In some languages and countries, surname inflection (, , ) refers to the transformation of a gendered surname. Most often, the surname is transformed from masculine to feminine by modifying the initial form of the surname. Inflection of surnames is especially typical for fusional languages, in which it is usually done with specific suffixes.
The purpose of surname inflection is usually to express the surname bearer's family status using grammatical gender. Slavic languages Bulgarian
Most Bulgarian surnames are inflected by gender.
Czech Surnames are inflected in accordance with the rule of agreement of subject and predicate, thereby expressing relationships in the sentence (for example, what is the podmet and what is the subject). For historical and linguistic reasons, the forms of female surnames are mainly the result of inflecting male surnames.
The female variant of the surname is usually formed from the basic male variant, making the male and female variants grammatically symmetrical. Moreover, in some other languages and cultures, maiden surnames (belonging to the father, e.g. Polish -ówna) were or are being distinguished from married surnames (belonging to the husband, e.g. Polish -owa).
Inflection rarely involves inflecting the feminine form of the surname to the masculine. When a person changes gender to masculine, is a groom who takes the bride's surname, or is the son of an unmarried mother, the masculine form is used, commonly understood as basic, uninflected.
Development and methods of inflection As historical records testify, women's names used to be as free as men's names. A woman was therefore a separately named person, often independent of a man's name, e.g. by origin. Examples: Eliška z Křivé, žena Jana Pšeničky z Račína ("Eliška from Křivá, wife of Jan Pšenička from Račín") (1483); M. Š. Plachý koupil dvůr od Mariany Bosákovic, manželky Jakuba Koklštejna ("M.Š. Plachý bought a garden from Mariana Bosákovic, wife of Jakub Koklštejn") (1610).Beneš Josef: O našich příjmeních, In Naše řeč, Volume 28 (1944) Issue 7, Gradually, several ways of writing female names became established:
First name of the woman and her occupation (e.g., Káča děvečka, Anna kuchařka, Barbora markytánka — Káča the housemaid, Anna the cook, Barbora the sutler). The woman's first name and her relationship (Anna matka Probošta, Manda žena Pátka, Ludmila za Bobka, Dorota vdova po Novotným, Anna dcera Hejla). This method of writing was also used in registers kept in Latin (Ludmilla filia Jakobi Holan, Anna vidua post Vitum Slaby). The woman's first name combined with an adjective or noun, formed from the man's name or the name of the man's or father's occupation (e.g., Mariána ševcova, Dorota Karáskova, Kateřina mlynářka, or Anna Beranka). For surnames formed by an adjective, the surname is naturally distinguished (e.g., Pěkná, Malopolská, Witovská)
The inflection of (male) surnames by means of various suffixes was promoted gradually and locally differently:
The most frequent was the suffix -ová or -ova. Notations were usually made without diacritical marks and the two suffixes are therefore indistinguishable (e.g., Svoboda to Svobodová or Svobodova). Evidence of using the suffix -ová to create feminine designations from a man's name can be found in obituaries, urbars or town books from the 14th century.František Oberpfalcer: O ženských jménech přechylovaných příponou -ová, Naše řeč, Volume 17 (1933), Issue 3, pp. 72–77 The designation of women with the suffix -ová has been documented since the 15th century and primarily expressed the man's occupation, which the woman usually shared with him in some way, e.g., císařová (caesar's), hospodářová (householder's), kantorová (cantor's), or mistrová (master's). The same forms (e.g., ciesařová, králová, kupcová, mistrová) were used for women who performed the function or profession themselves. In Eastern dialects, inflected relative names were also formed in a similar way, such as dětková bába, svatová, teščová, or bratová.
All Czech dialects have preserved inflecting names using the suffix -ka.Oberpfalcer František: Přechylování jmen jako výraz rozdílu v pohlaví, II. In Naše řeč, Volume 16 (1932) Issue 8, Cejnar to Cejnarka was common but also Čech to Češka.Pleskalová Jana: Osobní jména v krevní knize městečka Bojkovic, In Sborník prací filozofické fakulty Brněnské univerzity, A24, Volume 1976, pp. 61-62, The suffix -ka is currently used for hypokoristikon of famous women such as actresses (e.g., Bohdalka for "Jiřina Bohdalová" and Pilarka for "Eva Pilarová"), teachers, and neighbors (baba Jeremiáška), among others. Some combined -ová and -ka to create the ending -ovka or -ouka (e.g., židovka, krejčouka, dědouka, starostovka). Another, less common inflection was the suffix -na (e.g., Hřivčena), often combined with -ová to create -ovna (e.g., Přemyslovna, Stuartovna, Slavatovna, Štěchovna). Words ciesařovna (empress) and královna or králevna (queen) originally meant the daughter of the emperor, the king. The feminine patronymic in other East Slavic languages has the same form. The suffix -ice (Ocelice) was also used, especially in Moravia, similar to how long ago people were referred to, e.g., by their leader, ruler (e.g., Markvartici) and from that the names of the settlements (e.g., Markvartice, Vršovice). Naming related to the father's family persisted (e.g., Suchých).
The way of recording and the use of suffixes varied by the place and time of the recordings and the habit of the recorder. Different forms of notation could be used to name the same person (e.g., Káča, Káča Ocelice, Káča, nebožtíka Oceli dcera, Kateřina Ocelových).Pleskalová Jana: Osobní jména v krevní knize městečka Bojkovic, In Sborník prací filozofické fakulty Brněnské univerzity, A24, ročník 1976, str. 62,
In register entries written in Latin, the unbiased indication of the kinship relationship was usually used. Some register records written at the end of the 18th century in German added the suffix -in to a man's name, (e.g., Svoboda to Anna Svobodin). Other registries in Latin inflected surnames with the suffix -iana. In the register of births of the Slap parish from the years 1752–1790, the recorders had difficulties transitioning from inflecting with the suffix -iana to the forms of female surnames that were commonly used in the locality at that time. On two consecutive pages in this matrix, variants occurred in inflection, including older shapes with the suffix -iana (Svobodiana, Zbraslavskiana, Nevarziliana, Malliana), an attempt at innovation with -owin (e.g., Prawdowin), the German suffix -in (e.g., Czamskin) and Czech suffixes -a (e.g., Zbraslavska, Malla), -ova or -owa (e.g., Pankova, Kralowa).
Around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, many publications proposed -ová should be used for married and widowed women and -ova for unmarried women to distinguish them in literary language. The basis for this proposal was that unmarried women often used the possessive adjective form -ova in colloquial Czech. The proposal appeared in the Pokrok magazine discussion in 1876, appeared in the register Brusu jazyka českého from 1877 and the next two editions, and was submitted by Alois Hlavinka, Povaha česká v řeči, 1916, str. 127. The distinction was rejected by Oldřich Hujer in a paper in Listy filologické 44, 1917, str. 366.
Grammatical rules of inflection Typically, the masculine variant of the surname takes the grammatical form of a noun, while the feminine variant acquires the form of a substantive adjective by adding the suffix -ová to the stem of the male surname. This includes surnames that are grammatically a feminine word, e.g., Vrána (crow) or Smetana (cream); as a surname they acquire the masculine gender, and the feminine variant is formed by inflection with the suffix -ová. Inflection is usually only a matter of adding the ending -ová (e.g., Jakubův becomes Jakubůvová, not Jakubová). However, some types of male surnames require dropping the ending (usually the final vowel) when creating the female variant, e.g. Vrána to Vránová. Czech grammatical principles sometimes dictate a phonetic change in the stem of the surname, typically the dropping of a vowel (e.g., Čeněk to Čeňková). Latin endings that normally fall out during declension are also not observed; for example, the inflected form of the surname Paulus is Paulusova, not Paulova.
Surnames that are hard adjectives (ending with -ý, -á, or -é) usually have a symmetrical masculine and feminine form (e.g., Nový to Nová, Dobrovský to Dobrovská). Surnames ending in -ý can also have inflected forms ending in -ýová, especially if the adjective is outdated or unfamiliar, e.g., Šurý has the inflected forms Šurá and Šurýová. For some surnames ending in -ě, the letter "t" is also added; for example, the surname Kníže can become Knížová, Knížetová and Knížeová.
For surnames that are soft adjectives (ending with -í), the masculine and feminine forms are identical and do not vary in any singular cases (e.g., Krejčí), which may make the feminine variant appear indeclinable. Therefore, these names are sometimes also inflected with the suffix -ová (paní Krejčová). If a surname ends with -í but is likely not an adjective, it is sometimes inflected, e.g. Brixí to Brixíová.
Surnames ending in "-ů" are usually uninflected and gender neutral (e.g., Janů, Martinů, Krejčů), though exceptions do occur (e.g., Jankůová, Petrůová, Pavlůová, Bratrůová). Surnames ending with -ých (e.g., Šerých) or -ovic (e.g., Novákovic) are also indeclinable. In Southern Bohemian dialects, some colloquial forms of surnames are gender neutral, especially when naming a family collective, e.g., Novákojc. Whether or not the name is inflected in these cases is governed by tradition; Mrs. Krejčů and Krejčová can be derived from the same masculine base.
Surnames formed by imperative sentences (e.g., Osolsobě, Skočdopole, Hrejsemnou, Přinesdom) may differ in practice of inflection. For example, the Osolsobová variant is not used, while the variants Skočdopolová and Přinesdomová occur.
Inflection of foreign surnames Female surnames from foreign languages are usually adapted to the feminine form in Czech. When translating female surnames into Czech from languages that have their own inflectional means, the default feminine form is usually used, especially if the language in question uses similar methods of inflection that are comprehensible to a Czech speaker. With names from Slavic languages, the original form and declension are sometimes respected, e.g., Věrka Serďučka (second fall Serďučky), Anna Karenina but also Anna Kareninová.
If the source language uses uninflected surnames or a method of inflection incompatible with Czech grammar, the suffix -ová is usually added after the surname or its stem.Přechylování ženských příjmení pocházejících z jazyků, které mají vlastní přechylovací prostředky, Internetová jazyková příručka, ÚJČ AVČR This applies both to cases of Czech citizens adopting surnames of foreign origin and to communications concerning foreign citizens. In the case of translations of texts into Czech, it is recommended, from a stylistic point of view, to use foreign surnames in an italicized form (except in special cases), as this is characteristic of the Czech language system.Karel Sekvent: Přechylování v překladech ze stylistického hlediska. Dostupné online . 31 March 2016.