The names of wives in Belarusian Narew dialects were most often formed from the husband’s name using the formatives -iχa, -ča and -ka. These forms were neutral in the past, and the formatives in questions were a maritonymic indicator. During the post-war period, particularly in the nineteen-seventies, a tendency for the gradual disappearance of wives’ names with the formatives -iχa, -ča and -ka was observed. The names of this type now refer almost exclusively to old women. They are used by persons of the oldest generation. In this usage, the names in question retain their maritonymic function and a neutral tinge. The names of wives with the formatives -iχa, -ča and -ka, used to refer to old women by young or middle-aged people, usually have an augmentative-pejorative or jocular- ironic connotation. The names of this type are gradually becoming functionally close to nicknames. What is conducive to the process is without doubt the archaic form of the names in question. The archaization of the traditional names of wives with the formatives -iχa, -ča and -ka is accompanied by the distinct activation, infl uenced by the Polish language, of maritonymic f Keywords: Białystok region, Narewka village and its vicinity, peripheral Belarusian dialects, mari-tonymic forms with the formative -iχa, -ča and -ka, disappearance and change of function Narewka village and its ormatives -ova, -ava, and partly -ina, -yna.

In the Hajnówka district, over 450 surnames with the suffix (derivational morp heme) -uk are recorded which were mostly formed from patronymics based on given names of Greek origin, less frequently of Hebrew, Latin and Slavic. The goal of the present article is to discuss patronymic surnames with the suffix -uk found exclusively in Poland or in largest numbers in the Hajnówka district in the Białystok region, which is overwhelmingly inhabited by the Orthodox population, who usually speak Belarusian, Ukrainian or sometimes mixed dialects. The material basis of the present study is therefore the surnames with the suffix -uk most characteristic of the area investigated and strictly associated with this territory from the time of its settlement.

The author set himself the following specific objectives: a) establish the number of people with a particular surname in Poland; b) establish the number of people with a particular surname in the Hajnówka district; c) establish the surnames with the suffix -uk found exclusively in Poland or in largest numbers in the Hajnówka district; d) establish the origin of the surname investigated. The article may prove useful not only in establishing the origin of the surnames studied but also in determining the place where they arose and the directions of migration of the population within Poland.