May 15, 2009 11:06
15 yrs ago
Czech term
United States
31 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE!
Native in: English 
Works in: Czech to English, Slovak to English
Ostravak
Czech to English
Art/Literary
Tourism & Travel
I need to know how to call the lovely people of Ostrava. There are generally two schools of thought, but who can come up with grammatical proof of the proper one...or can there by more than one word?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +2 | Ostravan |
vic voskuil
|
| 4 | inhabitant of Ostrava |
Pavel Prudký
|
| 3 +1 | Ostravian |
Martin Bednarski
|
| 3 | Ostrava citizen |
Michaela Bordessoule
|
| 3 | "Ostravak" |
Pavel Blann
|
Change log
May 20, 2009 07:24: vic voskuil changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"
Proposed translations
+2
28 mins
vic voskuil
Netherlands
Netherlands
Works in field
Netherlands
European Translations and Proof Reading
Native in: Dutch
Works in: English to Dutch, German to Dutch, Dutch, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
Ostravan
is what I'd opt with a gun to my head, given that an "inhabitant of Ostrava" is probably not colloquial enough.
I had this problem before with a different region ending in -a, and decided to treat such cases as often as I could as if they were from Alabama: http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/ALABAMAN
(why not Alabamians? Because they're not from Alabamia (I admit this is not a semantically sound rule, but nevertheless it is one I like to apply as often as possible)
(Of course, if context allows 'Ostravaks' might be even better, but only if it is absolutely clear the inhabitants are meant. E.g.: Östrava is blabla and many a Ostravak enjoys blabla in the shade in summer... )
I had this problem before with a different region ending in -a, and decided to treat such cases as often as I could as if they were from Alabama: http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/ALABAMAN
(why not Alabamians? Because they're not from Alabamia (I admit this is not a semantically sound rule, but nevertheless it is one I like to apply as often as possible)
(Of course, if context allows 'Ostravaks' might be even better, but only if it is absolutely clear the inhabitants are meant. E.g.: Östrava is blabla and many a Ostravak enjoys blabla in the shade in summer... )
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Martin Bednarski
: It looks that Ostravan would be more appropriate than Ostravian (as in Geneva - Genevan)
3 mins
|
|
thank you Martin! Also for an example better than the one I chose
|
|
| agree |
Helena Pechackova
: I like the fact that it sounds like te proper Czech name and the reasoning behind it makes perfect sense to me.
81 days
|
|
thanks Helena!
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I've checked with many resources in and outside of Kudoz, this would be the most accepted, but there's no way to say Ostravian or Ostravak is wrong...It has a nicer ring to it to me, like spisovny Ostravan in Czech. Thanks for your help. "
4 mins
Pavel Prudký
Native in Czech
Works in field
Quality First And Foremost
Native in: Czech
Works in: English to Czech, Czech to English, Slovak to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
inhabitant of Ostrava
I would not try anything else...
+1
13 mins
Ostravian
could work (as in Tacoma/Tacomians, Pasadena/Pasadenians) if you really need a single word, otherwise I would go for "inhabitant of Ostrava" or similar
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 28 mins (2009-05-15 11:34:30 GMT)
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Possibly also "Ostravan" as in Geneva -> Genevan
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Note added at 28 mins (2009-05-15 11:34:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Possibly also "Ostravan" as in Geneva -> Genevan
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
vic voskuil
: even though I prefer -an over -ian, I can imagine enough sentences where -ian simply sounds better...
38 mins
|
|
thanks! but I now actually prefer Ostravan ;-)
|
28 mins
Michaela Bordessoule
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in Czech
Works in field
United Kingdom
Interpreting, Voice-overs, Translation
Native in: Czech
Works in: English to Czech, Czech to English
Ostrava citizen
example: Manchester citizens have got the first chance...
3 hrs
"Ostravak"
I'd leave it as it is
Discussion
1) Ostravan - the proper one (= Pražan)
2) Ostravák - rather colloquial (= Pražák)
3) Ostravak - recently popular term for a person from Ostrava speaking/writing in a very strong (sometimes even exaggerated) local dialect (http://ostravak.bloguje.cz)