Patronymic education is a necessary process in everyday life, but not always simple. Sometimes the formation of the desired option from one or another name turns out to be a whole problem both from the side of the directly necessary transformations, and from the side of how exactly one or another variant should be pronounced. All this can become quite a serious problem, requiring certain knowledge to solve it. In particular, for this it is necessary to draw some information from onomastics, the science of proper names. At least in order, for example, to form the correct middle name on behalf of Nikita.
Middle Names
The full naming of a person varies from country to country. So, the Icelanders do not have such a thing as a surname, a person is called only by his name and a kind of "middle name" - a patronym or matronym (in Russia there is a case when a man’s passport contains both middle name and motherhood), which are formed on behalf of his father or mothers accordingly.
Another situation has historically developed among the Eastern Slavs. In their tradition, a person’s full name consists of a surname (often formed from a kind of activity or nickname of one of the ancestors), own name and patronym. The latter was originally used exclusively by the top of ancient Russian society, by princes and their warriors. So, even in epics by name and patronymic they call exclusively the noble origin of the warriors, and the only exception is the plowman Mikula Siljaninovich.
Against the general background, Novgorod stood out, always famous for its self-will. Here, the townspeople made a habit of contacting each other by patronymic. The first surnames in Russia also arose here. For military purposes. To make it easier to distinguish one Kuzma from another.
General rules for the formation of a middle name
The education of the patronym, like many other things in the Russian language, is subject to a number of rules. In order to correctly form a middle name, or to answer your question, which middle name is on behalf of Nikita, you should first pay attention to its end. Based on this, the appropriate suffix is selected:
- For names ending in a solid consonant (except for w, w, h, h, n, t), the suffix “-ovic” or “-ovna” is used, for example, “Aleksandrovich” and “Ivanovna”.
- The suffix "-evich" or "-evna" is added to those names that end in w, w, h, h, u and q, as a result of a middle name such as "Zhorzhevich" or "Frantsevna".
- For names ending in unstressed vowels a, y, s, use the suffixes “-ovic” and “-ovna”, while removing the last vowel - “Antipovich” and “Gavrilovna”, however there are a few exceptions (for example, female middle name from named "Nikita" - "Nikitichna").
- The suffixes "-ovich" and "-ovna" are used for names that end with an unstressed "o", for example, "Vasilkovich" and "Mikhailovna."
- A separate paragraph is the old Russian names that end in the combination of "her" and "ia", in their case the last vowel is discarded and the suffix "-evich" or the suffix "-evna" is added, for example, "Meneevich" or "Zakharievna".
A separate list can be made up of foreign names. Difficulties arise quite often here, especially because part of these patronymics “aligns” with the pattern of patronymics from Russian names over time, which will be discussed below.
Middle Name from Foreign Names
A separate story is the formation of a middle name on a foreign behalf. It is necessary to understand here that if we are talking about names that are traditional for those peoples that are historically closely associated with Russia, whose territories have long been a part of it, then there is the formation of a middle name for the same models as in the Russian language with some modifications with time.
For example, the patronymic Yanovich is used instead of the middle name Yanisovich and Vakhtangovich instead of Vakhtangievich. At the same time, children from interethnic marriages find themselves in a difficult situation, whose parents want to issue them the documents of the country from which the father of the child is born, and Russian documents. Earlier there was a place for the formation of a patronym in Russian-language documents, it was very likely to see in the birth certificate, for example, the middle name "Dzhonovich". However, in recent years, for children born in international marriages, documents can be issued without a middle name.
Features of pronunciation of Russian patronymics
In colloquial speech, a person often shortens one or another word uttered by him. Something similar happens with middle names. Moreover, in some situations, this is unacceptable. In order not to be in an awkward position, you should remember a few simple rules:
- In a situation of business, official communication, as well as at the first presentation of a person, one should pronounce his name and patronymic as clearly as possible without any abbreviations.
- If the middle name begins with "and", then if it is pronounced after the name with a solid consonant at the end, the sound "and" goes into the sound "s".
- Male patronymics in "-ovic" can be pronounced both in full and in short form (for example, patronymic on behalf of "Nikita" - "Nikitovich" - can be pronounced as "Nikitych"), however, it is recommended to pronounce female patronymics in full.
Conclusion
The correct education and pronouncing of patronymic is sometimes quite a challenge. Especially in cases where it is a question of non-Russian names. However, the assimilation of a number of simple rules can greatly facilitate it.