Folia onomastica Croatica, No. 24, 2015.
Review article
Double surnames – With a hyphen and/or without?
Maja Glušac
orcid.org/0000-0002-9134-2115
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku
Abstract
Whether a double surname will be written with a hyphen or without one depends
on the wishes of the person carrying the double surname; hence, that form
is beyond the rules of orthography. This paper deals with the orthographic rules
pertaining to double surnames of male and female persons, and the (im)possibility
of their declension. It is concluded that, from a morphological point of
view, the hyphen is not necessary in double surnames of either male or female
persons. In surnames of male persons, the hyphen prevents the declension of the
first surname, which is normatively not acceptable. In surnames of female persons,
the hyphen is redundant because those surnames are not declined anyway,
while in surnames of female persons in which the first surname or both end in -a,
the hyphen prevents the possibility of declension. The tendency to leave out the
hyphen in double surnames is confirmed by research on the use of double surnames
of female persons in daily newspapers.
Keywords
surnames; hyphen; orthography; declination; daily newspapers
Hrčak ID:
156919
URI
Publication date:
10.4.2016.
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