How come in Russia everyones last name ends in "ski" ????
2006-08-24 17:26:58 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Other - Entertainment
I think you are a little mixed up.. Are you not referring to Polish people? They are the ones with the SKI on the end of their names.
2006-08-24 17:30:07 · answer #1 · answered by Guzzy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Basic Explanation of Surname Endings
-ewski, -owski, -ien~ski, -in~ski, and -yn~skis
The -ski is an adjectival suffix, which can be added directly to a stem -- as piekarski means "of the baker (piekarz)" -- or can be compounded with other suffixes. Two common suffixes that can precede -ski are: 1) -ew- or -ow- (basically the same thing, dependent on whether the stem ends in a consonant classified as hard or soft); and 2) -in- or -ien- or -yn. The -yn is added to stems ending in hard consonants, the other two added to "soft" stems; for all intents and purposes, -ien- can be regarded as a variant of -in-, often indicating some dialect difference in pronunciation. Both prefixes have a possessive meaning, so that -owski/-ewski and -i[e]nski/-ynski mean "of the _'s." In the suffix combinations -inski and -ynski the N is softened and spelled with an accent, which I render on-line as N~ (-in~ski and -yn~ski). We also see these suffixes added to names without -ski, so that Jan means "John" and Janów means "of John," and Russian Stalin means "[man] of steel" (stal'). We see places called Janów, which just means "[place] of John." Suffixes can also be added to those suffixes, so that we also see Janowo, also meaning "[place] of John," and Lipiny, "[place] of the lindens" (from lipa, "linden"). http://www.polishroots.org/surnames/surnames_endings.htm
Check the above website for explanation.
2006-08-25 00:35:06 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gorbachev, Stalin, Rasputin. The ski suffix is an indication of nobility in the balkan states like Latvia or Poland
2006-08-25 00:30:25 · answer #3 · answered by King Rao 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
alot of Polish names also end in ski
2006-08-25 00:29:35 · answer #4 · answered by brewbeer212 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not all russian last names end in 'ski'
2006-08-25 00:30:28 · answer #5 · answered by Lexi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ski probably means something like "son". as in johnson or thompson. which is just another meaning for son of john, or son of tom.
2006-08-25 00:29:23 · answer #6 · answered by mirage 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cause it snows alot... it where we get our term "ski" from meaning to slide down hill of snow on fiberglass boards.
2006-08-25 00:29:09 · answer #7 · answered by mavrickatasu 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a Polish friend who is an Opalewski... he's not Russian.
2006-08-25 00:29:07 · answer #8 · answered by Cambion Chadeauwaulker 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is because their ancestors had those kinds of names, it is normal, it because of their Language.
2006-08-25 00:29:49 · answer #9 · answered by Jonas A 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's their language.
2006-08-25 00:28:09 · answer #10 · answered by Mama R 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋