E-Journal of the American Hungarian Educators Association

ISSN: 1936-8879

Journals / Vol 5 (2012) / 31

The Characteristics of Hungarian Women’s Names in Slovakia

Katalin Misad Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

Abstract

The use of personal names by minority Hungarians, both men and women, varies not only according to the circumstances of the country where they live but also from community to community and even from individual to individual. This study focuses on different forms of first (given) names and family names (surnames) characteristic of female ethnic Hungarians living in Slovakia, including the usage of the Slovak feminine suffix -ová with Hungarian surnames of women. The paper also discusses the topic of relevant legislation – laws and regulations – concerning the use of personal names of members of national minorities which, to a great extent and especially for women, can influence the choice of the form of their given name and surname

Keywords: usage of personal names, regulations of given names and family names usage among national minorities, various forms of Hungarian women´s names in Slovakia

Recommended Citation

Misad, Katalin. “The Characteristics of Hungarian women’s names in Slovakia.” AHEA: E-journal of the American
Hungarian Educators Association, Volume 5 (2012): http://ahea.net/e-journal/volume-5-2012

Biography

Katalin Misad has worked at the Department of Hungarian Language and Literature at the Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, since 1992, where she teaches descriptive linguistics and contrastive linguistics. She wrote her PhD dissertation on contrastive linguistics of Hungarian and Slovak, and did her habilitation in general linguistics. Her main area of specialization and research is the contrastive linguistics of Hungarian and Slovak and language planning, but she also works on issues of language policy and education. She published a collection of papers, Nyelvi kontaktusok (“Linguistic contacts”) in 2009, for which she was awarded the Posonium Prize in 2010. Her writing is regularly published in professional journals in Hungary and Slovakia, and she regularly presents findings of her research at conferences in Slovakia and abroad. She was recipient of the Domus Hungarica Grant in 2006, 2008, and 2011.