The parliament of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia has adopted a law on Ossetian surnames, according to regional media.
The chairwoman of South Ossetian parliament's Committee for Political and Cultural Issues, Mira Tskhovrebova, told journalists that the law introduced a mechanism for creating traditional Ossetian surnames for those wishing to do so.
According to Tskhovrebova, the traditional Ossetian surnames will end with suffixes "-ty," "-ti," and "-on."
Those would replace the Georgian endings "-shvili" and "-dze" and the Russian endings "-ov" and "-ova."
Tskhovrebova says any South Ossetian citizen can now make the change.
Russia officially recognized South Ossetia’s independence from Georgia in August 2008 after a short Russian-Georgian military conflict.
Georgia still considers the region its territory.
The chairwoman of South Ossetian parliament's Committee for Political and Cultural Issues, Mira Tskhovrebova, told journalists that the law introduced a mechanism for creating traditional Ossetian surnames for those wishing to do so.
According to Tskhovrebova, the traditional Ossetian surnames will end with suffixes "-ty," "-ti," and "-on."
Those would replace the Georgian endings "-shvili" and "-dze" and the Russian endings "-ov" and "-ova."
Tskhovrebova says any South Ossetian citizen can now make the change.
Russia officially recognized South Ossetia’s independence from Georgia in August 2008 after a short Russian-Georgian military conflict.
Georgia still considers the region its territory.