- From: Gunnar Bittersmann <gunnar@bittersmann.de>
- Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:49:51 +0200
- To: www-international@w3.org
T. Kuro Kurosaka scripsit (2011-08-07 21:23+02:00): > Many European names have the prepositions > like "van", "de", "da", etc., which I understand just mean "of", > leading the surname. Are they enter names, do they put those > prepositions as part of the surnames? In Germany, nobiliary particles are part of the familiy names. Germany’s minister Ursula von der Leyen would be referred to as “von der Leyen” In newspapers, not as “Leyen”. But as I had mentioned in a previos post to this list, she would be found under L in phonebooks etc., not under V. A person by such name might still want to introduce herself without nobiliary particle in the family name. As some don’t care about their nobiliary particle, others don’t care about their academic degree. The article states, “In Germany, titles are important, and you may need to refer to someone as not just Mr. Schmidt, but Herr Profesor Doktor Schmidt.” This might be true for Germany more than for other countries. Yet this is only true for some. I have met a woman who has introduced herself as Doktor Mustermann and has left no opportunity to make clear that she prefers to be referred to as _Doktor_ Mustermann. A very arrogant and unappealing person, she seems to me. Other’s may have (or even not have) their academic titles on their business cards, but otherwise don’t care to be referred to with titles. Gunnar
Received on Sunday, 7 August 2011 22:50:10 UTC