What to Call the Residents of Sumy? Linguists Spark Controversy.

Discussion on Naming the Inhabitants of Sumy

A discussion has started among linguists about the correct naming of the residents of the city of Sumy. An official letter from the director of the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Pavlo Grytsenko, confirmed the validity of the form 'sumchany', however, linguist Olha Vasylieva noted that this name does not comply with the established norms of word formation in the Ukrainian language. She stated this in her post on Facebook, reports 'Glavkom'.

Olha Vasylieva remarked that the word 'sumchany' originates from the Russian language, just like 'krymchany'. The linguist also mentioned the suggestion of Professor Oleksandr Ponomariv to use the form 'sum'yany'. Additionally, she emphasized that the most productive and ancient suffix of Ukrainian catoinyms is '-ets', so the correct name for the residents of Sumy should be 'sumtsi'.