geekyFor fanfic- and fandom-related purposes, I am trying to wrap my head around the snarled yarn that is the Russian naming convention. First off, I'll tell you the names of the characters as well as I can:
- Kirill Semyonovich [surname/family name unknown]
- Nikolai [patronymic unknown] Luzhin
These two are members of the vory v zakony, where Kirill even is the so-called Prince. Nikolai is his driver/baby-sitter/play-mate/friend/not!b
Those are the cliff-notes. Now, Nikolai is a manipulative bastard and heavily exploits Kirill's love for him all through-out the movie. (Kirill, living in a severely homophobic enviroment, has taken self-denial to new heights.) They address each other as 'Nikolai' and 'Kirill', except for one very special moment where I am willing to put money on that Kirill whispered 'Kolya'. Which leads me to the mess I am in now.
If my research has proven correct, there are three forms of Russian diminutives: basic, which friends use; intimate, which family, lovers and very close friends use; and a derogatory one.
From what I've been able to suss out, the diminutives for Nikolai should be Kolya (basic), Kolen'ka (intimate) and Kol'ka (derogatory). If this is correct, then I am very proud of myself. If it's not, then I'm not in the least surprised.
It seems, however, to be impossible to find what the diminutives for Kirill should be. I'd guess that it would go Kirya (basic), Kiren'ka (intimate) and Kir'ka (derogatory), but since no other language on earth is consistent, I'm not sure why Russian should be.
As an aside note, Kirill's father Semyon (who does not hide his disdain for his "useless" son in the least) always refers to him as 'Kirill', which I suspect is not very nice of him, from what I've understood of my research.
So, TL;DR: What are the diminutives forms of Nikolai and Kirill, and what would be appropriate/inappropriate/shocking/outra
Also, I might as well throw in a bonus question: one character is continuously referred to as 'Soyka'. What would his full name be, if one were to guess?
Thanks in advance. ♥
