# skeho (suffix)



## ExoCzech

I am doing genealogical research.  I have a record from the early 1800's that reads "Jan Vetrovsky farmer from Dmystice, son of Vaclav Vetrovskeho from Vetrova #6". An entry for Vaclav's wife says she is from "Pribramskeho".  Two questions....why are Jan's and Vaclav's surnames different? And what does the "skeho" tell me about the location of Vetrova?  Pribram is not in the same region as Dmystice (near Milevsko), does the "skeho" relate to geographic proximity?  I had thought the "sky" suffix meant "from".  Thanks for any and all help!


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## Emys

Vetrovskeho is just genitive case from Vetrovsky.


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## ExoCzech

Emys said:


> Vetrovskeho is just genitive case from Vetrovsky.



So, the "skeho" is just reinforcing that Jan is Vaclav's son?  An indication of possession?  That makes sense to me.  I still don't understand why the genitive case would apply to the place (Pribram) that Vaclav's wife was from "Pribramskeho".  How is it different to be "from" a place rather than "belonging to" a place?  I don't see the distinction being made in adjacent records, which is why I think I'm missing some subtlety. Any insight is appreciated.


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## Emys

No, I think it's just an error in translation, "son of Vaclav Vetrovsky" is in Czech "syn Vaclava Vetrovskeho" the genitive express the same relation between the two words as the preposition "of" in English. As to his wife may there is something about her being doughter of somebody named Pribramsky. 
Do you have Czech original?


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## ExoCzech

I see.  The original "quote" I gave was more of an English "paraphrase" where I put in the "of".  Your "syn Vaclava Vetrovskeho" is what is written in the document.  It doesn't make sense to me because this is the first time I've seen the "skeho" used instead of the father and son using the identical name, in this case "Vetrovsky".  The records follow a typical pattern; name of the father (these are birth records), his profession, where he's from, name of his father and where he is from (village and house number).  The same information is provided for the mother.  So following the pattern, the mother (Vaclav's wife)'s maiden name is Feit and she is from "Jablanovy ??? Pribramskeho".  I've attached a clip of the original text.  Other records for the same family more clearly say "Jablanovy" than this particular example, which seems to be missing a few letters.  Second picture is for the mothers lineage, also featuring a "skeho" .






Thanks in advance!


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## werrr

Suffix "-ský" is used to turn a noun into corresponding adjective. It is often used with locations to form adjectives denoting geographical origin, but it is not the only usage. In English there you can express it always using "of", sometimes also with adjectival suffixes "-an/-ian" and sometimes you simple use the noun as adjective, e.g.:

Kanada (Canada) -> kanadský (of Canada, Canadian)
kráva (cow) -> kravský (of cow, cow + noun, cow's + noun)
...

In your examples, větrovský means "of Větrová" (or possibly "of Větrov") and it was used as a surname and příbramský means "of Příbram". The forms with "-ského" are genitival forms of these words.

So, "syn Václava Větrovského" means "son of Václav of Větrová" where the first English "of" corresponds to the use of genitive in both "Václav" and "Větrovský", and the latter "of" corresponds to the suffix "-ský".

As for the part with "příbramského", it seems to be an example of one of the most common mistakes of English natives when translating from Czech. It is a phrase where the ruling noun is omitted and only the adjective is left (that is like "Czech Republic" shortened to "Czech", "New York" shortened to "New" etc.). Your adjective was likely linked with some generic noun for a district (okres, kraj, region, panství...) and the whole phrase was in genitive because it followed a preposition which takes genitive, most likely the preposition "z", so:

"příbramský okres"/"okres příbramský" = "district of Příbram"/"Příbram District"
"z příbramského okresu"/"z okresu příbramského" = "from/of Příbram District"


EDIT: Now, when I see the pictures, there is indeed "okr." which is short for "okres" meaning "district".


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## ExoCzech

Thank you for the very thorough explanation. The very last part of your reply is very helpful....it appears the inclusion of "okr" for okres indicates that Jablanovy is in Pribram district. I had concluded that, but only after a long look at a map. Is it safe to say that the Vetrov or Vetrova I am looking for is in the same parish (Milevsko), or at least, the same district as Dmystice (Milevsko parish) because "okres" has been omitted?


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