress on the last syllable: Degas, Dumas, Lucas, Thomas, Farm, Petipa and etc.
All other surnames -a decline in Russian. Bring Lyanka Elena, take from Inna's smocks, read Petrarch, together with Kurosawa, about Glinka, for Alexander Mitta.
The situation is similar with the declension of surnames with the final -I: do not decline surnames French descent with stress on the last syllable (Zola). All other surnames ending in -I, lean. For example, persuade Ivan Golovnya and Elena Golovnya, write about Beria, movie George Danelia.
Thus, as you may have noticed, you need to know not so many rules in order to correctly decline your surname in Russian. We hope that now you will not make mistakes when signing a notebook or filling out documents! But if you still have any doubts, please contact us. Our experts will always try to help!
Good luck to you and a beautiful, competent, rich Russian language!
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From school, many have learned the rule that when pronouncing and writing, female surnames do not decline in cases, and male ones, on the contrary, like similar adjectives or nouns. Is everything so simple, and are male foreign surnames inclined in Russian - this article is devoted to this, based on the monograph by L.P. Kalakutskaya, published in 1984.
Importance of the problem
There are many situations in which the correct spelling and correct pronunciation of surnames in different cases is very important:
- The child began to study at school, and he needs to correctly sign a notebook or diary.
- A young man or an adult man is awarded a diploma or a letter of thanks.
- At a serious event, they announce the exit or performance of a man with a complex surname. It's not nice if it gets distorted.
- When making important documents(certificate, diploma) or preparation of case materials for establishing family ties (in court, at the notary).
- Knowing whether male surnames are inclined is necessary for people of many professions who deal with the execution of personal files or other business papers.
Russian surnames
The most common surnames in Russia - with suffixes - sk (-ck), ov (-ev), in (-yn) People: Razumovsky, Slutsky, Ivanov, Turgenev, Mukhin, Sinitsyn. All of them are easily inclined, like ordinary adjectives, both in the feminine and in the masculine. Exception - surnames on -ov, -in, the ending of which in the prepositional case is somewhat different from the traditional one.
Foreign surnames with suffix -in (-yn) also have a mismatch with Russians in the instrumental case. Let's look at an example:
Do male surnames tend to th without suffix - ck, which are also found in Russia (Tolstoy, Berezhnaya, Sukhoi)? Few (in scientific papers in philology there are them complete list), they easily change in cases similar to adjectives with a similar ending.
Ukrainian surnames
The most famous Ukrainian surnames - on -enko and -ko: Bondarenko, Luchko, Molodyko. If you look at Russian literature, then in works of art (A.P. Chekhov, for example), writers are quite free with their spelling in the masculine version and in the plural: “Let's go visit the Bondarenkos”.
This is not true, because the official spelling is different from works of art and colloquial speech. The answer to the question whether Ukrainian male surnames tend to - enko and -ko, unequivocal - no. Example:
- I am writing a letter to Oleg Bondarenko.
- She has an affair with Ivan Luchko.
And this applies to all surnames of Ukrainian origin, even such rare ones as Alekhno, Rushailo, Soap, Tolokno. Surnames are never inclined to -ago, -ovo, -yago: Vodolago, Durnovo, Dubyago. But what about those that end in consonants?
Surnames beginning with -k
Historically, suffixes -uk (-uk) they indicated either a kindred or a semantic affiliation: Ivan's son - Ivanchuk, cooper's assistant - Bondarchuk. To a greater extent, they are inherent in the western part of Ukraine, but are widespread among all Slavic peoples. Do male surnames tend to - uk?
According to the laws of the Russian language, female surnames do not change by case, but male surnames ending in a consonant (the exception is the ending -their,-s), decline without fail:
- I wrote a letter to Olga Dimitryuk.
- I was invited to visit Igor Shevchuk.
- I recently saw Sergei Ignatyuk.
All surnames expressed by nouns are subject to change in cases: Mole, Wolf, Wind, Pillar. There is one subtlety here: if the surname is Slavic, then the existing fluent vowel is not always preserved in the root. In jurisdictions, its spelling is important, although many sources do not consider the pronunciation to be incorrect without it. As an example, consider the surname Hare. More often pronounced: "She called Ivan Zayets." This is acceptable, but more correct: "She called Ivan Zayats."
Common in Ukraine and surnames in -ok, -ik: Pochinok, Gorelik. Knowing the rule that all male surnames with a consonant at the end change by case, it is easy to answer the question: do male surnames tend to -to:
- She came to the house of Ilya Pochinok (here the fluent vowel disappears).
- He knew Larisa Petrik well.
Exception to the rule
The Slavs often have family endings in -their(s): Chernykh, Ilyinsky. In the first half of the 20th century, male surnames with similar endings were often changed by case. According to the norms of the Russian language today, this is wrong.
The origin of these surnames from the adjective plural requires the preservation of their individuality:
- He greeted Peter Bela X.
Although there is a consonant at the end, this is an exception to the rule that you need to be aware of when answering the question of whether male surnames are declined.
Enough widespread has an ending in -h: Stoikovich, Rabinovich, Gorbach. The general rule applies here:
- Waiting for Semyon Rabinovich to visit.
- He liked Anna Porkhach's exhibition very much.
Armenian surnames
Armenia is a small country with a population of just over 3 million people. But about 8.5 million representatives of the diaspora live in other countries, so they are very widespread. They can often be identified by their traditional ending - an(-yang): Avjan, Dzhigarkhanyan. In ancient times, there was a more archaic family form: -ants (-yants), -oz, which is still common in the south of Armenia: Kurants, Sarkisyants, Tonunts. Is the Armenian male surname inflected?
It is subject to the rules of the Russian language, which have already been mentioned in the article. Male surnames with a consonant at the end are subject to case declension:
- together with Armen Avjan ( wherein "together with Anush Avjan");
- watched a movie with Georg Tonunts ( wherein "Film starring Lili Tonunts").
Ending in vowels
Male surnames remain unchanged if, regardless of origin and belonging to a particular country, they end in the following vowels: and, s, y, u, e, e. Example: Gandhi, Dzhusoyty, Shoigu, Camus, Maigret, Manet. It does not matter at all whether the stress falls on the first or last syllable. This includes Moldovan, Indian, French, Georgian, Italian and Example: " He recently read the poems of Shota Rustaveli". But do male surnames tend to - and I)?
Both options meet here, so it's better to present them in a table:
| bow down | Don't bow down | |
| Letters -and I) not under stress | The last letters follow the consonants: Pied Ha, cafe ka.
| If the last letters follow a vowel - and: Mor ia, Gars and I.
|
| Letters -and I) are under stress | The last letters come after the consonants, but have Slavic roots: Vine, Mitta.
| The last letters follow consonants or vowels and are of French origin: Dumas, Benoist, Delacroix, Zola.
|
To consolidate knowledge, do male surnames tend to - a, we offer you an algorithm that can always be at hand.
German surnames
The origin of Germanic surnames is similar to their history in other states: most are derived from personal names, place names, nicknames or occupations of their bearers.
The settlement of the Volga region by the Germans in the 18th century led to the fact that their spelling in Russia was often carried out with errors, so there are many similar surnames with a discrepancy in one or two letters. But in fact, all of them, with rare exceptions, end in a consonant, so when answering the question of whether male German surnames are inclined, we can say with confidence: yes. Exceptions are: Goethe, Heine, Otto and others, ending in
Since German surnames change by case, they should be distinguished from Slavic ones. In addition to the common ones, such as Müller, Hoffman, Wittgenstein, Wolf, there are ending in -them: Dietrich, Freindlich, Ulrich. In Russian surnames before -them rarely are soft consonants with hard pairs. This is due to the fact that there are almost no adjectives with similar stems in the language. Slavic surnames, unlike German ones, do not decline (Fifth, Borovsky).
If at the end -ь or -й
The rule by which male surnames are inclined, having consonants without an ending as a basis, also applies to those cases where at the end is put -b or th. They change in cases like second declension nouns. However, in the instrumental case they have a special ending - ohm (em). They are perceived as foreign. To answer the question of whether male surnames tend to -b and th, consider an example:
- Nominative (who?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
- Genitive (of whom?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
- Dative (to whom?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
- Accusative (of whom?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
- Creative (by whom?): Vrubel, Gaidai;
- Prepositional (about whom?): about Vrubel, about Gaidai.
There are exceptions to the rule. So, dissonant surnames (Pelmen), as well as those coinciding with a geographical name (Uruguay, Taiwan), do not decline. Even if it stands after the hissing (Night, Mouse), the surname is inclined according to the male version.
Double and compound surnames
China, Vietnam and Korea are distinguished by the fact that their inhabitants have compound surnames consisting of several words. If they end in a consonant, then they are declined according to the general rules, but only their last part. Example:
- We listened to Kim Jong Il's speech.
Russian double surnames are inclined in both parts according to the general rules:
- painting by Petrov-Vodkin;
- theater Nemirovich-Danchenko.
If the first part is not a surname, but serves integral part, it does not change in cases:
- Ter-Hovhannisyan's jump;
- work by Demuth-Malinovsky.
Whether male surnames of other foreign countries are declined depends entirely on the rules of Russian grammar, which were discussed in the article. The question of the use of the plural or singular when listing two persons remained unclear.
singular and plural
In which cases the plural is used, and in which the singular is best seen from the table:
Male surnames, unlike female ones, are declined, but there are many cases discussed in the article when they are also not subject to change. The main criteria are the ending of the word and the country of origin of the surname.
In Russian, the declension of any words occurs according to cases, the same rule applies to the declension of surnames. We all studied the rules for declension of words back at school, but the declension of our middle name or the name of a neighbor has always interested us, we would not want to make a mistake when filling out documents, questionnaires, or just look funny. To do this, we need to remember that declension always occurs in cases we have long known.
- nominative- who? Simakov;
- genitive- whom? Simakova;
- dative- to whom? Simakova;
- accusative- whom? Simakov;
- instrumental- By whom? Simakova;
- prepositional- about whom? about Simakova.
Be sure to take into account the form of the number, singular or plural.
There are additional cases in Russian - local, vocative, initial, quantitative-separative.
Surnames are divided into female and male. There is no neuter gender, because there are an insignificant number of nouns that have a neuter gender, for example: an animal, a monster, a face. They are generic nouns, they are Russian and foreign.
Ordinary endings of Russian surnames:
- -ov - -ev;
- -sky - -sky;
- -yn - -in;
- -tskoy - -tsky.
Without a suffix, they are inclined in the same way as any adjectives: Cheerful - Cheerful, Svetlov - Svetlov, Green - Green.
Such as Glinsky, Sladkikh - indeclinable and are considered frozen form, such a rule applies to foreign surnames with the ending -e and -ih: Freindlich, Kiyashkikh. Surname with the ending -yago - -ago: Zhiryago, Dubrago.
Declension rules
This should be remembered:
- Atypical Russians, just like foreign ones, must be declined as a noun, and typical ones - as an adjective.
- Feminine surnames with a zero ending -й, -ъ or ending in a consonant - do not decline! Fisherman, Blacksmith, Valdai. For example: Call Marina Melnik! Anastasia Bartol is not at home!
- If the surname has the ending -а - -я, it does not decline in Russian (Kantaria, Kuvalda), neither male nor female, which cannot be said about Ukrainian and others Slavic languages, there it inclines: Gunko - Gunka, Matyushenko - Matyushenko, Petrenko - Petrenko.
- Foreign variants with a vowel ending (except -a) are not declined. Jean Reno, Mussolini, Fidel Castro, Alexander Rowe.
Masculine ending in -a change: Beigora - Beigore, Beigora; Maivoda - Mayvoda, Mayvoda; Crow - Crow, Crow, Crow; Varava - Varava, Varava; Guitar - Guitar, Guitar, Guitar.
Foreign surnames that have come to us with an ending in -ov, -in, in the instrumental case will have an ending -om, like any nouns: Kron - Kron, Chapkin - Chapkin.
Pseudonyms are inclined in the same way: Dryn - the song is sung by Dryn.
How to decline female
Feminine ending in –ina: Zhuravlina, Yagodina. Tatyana Zhuravlina, Oksana Yagodina. If initially Zhuravlina's surname is male, then it will be correct: Tatyana Zhuravlina, Oksana Yagodina.
It is important to remember that the declension does not always depend on the gender of its carrier, the main thing that matters is the ending - a consonant or a vowel.
There are several groups that not subject to inclination, those end in -s, -i, -i, as well as -e, -u, -o, -e, -u, -s. Example: performed by Lyanka Gryu, Mireille Mathieu, Bruce Lee, Hercule Poirot.
The gender of the bearer of the surname is significant only if it ends in -ih, -ih: Mnikh - for Mnikh, Belykh - for Belykh. Any masculine, if it ends in a consonant, is inclined, this is the rule of Russian grammar. Feminine ending in a consonant, will never bow! And it doesn't matter where your middle name comes from. Men will be inclined, which coincide with common nouns, for example: poems by Alexander Blok, songs by Mikhail Krug, trophies by Sergei Korol.
Some female Armenian surnames are indeclinable: prepared by Rimma Ameryan, belongs to Karina Davlatyan.
It is noteworthy that masculine ones, having East Slavic roots and a fluent vowel, can decline in two ways - without loss or with loss of a vowel sound: for Roman Hare or for Roman Hare - this and that will be correct, and choose how the middle name will sound, only to its owner. But it is advised to stick to one type of declension when receiving all documents in order to avoid confusion.
There is one more feature that you need to know for options that end in -y, less often -oy. There is also a variant of declension in a twofold way: if the ending is oh, then decline as an adjective: male - Ivan Likhoy, Ivan Likhoy; female - Inna Likhaya, to Inna Likhaya. And it can be considered as a zero ending, then it will turn out: Ivan Likhoy, from Ivan Likhoy; Inna Likhoy, to Inna Likhoy.
If the ending is -ey, -ay, then it is inclined according to the general rules: to Ivan Shakhrai; Maria Shahrai.
If the surname ends in two vowels, the last of which is I, it is inclined, for example: David Bakaria, Georgy Zhvania. It turns out: to David Bakaria, with Georgy Zhvania.
When the surname has an ending of two vowels with the last -a: Morois, Delacroix, she does not decline! Fidel Morois, Fidel Morois, Irina Delacroix, Irina Delacroix.
If at the end there is a consonant and -a, -ya, then in these cases the place of stress and origin matter. There are only 2 exceptions:
- you can’t incline the names of the French with an emphasis on the last syllable: Zola, Dumas.
- most often the second names of Finns do not decline: Dekkala, Paikalla, lunch with Rauno Dekkala, I will go to Renate Paikalla.
The rest of the surnames that end in -a and -ya, regardless of whether they are stressed or unstressed, are bowed! Despite the general misconception, those who coincide with a common noun are inclined, for example: Tatyana Loza's pen, give the notebook to Nikolai Shlyapa, read Bulat Okudzhava's poems.
It is noteworthy that previously indeclinable japanese surnames are declension nowadays, for example: Ryunosuke Akutagawa's short stories, Akira Kurosawa's films were read.
These are, in principle, all the basic rules, and as we can see, there are not so many of them. We can argue with the listed misconceptions associated with the myth of the declension of the surname, so:
- there is no basic rule that indeclinable surnames are all Polish, Georgian, Armenian and others; declension is subject to the rules of the grammar of the Russian language, lends itself to inflection;
- the old rule that all males decline and females do not, is not suitable for everyone, but for those who have a consonant at the end;
- it cannot be an obstacle to declension that this word coincides with a common noun.
Do not forget that this is just a word that is subject to the laws of grammar, like all other words. For example: passport issued to Muka Ivan, instead of the correct flour to Ivan, and the wounded experienced flour, instead of flour. And there, and there - a grammatical error.
It is also important to observe the rules of declension because the opposite can lead to incidents and misunderstandings.
For example: photo by Peter Loz. Every student in school knows that the male surname in the genitive case, ending in -a, will remain with a zero ending when switching to the nominative case, and any literate person will conclude that the author of the photo is Peter Loz. The work submitted for verification by A. Prisyazhnyuk will look for his mistress: Anastasia or Anna. And Anatoly will have to prove that he decided and wrote it.
Important to remember
There is a truth that must be learned by heart!
- The declension of all surnames in Russian obeys the laws of grammar.
- You need to decline, starting first of all from what sound is at the end: a consonant or a vowel.
- The rule that only male surnames are inclined, and female ones are not, is not suitable for everyone, but only ending in a consonant sound.
- They are not an obstacle to the declension of variants similar to a common noun.
1. Names (Slavic) on -about such as Levko, Marco, Pavlo, Petro are inclined according to the pattern of declension of masculine neuter nouns, for example: in front of Levko, at Mark; in M. Gorky, the name Danko is not inclined (“... she told about the burning heart of Danko”).
Names that have parallel forms on -about – -a(Gavrilo - Gavrila, Mikhail - Mikhaila), usually declined according to the type of nouns feminine declension: at Gavrila, to Gavrila, with Gavrila. Other endings (at Gavril, to Gavril, with Gavril) are formed from another original form of Gavril.
2. foreign names consonants are inclined regardless of whether they are used alone or together with a surname, for example: novels by Jules Verne (not “Jules Verne”), stories by Mark Twain, plays by John Boynton Priestley, fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, book by Pierre-Henri Simon. Partial deviations are observed with double French names, for example: the philosophical views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an evening in memory of Jean-Richard Blok (the first name is not declined, see § 13, paragraph 3).
3. When declensing Slavic names and surnames, Russian declension forms are used (in particular, fluent vowels are preserved in indirect forms), for example: Edek, Vladek (Polish names) - Edek, Vladek (not “Edka”, “Vladka”); Karel Capek - Karel Capek, (not "Chapka"); Vaclav Havel - Vaclav Havel (not "Havl").
4. Russian and foreign surnames ending in a consonant are declined if they refer to men, and do not decline if they refer to women. Compare: student Kulik - student Kulik, George W. Bush - Barbara Bush. Frequent deviations from the rule (the inflexibility of Russian male surnames ending in a consonant sound) are observed in cases where the surname is consonant with the name of an animal or inanimate object (Goose, Belt), in order to avoid unusual or curious combinations, for example: “At Mr. Goose”, "Citizen Belt". Often in such cases, especially in official business speech, keep the surname in its initial form (cf .: train with Stanislav Zhuk) or make changes to given type declensions, for example, preserve a fluent vowel sound in oblique cases (cf.: highly appreciate the courage of Konstantin Kobets).
5. Surnames are not inclined to -ago, -ako, -yago, -yh, -them, -ovo: Shambinago, Plevako, Dubyago, Red, Long, Durnovo. Only in vernacular are there forms like “at Ivan Sedykh”.
6. Foreign surnames ending in a vowel (except for unstressed -and I, with a preceding consonant) are not declined, for example: Zola's novels, Hugo's poems, Bizet's operas, Punchini's music, Shaw's plays, Salman Rushdie's poems.
Often Slavic (Polish and Czech) surnames are also brought under this rule. -ski and -s: opinions of Zbigniew Brzezinski (American public and political figure), Pokorny's Dictionary (Czech linguist). However, it should be borne in mind that the tendency to transfer such surnames in accordance with their sound in the source language (cf. the spelling of the Polish surnames Gliński, Leszczynska - with the letter b before ck) is combined with the tradition of their transmission according to the Russian model in writing and declension: works by the Polish writer Krasiński, performances by the singer Ewa Bandrowska-Turska, a concert by the pianist Czerny-Stefanska, an article by Octavia Opulska-Danetska, etc. In order to avoid difficulties in the functioning of such surnames in the Russian language, it is advisable to arrange them according to the model of the declension of Russian masculine and female surnames on the -sky, -sky, -th, -th. Polish combinations are inclined similarly, for example: Home Army, Home Army, etc.
From surnames to stressed -a only Slavic ones incline: The writer Mayboroda, the philosopher Skovoroda, the films of Alexander Mitta.
Non-Russian surnames on unstressed -oh, -i(mostly Slavic and Romanesque) are inclined, for example: the work of Jan Neruda, the poems of Pablo Neruda, the works of the honorary academician N.F. Gamaleya, Campanella's utopianism, Torquemada's cruelty, a film starring Giulietta Mazina; but movies with Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda. Finnish surnames also do not decline to -a: a meeting with Kuusela. Foreign surnames do not decline to -ia, for example: Heredia's sonnets, Gulia's stories; in -iya - they are inclined, for example: the atrocities of Beria.
Fluctuations are observed in the use of Georgian, Japanese and some other surnames; compare: aria performed by Zurab Sotkilava, Okudzhava's songs, Ardzinba's government, 100th anniversary of the birth of Saint-Katayama, policy of General Tanaka, works by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. AT last years there is a clear trend towards declension of such surnames.
7. Ukrainian surnames on -ko (-enko) in fiction, they are usually declined, although according to different type declensions (as masculine or neuter words), for example: an order to the head of Yevtukh Makogonenok; a poem dedicated to Rodzyanka M.V. In the modern press, such surnames, as a rule, are not declined, for example: the anniversary of Taras Shevchenko, memories of V.G. Korolenko. In some cases, however, their variability is appropriate for introducing clarity into the text, cf.: letter from V.G. Korolenko A.V. Lunacharsky - a letter addressed to V.G. Korolenka. Wed also in Chekhov: “Toward evening, Belikov ... trudged to Kovalenki.” Surnames do not bow to -ko percussion: the Franko Theater, Lyashko's stories.
8. In compound names and surnames of Korean, Vietnamese, Burmese, the last part is inclined (if it ends in a consonant sound), for example: Choi Hen's speech, Pham Van Dong's statement, conversation with U Ku Ling.
9. In Russian double surnames, the first part is declined if it is used as a surname in itself, for example: songs by Solovyov-Sedoy, paintings by Sokolov-Skaly. If the first part does not form a surname, then it does not decline, for example: research by Grum-Grzhimailo, in the role of Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, sculpture by Demut-Malinovsky.
10. Non-Russian surnames referring to two or more persons are put in the plural form in some cases, in the singular form in others:
1) if the surname has two male names, then it is put in the plural form, for example: Heinrich and Thomas Mann, August and Jean Picard, Adolf and Michael Gottlieb; also father and son of Oistrakhi;
- 2) with two female names, the surname is put in the singular form, for example: Irina and Tamara Press (compare the resistance of surnames to a consonant sound related to women);
- 3) if the surname is accompanied by male and female names, then it retains the singular form, for example: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Ariadne and Peter Tur, Nina and Stanislav Zhuk;
- 4) the surname is also put in the singular if it is accompanied by two common nouns indicating a different gender, for example: Mr. and Mrs. Clinton, Lord and Lady Hamilton; however, with combinations of husband and wife, brother and sister, the surname is more often used in the plural: husband and wife of Estrema, brother and sister of Niringa;
- 5) at the word of the spouse, the surname is put in the singular form, for example: spouses Kent, spouses Major;
- 6) with the word brothers, the surname is also usually put in the singular, for example: the Grimm brothers, the Spiegel brothers, the Schellenberg brothers, the Pokrass brothers; the same with the word sister: sisters Koch;
- 7) with the word family, the surname is usually put in the singular form, for example: the Oppenheim family, the Hoffman-steel family.
11. In combinations of Russian surnames with numerals, the following forms are used: two Petrovs, both Petrovs, two Petrovs, both Petrov brothers, two Petrov friends; two (both) Zhukovskys; two (both) Zhukovsky. Combinations of numerals with foreign-language surnames are also brought under this rule: both Schlegels, two brothers of Manna.
12. Female patronymics are inclined according to the type of declension of nouns, not adjectives, for example: Anna Ivanovna, Anna Ivanovna, Anna Ivanovna.