In article <5kg8u1$ov@usenet.srv.cis.pitt.edu>, armata@vms.cis.pitt.edu wrote: > > Do you know what country the surname is from? There's a word in > Slovak -- korbel', (the l' means a soft l, which might be what > the ly in the surname represents). It means a goblet or a tankard, > that you drink out of. > > Since the accent is on the first syllable in Slovak, the "e" is > unaccented, and it could be that in some dialects it might be > pronounced as an "i" (just guessing here). Or it could just > be that's how the surname came to be spelled over time. > > The -ova is a Slavic suffix indicating a married woman (Mr. Korbel', > but Mrs. Korbel'ova). Does a Slovak origin fit with what you know? > > Joe Armata > armata@vms.cis.pitt.edu Dear Mr. Armata, This is puzzling. I gathered the surname was Russian. Thank you for the information. The phonetics are an intriguing crossover. Regards, Patricia Sclater. _____________________________________________________ P A Sclater. firebird@gvi.net Proofreading. Grammar and Style. _____________________________________________________ -------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====----------------------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet