Сочи

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Michael Trittipo wrote:

> On Sat, 8 May 2010 18:47:53 -0700 Margarita Orlova
> <margarita.orlova at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
>> But the name never can be considered declinable, anyway. Except in 
>> jokes.
> 
> "The name" meaning this one?  Or "the name" meaning "a name, any
> name" so that no (geographic) name can ever be declined?

Most native Russian place names conform to standard nominal declension 
patterns and are treated as such: в Москве (v Moskve), от Киева (ot 
Kiyeva), etc. Сочи is not obviously masculine, feminine, or neuter, 
though it could possibly be plural. Hence the discussion.

There is some precedent for treating Georgian names in -i as plurals: 
Цхинвали, в Цхинвалях (Tskhinvali, v Tskhinvalyakh). However, see the 
discussion here:
<http://m-yu-sokolov.livejournal.com/485333.html?thread=26112469>

Foreign place names are often treated as indeclinable, however, even 
when they might be amenable: Брно, в Брно, not в Брне (Brno, v Brno, not 
v Brne); however, Прага, в Праге (Praga, v Prage). Foreign names that 
look masculine or feminine (end in hard consonant or -a) are usually 
accepted (Лондон/London, Париж/Paris), but names that look neuter or 
plural are usually rejected, and those that could not possibly be 
nominative (Перу = Peru) are uniformly indeclinable.

>> So, to be Plural and to be declinable are two different issues for
>> Russian toponymy.
> 
> It's interesting how Slavic languages differ.  Czech has a number of 
> plural toponyms and those names all get declined. But the original Q 
> was about Russian, not Czech, so I'll stop at my question about the
> scope of the "the."

Russian does also have plural place names, this is rare but not unheard 
of. For example, a Moscow suburb (incorporated into the city in the 
mid-20th century) named Фили (Fili) is treated as a plural (в Филях, v 
Filyakh). Russian also has a few place names that are declined as 
adjectives: Северное, в Северном (Severnoye, v Severnom).

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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