Question
Why do male last names in Icelandic end with -son instead of -sonur?
Asked By
Eric Eduard Heinen
Answer
In Old Icelandic, when the word sonr formed the second part of a compound, i.e. Magnús-son, Sigurðs-son, the final -r (-ur) was dropped in nominative singular, and the same morphology is used in Modern Icelandic. E.g.:- Nom. Magnús Sigurðsson (son(u)r)
- Acc. Magnús Sigurðsson (son)
- Dat. Magnúsi Sigurðssyni (syni)
- Gen.Magnúsar Sigurðssonar (sonar)
- Nom. Guðrún Sigurðardóttir (dóttir)
- Acc. Guðrúnu Sigurðardóttur (dóttur)
- Dat. Guðrúnu Sigurðardóttur (dóttur)
- Gen. Guðrúnar Sigurðardóttur (dóttur)
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Why is it that male last names in Icelandic are in accusative -son instead of nominative -sonur, even when referred to in nominative, whereas female last names are referred to in nominative case -dóttir and not -dóttur?
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Dagsetning
Published 8.4.2011
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Citation
Guðrún Kvaran. „Why do male last names in Icelandic end with -son instead of -sonur?“. The Icelandic Web of Science 8.4.2011. http://why.is/svar.php?id=58065. (Skoðað 5.10.2024).
Author
Guðrún Kvaranprofessor