Nostalgic for Patronymics

There is one “borrowing” from the West I definitely dislike: failing to use patronymics in everyday conversation. This practice, as artist Ilya Glazunov rightly put it, often sounds impolite and too фамильярно – bordering on familiarity. Switch on the TV news and you will hear – Борис Ельцин, Владимир Путин, Михаил Горбачёв. 

Борис Ельцин should be addressed as Борис Николаевич (Boris, son of Nikolai), Горбачёв as Михаил Сергеевич and Брежнев was to be addressed as Леонид Ильич. True, sometimes Ленин was simply called Ильич – but that only underscored the love and adoration the Soviets were supposed to feel for their proletarian leader. 

To ignore patronymics is a breach of a deep-rooted Russian tradition. You are supposed to address your superiors, in-laws, people older than you by their first name and their patronymic. The same goes for people you are meeting for the first time. It is quite normal to ask someone during introductions: “Как ваше имя-отчество?” Or, better yet, “Как вас по батюшке?” In some old-style Russian families, even spouses called each other by their patronymics out of mutual respect. 

Now comes the hard part – proper pronunciation of these long words – i.e. the forename and the patronymic. To make the pronunciation of the имя-отчество more user-friendly, there are generally accepted abbreviations: “Привет Михал Иванычу” (From the movie Diamond Arm) – the full version is Михаилу Ивановичу. Ibid  Семён Семёныч! (vs. Семён Семёнович). Note some other classy combinations:  President Putin is called Владим Владимыч (vs. Владимир Владимирович), the everyman is Иван Иваныч (vs. Иван Иванович), and there is the popular Сан Саныч (for Александр Александрович). In the film Gentlemen of Luck, there is the line, “Сан Саныч, давай червонец!” (“San Sanych, give me a R10 note!”)

No one calls me Михаил Вадимович, rather Михал Вадимыч. Note that often both the actual first name and the patronymic get abridged. Not surprisingly, Russian parents try to be careful about their kids “appellation,” as a son’s first name will determine what the patronymic of their grandchildren will sound like. First names like Valery, Vitaly and Eduard can be problematic, since Валерьевич, Витальевич and Эдуардович sound clumsy. Other classic patronymics (long and short versions) include:

Михайлович/Михалыч (masc.) 

Михайловна/Михална) (fem.)

Сергеевич/ Сергеич (masc.)

Сергеевна/ Сергевна (fem.) 

Васильевич/ Василич (masc.) 

Васильевна/Васильна (fem.) 

And people of the older generation (in their 60s and 70s) – especially in the countryside – often skip the forename and call each other by their patronymics only – здорово, Михалыч! (“Hi, Mikhalych”) In urban life, it sounds at once stylish and rustic. If, you employ this as a non-native, people will be amazed at your language skills.

Nota bene: the feminine of Ильич can be tricky. It is Ильинична. I am an expert in its pronunciation, because it is the patronymic of my тёща (mother-in-law) – Лидия Ильинична. I simply am not physically capable of addressing her in the sloppy Western way: Lida or Lidiya. It is disrespectful to talk that way to your mother-in-law in Mother Russia. And I am proud to say that Lenin’s sisters Anna, Olga and Maria were also Ильиничны – this merely to illustrate the scale of my tyoscha’s personality.  

The volume of this column permits no further elaboration. But little more is needed. Simply note that the use or non-use of patronymics is a profound example of a linguistic subtlety which illustrates Russo-American socio-cultural differences. 

Yet one final example is useful: most Russian bosses working in Russian companies, even those in their 20s and 30s, often prefer to be called by their patronymics (never mind the Westernization of our corporate world). Yet people in their forties and fifties may sometimes say during an introduction: “I am Alexander Alexandrovich, but you can simply call me ‘Alex.’” 

It is better not to seize this “simplicity.” Call a boss by his or her patronymic just to be safe. Sometimes neutrality with your superiors is better than familiarity – which, as we know, “breeds contempt.” Or as Alexander (Sergeyevich) Griboyedov put it: “Храни нас пуще всех печалей и барский гнев, и барская любовь.” (“God save us both from the ire and the love of our owners.”) This goes for those called Ivanovich, Petrovna or even, in the case of former Moscow Vice Mayor Valery Shantsev, Pavlinovich (literally “son of a peacock”).