Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
11:06 May 15, 2009
Czech to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Tourism & Travel
Czech term or phrase:Ostravak
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?
Explanation: 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'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 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
If you wiki "Edinburghers" it's defaults to a page called "people from Edinburgh". I guess it would depend a lot on the register and style of the document your working on. I don't think you can go making up Ostravans or Ostravians unless it's a light-hearted article.
Not to mention that there are three Czech terms for the citizens of Ostrava :)
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)
think about the simplicity - it ends in an "a"...so easily attachable, but to what exactly? what model do we use, which precedent is more precisely fitting? or what grammatical rule explains how to make the right choice? Should we go the route of Genevans or Argentinians? Remember, Argentina ends in "a"...
OK Manchester citizens, but what about Liverpudlians? What about Californians and Moldovans, and for that matter Moldovians...why the hesitation to make this form???
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
4 mins confidence:
inhabitant of Ostrava
Explanation: I would not try anything else...
Pavel Prudký Works in field Native speaker of: Czech PRO pts in category: 4
Explanation: 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... )
vic voskuil Netherlands Local time: 23:08 Works in field Native speaker of: Dutch PRO pts in category: 4
Grading 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.
13 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
Ostravian
Explanation: 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) --------------------------------------------------
Possibly also "Ostravan" as in Geneva -> Genevan
Martin Bednarski Czech Republic Local time: 23:08 Works in field Native speaker of: Czech
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
