Understatement of the year?

[Nick Armstrong]

"I'm kind of from a classical background..."

Hard to think of someone who could be more from a classical background than Mr Mullov-Abbado! A jazz talent in his own right, clearly...

Both parents visible in his face!

[french frank]

Brought up in the UK, I presume from the accent? (Good name to have if you want to be taken notice of in the music world! Especially R3.)

"I'm kind of from a classical background..."

Hard to think of someone who could be more from a classical background than Mr Mullov-Abbado! A jazz talent in his own right, clearly...

Both parents visible in his face!

[Lat-Literal]

He could almost be William's brother.

Why is he a Mullov rather than a Mullova like his mother?

Is that part of his name without an "a" for linguistic gender reasons or just a style option?

[Richard Tarleton]

Why is he a Mullov rather than a Mullova like his mother?

Is that part of his name without an "a" for linguistic gender reasons

Yes - cf Karenin/Karenina

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

He could almost be William's brother.
Why is he a Mullov rather than a Mullova like his mother?
Is that part of his name without an "a" for linguistic gender reasons or just a style option?

I think (and I may be getting all this muddled with middle name suffixes) "_ov" denotes "son of", and (as, you suggest, adding the final "a" [and, often, "na"] denotes "daughter of"). So a sister of someone with the surname "Ivanov" would have the surname "Ivanovna" or "Ivanova".

[Lat-Literal]

I think (and I may be getting all this muddled with middle name suffixes) "_ov" denotes "son of", and (as, you suggest, adding the final "a" [and, often, "na"] denotes "daughter of"). So a sister of someone with the surname "Ivanov" would have the surname "Ivanovna" or "Ivanova".

Yes - cf Karenin/Karenina

Ah.....thank you.

(Google has the name with an "a" so he will need to correct it)

(I didn't watch the entire interview and am assuming that Matt Barley has been something of an influence in the jazzier strand of him)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes - cf Karenin/Karenina

- of course!


Besides, "Mullova-Abbado" would be a bit tricky with the "a-A" juxtaposition.

[vinteuil]

.

... we find it odd that our proper names can receive suffixes. When I was posted to Poland it tickled me to see telexes and such referring to hotel bookings on my behalf that referred to (as it were) 'vinteuilego'


.

[Richard Tarleton]

.

... we find it odd that our proper names can receive suffixes. When I was posted to Poland it tickled me to see telexes and such referring to hotel bookings on my behalf that referred to (as it were) 'vinteuilego'


.

Being met by taxi at Madrid airport, en route to a conference the other side of town, the driver held up a placard with my first and second given names (lifted from the conference documentation, presumably), assuming my second name to be my patronymic, and my actual surname to be the surname of my mother and therefore surplus to requirements.

[jean]

... we find it odd that our proper names can receive suffixes. When I was posted to Poland it tickled me to see telexes and such referring to hotel bookings on my behalf that referred to (as it were) 'vinteuilego'

Which is a genitive. Giuseppa Verdiego used to amuse me when I listened to operas on Polish radio (two different declensions, two very different genitives).

Because we are so confused by Slavic gendered names, people often adopt the masculine form when they live in the West. Monica Lewinsky should have been Lewinska. And in the West, Sikh women often call themselves Singh instead of Kaur.