was born a son Andrei

[güey]

Could you please tell me if a son Andrei is correct English? The article is a translation from Ukrainian.

Yurii Dolgorukii began the rule of the ‘Riurykovyches’ in ‘Moksel’, becoming prince of Suzdal. To him and a local Finnish woman was born a son Andrei, called ‘Bogoliubskii’.
https://euromaidanpress.com/2014/05/14/how-moscow-hijacked-the-history-of-kyivan-rus/

 

[User With No Name]

That whole sentence sounds formal and stilted (as translations often do), but as far as I can tell, it's perfectly correct. Certainly "a son Andrei" is correct in that context.

 

[Chasint]

"a local Finnish woman was born a son"

The above is grammatically incorrect. The son was born, not the woman. We can say that the son was born to the woman.

The following are correct:

"a local Finnish woman gave birth to a son" - This is current English

" a local Finnish woman bore a son" - Somewhat out of date but correct

"a son, Andrei, was born to a local Finnish woman" - Correct but not common these days

"to a local Finnish woman was born a son" - Correct but archaic

 

[Edinburgher]

"a local Finnish woman was born a son"

It isn't incorrect because it has "To him and" in front of it.

 

[Dictatortot]

"a local Finnish woman was born a son"

The above is grammatically incorrect. The son was born, not the woman. We can say that the son was born to the woman.

The following are correct:

"a local Finnish woman gave birth to a son" - This is current English

" a local Finnish woman bore a son" - Somewhat out of date but correct

"a son, Andrei, was born to a local Finnish woman" - Correct but not common these days

"to a local Finnish woman was born a son" - Correct but archaic

I have to disagree. "To" governs both "him" and "a local Finnish woman." "To him and to a local Finnish woman" would also be possible, but isn't required.

 

[güey]

However, is this wording acceptable in formal, archaic English only, or can one say in contemporary English something like, She gave birth to a son Michael.

 

[LVRBC]

For me, a comma is missing between "a son" and "Andrei," and "a son" and "Michael." Quite apart from the issue of whether a child is born to his mother only or to both parents.

 

[exgerman]

The English for Riurykovyches (descendants of Rurik) is Rurikids.

To (him and a Finnish woman) was born a son is perfectly normal English, albeit a bit formal. You might use this inverted sentence structure to keep the focus on Yurii Dolgorukii, if he is going to be the subject of the next following sentence. If the next sentence is going to be about his son, you are better off with a simpler sentence: he and a Finnish woman had a son, Andreii.... This Andreii did such and such, etc.

 

[Edinburgher]

What I found a bit odd is "a son X, called Y". Surely when we say "a son X" (with or without comma), we mean he's called X.
So was his name X, or was it Y? Well it turns out it was actually "X Y", but the father and son having different surnames seems odd too, though of course different cultures have different customs concerning names (Icelandic is a case in point). I wonder whether Y was the mother's surname.

 

[PaulQ]

What I found a bit odd is "a son X, called Y". Surely when we say "a son X" (with or without comma), we mean he's called X.
So was his name X, or was it Y?

The "called X" is somewhat archaic. It usually means, "who will be known (among the people) by the sobriquet "X""

Matt:1:23: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

 

[AutumnOwl]

What I found a bit odd is "a son X, called Y". Surely when we say "a son X" (with or without comma), we mean he's called X.
So was his name X, or was it Y?

Well, Charles and Diana had a son Henry Charles Albert David, called Harry.

 

[Chasint]

Looking back to the first post, I see that I missed the "To" at the beginning of the sentence. So I was wrong in saying the sentence is ungrammatical in that sense.

My 'correction' now, would be to add a comma, as mentioned by LVRBC

To him and a local Finnish woman was born a son, Andre, called ‘Bogoliubskii’.

The meaning is clear without the comma though.