Re: Russian names (was: Re: A perfect day...)

On Wed, 2 Feb 2000 13:31:50 -0500, John Cowan <jcowan@...>
wrote:

>Vasiliy Chernov wrote:
>
>> I think that in Russia, people in the street will mostly give their
>> first names or first name + patronymic, but not last names, if addressed
>> e. g. by a TV reporter.
>
>So it seems, but *why* are they doing that?  Is it in order to
>remain anonymous, or for some other reason (just seems inappropriate
>to give last name, etc.)?
>
>> Is it different in America?
>
>I think that we don't tend to see people being asked their names
>on TV, but perhaps they are asked off-camera.
I was trying to imagine the specific situation. I think that people are
more likely to give their full names if the situation somehow fits their
own intention: to propagate something, or simply to speak out.

If, all of a sudden, I am asked by some unknown person in the street
about my name, I'll probably give minimal information, just enough to
address me correctly. It may be different if the reporter first
introduces him/herself, explains what the topic and the purpose are, and
only then turns the camera on.

There are also some linguistic factors involved. The most common
question in Russian about the interlocutor's name (Kak Vas zovut?)
literally translates to 'How does one call you?' - i. e. it asks rather
about the way one expects to be addressed. An expression similar to the
English 'What is your name?' also exists in Russian (Kak Vashe imya?),
but 'imya' means primarily 'first name', only rarely 'full name', and
never 'surname'. So, to ask people about their full name, you have to
emphasize this somehow.

But indeed all this is only a part of the answer. I can't exclude that
Russians, on the average, are more cryptic than Americans ;)


Basilius