Thread: Names in Bulgakov

I was watching the 1989 Soviet film of Bulgakov's Собачье сердце this week and understand the significance of the professor's фамиля and that of Чугункин. However, the potential significance of the names of the other chаracters eludes me (eg Швондер, Борменталь).

Can Russian speakers suggest whether the names of the other characters have a meaning or suggest a meaning which us non-native speakers don't pick up.

Thanks,

Originally Posted by mercurius

I was watching the 1989 Soviet film of Bulgakov's Собачье сердце this week and understand the significance of the professor's фамиля and that of Чугункин. However, the potential significance of the names of the other chаracters eludes me (eg Швондер, Борменталь).

Can Russian speakers suggest whether the names of the other characters have a meaning or suggest a meaning which us non-native speakers don't pick up.

Thanks,

Швондер - very negative associations. I don't really know where it comes from but it brings definitely negative feeling.

Борменталь - somewhat funny name.

I don't reallly understand what do you want when saying about the meaning of the name. They don't mean anything. One can tell only about associations they bring.

Did you understand the significance of Sharikov?

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Did you understand the significance of Sharikov?

This is obvious: cause before, when he was a dog, he was called "Шарик" (which is literally something like "Little ball", and a is a typical dog-name) -- he have chosen "Шариков" as his official last-name.

Ramil,

Thanks for your thoughts. I guess the point I was trying to make is that some of the names do 'mean' something within the context of the story (eg Преображенский, Шариков).

I was just trying to understand, from the perspective of a non-native speaker, whether other names in the story also have meanings / associations / connotations which I don't get. You mention that Швондер, for example, has negative connotations for you. That's the sort of thing I mean - you have a sense for it as a native speaker which I don't pick up on.

Originally Posted by Scorpio

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Did you understand the significance of Sharikov?

This is obvious: cause before, when he was a dog, he was called "Шарик" (which is literally something like "Little ball", and a is a typical dog-name) -- he have chosen "Шариков" as his official last-name.

SHHH! You gave it away, this was a specialized question so that mercurius could use his Russian analytical skill and come up with an answer... you just gave it away

Там есть список действующих лиц: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0% ... 1%8C%D0%BC)

Мои ассоциации:
Профессор Преображенский - звучит благородно. Фамилия соответствует образу.
Доктор Борменталь - тоже хорошо звучит, по-иностранному.
Полиграф Полиграфович Шариков - фамилия выдаёт "низкое" происхождение. Имя и отчество смешные и намекают на претензии человека. Вспоминается революционный лозунг: "кто был ничем, тот станет всем".
Дарья - спокойное, народное, деревенское имя.
Швондер - что-то пронырливое и противное. И смешное.
Пеструхин - что-то простое, не благородное.

Originally Posted by Юрка

Доктор Борменталь - тоже хорошо звучит, по-иностранному
...
Пеструхин - что-то простое, не благородное.

У меня фамилия Боменталь не вызывает приятных ассоциаций, но и неприятных тоже. Почему-то в голову приходят мысли о касторке, бормашине и Айболите (из-за Бармалея? )

Пеструхин - ассоциации: пестрая тряпка, курица, корова (из-за популярных кличек Пеструшка и Пеструха соответственно).

Статья о возможном толковании фамилий персонажей в "Собачьем сердце":
http://ilgalinsk.narod.ru/bulgakov/b_novpok.htm

Many thanks to all for your thoughts and to gRomoZeka for the link to the stimulating article about Bulgakov.

For lovers of The Master and Margarita, I have come across a very rich site on the net full of very useful info about the novel, its background, characters and themes together with annotations to all the chapters. It's a real labour of love by a Dutch guy, Jan Vanhellemont. Here is the link for it: www.masterandmargarita.eu/en

Happy reading!

[quote=kalinka_vinnie]

Originally Posted by Scorpio

Originally Posted by "kalinka_vinnie":upiucnf3

Did you understand the significance of Sharikov?

This is obvious: cause before, when he was a dog, he was called "Шарик" (which is literally something like "Little ball", and a is a typical dog-name) -- he have chosen "Шариков" as his official last-name.

SHHH! You gave it away, this was a specialized question so that mercurius could use his Russian analytical skill and come up with an answer... you just gave it away [/quote:upiucnf3]

Sorry for spoiling someone's fun.