I noticed the following in the story about Yeltsin’s funeral…
I understand it’s a fairly common usage to use somebody’s middle name (patronymic) like this – but what does it imply, from a style standpoint? Does this make the statement more formal, or less? (It feels sort of informal, almost endearing…but maybe that’s just me).
What would the patronymic for “Boris” be (ie, Yeltsin’s son). “Borisovich” doesn’t sound right.
My GF, who was born & raised in Russia, tells me the following:
Use of the patronymic in this context is very common. This form of address is probably more formal and respectful than calling someone by just their first name or last name. Simply the last name is rather colloquial, in the sense that if I’m talking to a friend about someone who I respect, I could use “Yeltsin”. (Adding the Russian equivalent of “Mister” or, in Soviet times, “Comrade” increases the formality level, and is almost as formal as “Boris Nikolayevich.”) Using just the first name is very informal, and addressing someone in this manner is only done between friends. (However, this has been changing in recent years, with a trend towards broader use of the first name alone.)
“Borisovich” is, in fact, correct. The feminine patronymic (a little more applicable in this case, since he did in fact have a daughter but no sons) is “Borisovna”. In both cases, the accent is on the “ris”.
Borisovich, da.
(mnyah sa-voot Tamara Ivanevna)