?????????????‡: Muscovite
The other day I was talking to an acquaintance who had moved to Moscow from Voronezh. I wanted to find out where he was born. My question started out fine: ?’?‹ ?????€?µ????????— (Are you a native ?€”).
But then I realized I didn't know the proper word for a resident of Voronezh. So I used my tried and true method to conceal my ignorance. I paused and fiddled with my shoe, giving him the opportunity to fill in the word for me. It worked. ?????€?µ???????? ?????€?????µ?¶?µ?†? ?”?°. (A native of Voronezh? Yes.) ?? ???°???° ?¶?µ???°? (And your wife?) ?????¶?µ ???· ?’???€?????µ?¶?° (She's also from Voronezh).
I gave up my pretense of linguistic competence. ?????° ?‚???????° … ?????€?????µ?¶???°? (She's a Voronezhka?) I tried. He laughed. ???µ?‚ ?‚?°???????? ???»?????°. ?’?????±?‰?µ ???µ?‚ ???»?????° ???»?? ?¶?µ???‰?????‹-?¶???‚?µ?»???????†?‹ ?’???€?????µ?¶?° (That's not a word. In fact, there isn't a word for a woman resident of Voronezh).
And then we had one of those great Russian little word exchanges. I asked, ?? ???°?? ?¶?µ ?‚?°??? (How could that be?) He replied, ?’???‚ ?‚?°?? (There you have it).
Since fiddling with my shoe isn't always possible, I decided to find the rules for formation of nouns from city names in Russian. This type of noun has the rather obscure designation ???‚?????…?€???????? or ???‚?????????? (the equally obscure ethnicon).
My research came up with a mixed bag. There are rules, but they have lots of exceptions. Here convention and tradition rule. And to follow what rules there are, it helps to have at least a nodding acquaintance with history. For example, some of the oldest cities use the oldest suffix to denote residency, the letter "?‡." So a resident of ???????????° (Moscow) is ?????????????‡ (Muscovite), and a native of ?????????? (Pskov) is traditionally ?????????????‡ (Pskovian).
Except, of course, that a resident of the super-ancient city of ?????µ?? (Kiev) is ?????µ???»???????? (Kievan), while a native of ?????????? (Tomsk), founded about 700 years later, is ?‚???????‡, which is a ?€¦ Tomskian? Tomskan? Tomsker? Tomskite? Ethnicons are tricky.
Many cities that end in -???? or -?‚???? (except for ??????????, of course) use the suffixes -?°??, -?‡?°??, or -????, like Minsk: ?????????? ?€” ???????‡?°??????, ???°?±?°?€???????? ?€” ?…?°?±?°?€?????‡?°??????, ???????»?µ?????? ?€” ???????»????????, ???€?????‚???? ?€” ???€?????‚???????? and ?????€???? ?€” ?????€????????. You will note that various letters of the city name disappear or stay, apparently as they wish.
Some cities that end in -??????, -?????? or -?µ???? use the suffix letter "?†," like Ivanovo: ?????°???????? ?€” ?????°???????µ?†. But others, like Kemerovo, don't: ???µ???µ?€?????? ?€” ???µ???µ?€?????‡?°??????.
Some cities use the jazzy -???? ending to denote their citizens, like Perm: ???µ?€???? ?€” ???µ?€??????; or Tula: ?????»?° ?€” ?‚???»????. A Siberian is traditionally ?????±???€????, although my 18-year-old neighbor calls him ?????±???€????????.
But a native of Novosibirsk (?????????????±???€????) is not ?????????????±???€????????, as per rule No. 2, or ?????????????±???€????, as per rule No. 4, but ?????????????±???€?µ?†.
Lucky is a native of Tver (?????µ?€??), who can call himself ?‚???µ?€????, ?‚???µ?€???‡?°??????, ?‚???µ?€???‚????????, or even ?‚???µ?€???‡, depending on mood and inclination.
Unlucky is a resident of ?????€?¶????, who calls himself ?????????‚???€ because the town was originally called ???????‹?? ?????€??. Similarly, a native of Arkhangelsk (???€?…?°?????µ?»??????) is called ?°?€?…?°?????µ?»???????€?????µ?†, because the city was once ???€?…?°?????µ?»?????????? ?????€????????.
There are other strange and wonderful ethnicons. A native son of Ufa (???„?°) is ???„?????µ?†; residents of Odessa (?????µ?????°) are ?????µ???????‚?‹.
But why are there female residents all over the place ?€” ?????±???€???‡???°, ???„???????°, ?????°?????????°, ?????????????‡???° and even ?????????‚???€???° ?€” but no words to describe them in ?’???€?????µ?¶?
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.