why, why, why

Discussion in 'Movies, Music & Media' started by sleepybee, Mar 27, 2008.

  1. sleepybee

    sleepybee Member

    Someone please explain to me why czech people have the need for altering foreigners last names. For example: Paris Hilton-Hiltonova, Barbra Bush-Bushova.
    Why can't they just use it as is? Americans have enough respect not to shorten last names of czech people like Navratilova, Porizkova etc.
    This is just driving me absolutely nuts. For years!
     
  2. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Well, I'm not big fan of "přechylování" either, but it isn't so easy.

    For starters - Americans DO change Czech names - Navratilova is in fact Navrátilová, Porizkova is Pořízková. And how Americans butcher pronunciation! ;) My friend and his wife became American citizens and she has in passport name without -ova now.

    And even if we will stop to do it - we change names anyway with every change of case etc... Like:

    To je pan Smith.
    Dáme to panu Smithovi.
    Sehnali už Smithe?
    To je Smithův syn.
     
  3. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    But there are some exceptions, some names are so hard to "alter" noone tries, for example Lavigne, Crow, ...
     
  4. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    I've seen Carmen Electraová and Lucy Luiová in tv magazine!!!
     
  5. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

  6. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    Because the Czechs tends to treat the foreign names in the same way as the Czech names. It is not different in English.

    Respect? No, there is no respect in it (nor disrespect). You just use the name in the first form you met and you don’t modify it because that’s the way English treats the words. And you are not right, the Americans very often modify the Czech names. For Americans, Jaromír Jágr’s mother is called “Jagr” and Martina Navrátilová’s father is called “Navratilova”.

    Yes, Navrátilová is called “Navratilova”, but Hingisová is called “Hingis”.

    And you have “Cauchy-Kowalevski theorem”, not “Cauchy-Kowalewska theorem”.

    For Czechs there is no wonder there was some sex scandal because of Monica Lewinsky. A person with such a name has evidently some problems with sexuality.

    Not speaking of the Belgian Eugène Savitzkaya. :twisted:
     
  7. Sova

    Sova Well-Known Member

    :lol: :lol: Thanks for the laugh, wer! I hadn't thought about it that way before.
     
  8. PGN

    PGN Well-Known Member

    Was Lewinski reported as a ska or sky back then in Czech news?
     
  9. PGN

    PGN Well-Known Member

    The ska, ski, ova's IMO is the ultimate showing of respect. If your reading or listening to something that only mentions last names...Bushova is only one person, no confusion there.

    When in Rome.......

    I think the only thing that is not respectful is that Petr has two name days, one of which falls on my name day and now my brother-in-law expects to get something on my name day!!!!!!

    he he he....I'll give him flowers :twisted:
     
  10. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Whoops :) sometimes people are just crazy :) Carmen Electraová, Lucy Liuová, Avril Lavigneová, Sheryl Crowová :), ... what next :roll:
     
  11. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Sure, no confusion at all. Btw., do you mean Barbara Bush (G. H. W. B.'s wife), Laura Bush (current first lady), or one of her daughters? :wink:
     
  12. sleepybee

    sleepybee Member

    Obviously americans can not use hacky and carky. And czechs can just say "manzelka or pani Barbara Bush". I don't think there should be confusion in it b/c if you talk about the person you know something about them and you know if they are male or female, news and magazines have pictures most of the time.
    I just don't get it. But on the other side I understand why living in US you would want to remove the ova .
     
  13. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    But what about other cases?

    To je dum pani Bushe?
    Setkal jsem se s Barbarou Bushem?
    Bez Barbary Bushe neodejdu.

    Or not to decline at all?
     
  14. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Surely the point is so that you can tell who is the subject and who is the object of the sentence? Without changing the endings, you wouldn't be able to...
     
  15. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Probably, yes.

    Setkal jsem se s Georgem Bushem (patern muž - 7th case - mužem)

    muž - George Bush
    muže - George Bushe
    muži - Georgi Bushi
    muže - George Bushe
    muži! - Georgi Bushi!
    muži - (exception - pattern "pán" - pánovi) Goergi Bushovi
    mužem - Georgem Bushem

    Setkal jsem se s Laurou Bushovou (patern žena - 7th case - ženou)

    It would be odd using patern "muž" speaking of Mrs Bush :)
     
  16. sleepybee

    sleepybee Member

    It would be odd using patern "muž" speaking of Mrs Bush :)[/quote

    I understand your point. What I'm trying to say, americans don't take the "ova" away.They simply read the name as is except hacky and carky.
    Czechs have the need to sklonovat everything and to me it just sound stupid w/foreign names.
    So if you speak about Mrs Bush you know it isn't patern "muz" b/c of the "Mrs".
     
  17. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Althought I understand you, I believe that no nation should change their language because it sounds stupid to other nations. :)
     
  18. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    I agree with you and, to me, the name changes have never sounded stupid, they have just sounded...Czech :)

    This is just one of the wonderful things about languages, all the differences. Think how boring it would be if we all only spoke one language. Oh... but wait, that is what most average Americans do anyway :wink:
     
  19. Alexx

    Alexx Well-Known Member

    Sorry for off topic, but I am just curious - how it is - foreign languages education in states - elementary school, high school - what language (spanish and/or french probably), but is it mandatory, and if it is, since what age?
     
  20. GlennInFlorida

    GlennInFlorida Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure how it is now - used to be that you had to have a foreign language to get into most colleges (usually took it in junior high - now called middle school - and/or high school) I took Spanish because it was used a lot here - the only other language offered at my high school was French - not much use for that here. I believe these days it is mostly elective - I know my nephew never took any language in high school or college (his loss) and neither did my sister (well, she did try French in college but the professor suggested that she drop the class after two weeks :oops: ). Maybe someone here can speak to the requirements today more accurately.
     

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