Talk:Tussenvoegsel

Translation of the word tussenvoegsel

Is there no translation of the word tussenvoegsel?

Or is there no translation because there is no such thing as a tussenvoegsel in English? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.169.83.107 (talk) 20:14, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

'Last name prefix' or 'family name prefix' seems an accurate translation to me. I'm unsure though if this (or any other) translation has ever been used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.93.94.92 (talk) 16:07, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

As far as I'm aware there is such a thing in English, it is called a family name preposition (or just "preposition" if the context is unambiguous). This is already used broadly in the main article that links here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Potherca (talk • contribs) 09:01, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

I think preposition is too narrow, as definite articles, like de, and het or 't also appear (e.g De Witt and 'tHoen). My preference would be "separable family-name affix" (separable because affixes are usually part of the noun in question, like prefixes and suffixes). As to suffixes (achtervoegsels in Dutch) an example would be the abbreviated patronymic e.g."Gzn" in "J.M.W. Nijman Gzn" Such patronymics were in the 20th century sometimes informally added to a personal name, in cases where several grandsons were named after the same grandfather and therefore needed to be distinguished from one another by the reference to their own father.--Ereunetes (talk) 20:40, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

Literally it could be something like "(the) between-placed".

• tussen (cf. Germ. zwischen) = between
• voegen (cf. Germ. fügen) = to put, place &c.
• -sel (cf. Germ. -sel) = (postfix to form substantives &c.)

-eXplodit (talk) 18:47, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

Not part of surname

In the Netherlands, these tussenvoegsels are not a part of someone's last name. For example, in the Dutch telephone directory the surname "De Vries" is listed under "V", not "D". Therefore in Dutch databases tussenvoegsels are recorded separately. This often simplifies finding a Dutch surname in a Dutch database, because including the tussenvoegsel would result in many surnames being listed under "D" and "V".

This first sentence is not true, or at least the truth is more subtle. The tussenvoegsel is part of the surname, but tussenvoegsels are often stored separately to simplify indexing. In a list sorted alphabetically by surname, Peter de Vries would become Vries, Peter de. 145.118.72.255 (talk) 22:46, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

I tis a pity that this contribution was apparently never signed, which detracts from its being taken seriously. But I fully agree, a tusenvoegsel IS part of the surname, because the surname is viewed as a Noun phrase which is taken as s noun in its entirety, although the family-name affixes are separable.--Ereunetes (talk) 20:20, 12 January 2023 (UTC)