How to call the inhabitants of Penza - "Penza", "Penzyak" or something else? Which option is correct or preferred? Many people are racking their brains over this question, including the residents of Penza themselves.
Instructions
Step 1
The dictionaries indicate two variants of the name of the inhabitants of Penza: "Penza" (in the masculine and feminine gender - Penza and Penza) and "Penzyaki" (Penzyak and Penza). From the point of view of the norms and rules of the Russian language, both options are completely equal, and you can use either one or the other.
Step 2
The reality is somewhat more complex than vocabulary norms. The historical name "Penzyaki", which has existed since the seventeenth century, since the founding of the city, now seems to many to be colloquial, slang or even offensive. Therefore, residents of Penza often insist that they should be called "Penza residents", and nothing else. At the same time, especially among the old-timers of Penza, there is also the opposite point of view - that the word "Penza" (entered into speech only in the last third of the twentieth century) is official and very "Soviet", so we must adhere to the historical name.
Step 3
Specialists in the Russian language, however, believe that the "Penza" option is still more widespread and therefore preferable. True, the word "penza" never caught on in the language, and is used very rarely. Therefore, women are usually referred to simply as “residents of Penza”.
