How should the suffix of feminine surnames, e.g. Морозова, be considered from an etymological perspective?
Are -ов and -а etymologically distinct morphemes or parts of a single one?
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-ов is suffix, -а is ending.– AnixxCommented Sep 6, 2022 at 19:11
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1 Answer
It will be formed as the possessive form of a name or nickname:
Иван: Иванова дочь Марья. Мороз: Морозов сын Василий.
-а is a distinct morpheme — an ending denoting case. The masculine nominative form is empty, but it becomes non-empty in other cases: (кому?) Иванову vs. Ивановой.
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I am assigning surnames to their etymological roots. My query is. Should a name like Иванова be given as coming from the elements Иван + -ов + -а. Or would it be more correct to create a suffix (?) -ова (which in turn comes from -ов + -а)? On the Russian Wiktionary, they use -ов + -а. Commented Sep 15, 2022 at 14:59
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1-ов- is a suffix and -а is an ending (a distinct morpheme). "Иванов" just has an empty ending in nominative case.– alamarCommented Sep 15, 2022 at 15:13