Current Affairs -Ová reaction? Commentator reprimanded for not using feminine suffix
Britney Spearsová, Angela Merkelová, Venus Williamsová – this is how some of the world’s most famous women are referred to in Czech. The –ová suffix is widely used in Czech to denote it’s a woman you’re talking about. Czech women who wanted to ditch the -ová and use the masculine form of a surname were only allowed to do so as recently as 2004, and this is still very much the exception to the rule. A row erupted over whether the –ová form was outdated last week when a TV sports commentator refused to use it. In light of the uproar, I spoke to one of the –ova’s biggest defenders, linguist Jiří Kraus. He claims it is an important part of the Czech national identity:
Jiří Kraus, photo: Khalil Baalbaki
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