In linguistics there is a special term "ethnochronim", which denotes the names of people living in a certain area. The question of how to call the inhabitants of certain cities often turns out to be problematic for many native speakers of the Russian language. Even in grammar books, there are various pronunciations and spellings, which causes some confusion.
Penza confusion
The population of many Russian cities is becoming a victim of this phenomenon. In fact, what are the inhabitants of Penza called? A similar problem has been discussed by many linguists, debating which version is considered grammatically correct, regardless of the number of its speakers. It turns out that in order to find out the names of the inhabitants of Penza, you need to turn to special dictionaries that are regularly updated. Academic data obtained and verified by linguists formulate the main objective rules that regulate the features of the use of "ethnochronims".
How is it right?
The "Dictionary of the inhabitants of Russia" also explains two cases of how to correctly call the inhabitants of Penza. The grant allows you to callresident or resident of the city Penza or Penza, but also Penzyak and Penzyachka, respectively. However, the dictionary does not focus on any particular use, allowing both to be used in speech. In turn, some experts insist that the variation "Penza" is more literary and stylistically restrained, so those who live in Penza should be called that way.
It should be noted that regardless of how the inhabitants of Penza are called, the appeal to women causes more problems and doubts than to men. Males are called both Penza and Penzyak, while ladies become "Penza" quite often, they are also called residents of Penza.
Voice of the people
In reality, with the concept of how the inhabitants of Penza are called, there are some disagreements and contradictions. For example, the name "Penzyaki" appeared in the language in the seventeenth century. Despite vocabulary norms, many residents of Penza insist on the variant "Penza", since the second way seems to them somewhat slangy, offensive and colloquial. At the same time, there is another point of view, according to which the word "Penzenets" (came into use in the last third of the 20th century) seems too official, pompous and smacks of "Soviet". Apparently, native speakers will never be able to reach a consensus, and corrections to dictionary entries will not be made.
What will happen to Penza/Penzyaks in the future?
The Russian language is a unique and constantly changing system. Often, speech norms are not regulated by the rules and restrictions established by linguists, but by the daily practice of using certain constructions. That is why it is extremely difficult to influence the situation, legislatively, by approving a certain form relating to a resident (resident) of Penza.
One way or another, the popularization of a competent appeal to the inhabitants of the city is necessary in order to prevent semantic bifurcation. However, those for whom Penza is a small homeland experience fewer difficulties than, for example, the inhabitants of Vladivostok, Torzhok or Krivoy Rog. It remains to be hoped that in the near future, native Russian speakers will stop asking questions about how the inhabitants of Penza are called.
