In Russia, and in other countries, there are quite a lot of unusual toponyms: Alaverdi, Yoshkar-Ola, Gus-Khrustalny and so on. An obvious question arises: what is the correct name for the inhabitants of these settlements? For example, are the inhabitants of Kursk Kursk or Kursk people? Our article will help you deal with this issue.
What are toponyms and ethnonyms?
Before answering the main question of the article about how the residents of Kursk and other cities are called correctly, you need to find out the meaning of some terms.
So, a toponym means any geographical name. These can be the names of cities and villages, individual territories, landforms, rivers, seas, lakes, streets, and so on.
Another concept is closely connected with toponyms - ethnonym (derived from the Greek word "ethnos" - people). These are the names of the inhabitants of a particular area or settlement. Moreover, one should not confuse ethnonyms with the names of nations, peoples or nationalities. It's a completely different concept.
Now we can come to the next question: what is the name ofresidents of Kursk, Arkhangelsk or any other city? And how to avoid mistakes?
What are the inhabitants of Kursk, Omsk, Arkhangelsk called?
Suffixes used to form ethnonyms are:
- -ts-;
- -h-;
- -en-, -yan-;
- -chan.
The names of the inhabitants of cities and villages are always written together, regardless of the original toponym (for example: New York - New Yorkers).
Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Russian language is called one of the most difficult to learn. Some even argue that it is impossible to learn it - you only need to feel it. If we consider the most diverse variants of ethnonyms, then this is not so difficult to believe.
So, there are fairly simple options. For example: Moscow - Muscovites, Kyiv - Kievans, Paris - Parisians, etc. However, this is because these toponyms are well known to many. But how to form ethnonyms from such names of cities as Alaverdi, Oslo or Karlovy Vary? Here you can't do without the help of a philologist.
The suffix -ts- in Russian is used to form ethnonyms that come from toponyms with the endings -ino, -eno, -ovo, -evo. For example: the city of Ivanovo - residents of Ivanovo; the city of Domodedovo - Domodedovo residents, etc. The suffix -h- refers to the archaic, it is used only in the case of ancient Russian cities (Moscow - Muscovites, Tomsk - Tomsk, etc.).
If the names of settlements end in -sk, -tsk or -tsk, then for the formation of ethnonyms, as a rule,suffixes -an, -yan, -chan are used (for example, Irkutsk - Irkutsk people).
But far from all ethnonyms are formed according to this principle. So, in Russia there are many names of cities, for which it is very difficult to find the correct and correct form of the name of its population. By the way, the inhabitants of Kursk also belong to this list of ethnonyms-exceptions.
How not to make a mistake in such a situation? For this, there are assistants - special dictionaries compiled by competent philologists. So, in 2003, one of these was published: "Russian names of inhabitants: a dictionary-reference book".
Residents of Kursk: how to call them correctly?
Kursk is an ancient city that was once part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was founded in 1032, and today it is an important industrial, transport, cultural and religious center of the European part of Russia. About 430,000 people live in the modern city. Residents of the city of Kursk produce plastic and rubber products, electrical equipment and food for the country. Several research institutes and universities operate here.
The inhabitants of Kursk are correctly and correctly called Kursk people (and not Kursk people). Moreover, a Kuryan is a male resident of the city, and a Kuryan is a female.
Some unusual demonyms
In some cities of the planet, women, figuratively speaking, are not welcome at all. From these toponyms it is simply impossible to form feminine demonyms! Tosuch "gender-phobic cities" include: New York (USA), Daugavpils (Latvia), Copenhagen (Denmark), Pereslavl-Zalessky (Russia).
Here is another list of some non-standard ethnochrononyms (Russian and foreign):
- Oslo: Oslo, Oslo;
- Cannes: kannets, cannca;
- Engels: Engelsites, Engelsites;
- Yaya: egg, egg;
- Arkhangelsk: Arkhangelsk, Arkhangelsk;
- Omsk: Omsk, Omsk;
- Rzhev: Rzhevityan, Rzhevityanka;
- Torzhok: Novotor, Novotorka.
Conclusion
Now you know what the inhabitants of Kursk are called. It should be noted once again that there is no single rule for the formation of ethnonyms in the Russian language. For each option (city), it is advisable to use a special dictionary.
