Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 14:08:22 -0700 From: Peter McGraw Subject: Re: Garcia (Marquez) On Tue, 29 Jul 1997, Alan Baragona wrote: > > In Russian the patronymic comes before the surname, and its form is > based on the father's first name ("Nikolaievich"--sp?), with -skaya > instead of -evich being added for a daughter. Then there's Icelandic, > which really confuses things by using a Russian-type patronymic as the > ONLY surname, so that Eric Ericsson and Ingrid Ericsdottr can be brother > and sister. But it's a small island. > > Alan B. > I know this thread has strayed off-topic, but I can't resist a final nit-pick: Actually, -skaya is the feminine form of the surname suffix -ski/-sky/-skiy (depending on what transliteration you choose). The feminine form of the patronymic is -evna. And the Icelandic names would be Eiri'kur Eiri'ksson and Ingrid Eiri'ksdo'ttir. Peter Mc.