Partners of European leaders, Ukrainian and international officials, as well as celebrities gathered in Kyiv on Sept. 6 for the third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, initiated by Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska. First held in 2021, the summit aims to bring the world’s first ladies and

Partners of European leaders, Ukrainian and international officials, as well as celebrities gathered in Kyiv on Sept. 6 for the third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, initiated by Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska. First held in 2021, the summit aims to bring the world’s first ladies and

  • FfaerieOxide@kbin.social
    2·
    1 year ago

    Why is her last name Zelenska and not Zelenskyy?

    Assume it’s some quirk of Ukrainian language but I can’t find which quirk.

    • lusterko@kbin.socialOP
      4·
      1 year ago

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Slavic_naming_customs#Grammar

      The surnames that originally are short (-ov, -ev, -in) or full (-iy/-oy/-yy) Slavic adjectives, have different forms depending on gender: male forms -ov, -ev, -in and -iy/-oy/-yy correspond to female forms -ova, -eva, -ina and -aya, respectively. For example, the wife of Борис Ельцин (Boris Yel’tsin) was Наина Ельцина (Naina Yel’tsina); the wife of Leo Tolstoy was Sophia Tolstaya, etc. All other, i.e. non-adjectival, surnames stay the same for both genders (including surnames ending with -енко (-yenko), -ич (-ich) etc.), unlike in many West Slavic languages, where the non-adjectival surname of men corresponds to derivative feminine adjectival surname (Novák → Nováková). Note the difference between patronymics and surnames ending with -ich: surnames are the same for males and females, but patronymics are gender-dependent (for example, Ivan Petrovich Mirovich and Anna Petrovna Mirovich)

    • lusterko@kbin.socialOP
      3·
      1 year ago

      In some surnames the ending changes depending on the sex of the person. For example Zelenskyy (masculine) - Zelenska(feminine), Zaluzhnyi (masculine) - Zaluzhna(feminine), Bobrov(masculine) - Bobrova(feminine). But it doesn’t change in other surnames like Zalizniak, Patrushevych, etc.
      Sorry, but I can’t provide a better explanation right now