THE MORPHOSYNTAX AND PRAGMATICS OF CROATIAN FEMALE NAMES

Abstract

The paper focuses on the morphosyntactic properties of female names and the ways in which female first names and surnames are used, as well as on adjectives derived from them in the Croatian language. The collected examples indicate that independent use of female surnames, compared to the independent use of male surnames, demonstrates a great degree of variability because their use has still not been standardized. Due to the fact that female surnames are highly marked when compared to the majority of nouns that can undergo declension, female surnames are frequently modified by word formation procedures, even though this is in stark contrast with the norm. Female surnames that can undergo declension are also used in highly formal contexts due to pragmatic and morphosyntactic reasons.