No Stupid Questions @lemmy.world 58008 @lemmy.world 7mo ago

What's the rule for which 'national identity adjective' suffix to use?

[-ish] Ireland, Scotland = Irish, Scottish

[-an] Morocco, Germany = Moroccan, German

[-ese] Portugal, China = Portuguese, Chinese

What rule is at play here? 🤔

Cheers!

96 comments

Netherlands = Dutch
- Also, in Deutschland, the descendents of the Alemmani are called Germans for some awful reason.
  
  So I take it that's why it's Allemagne?
- When I was a kid our family went on vacation to the US. Everyone kept asking if I was Dutch, which I thought was German (Deutsch).
  So I kept correcting them, saying I was Netherlandish :)
  
  Deutsch is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is German
The English Language, where the grammar is made up and the rules don't matter.

I can add:

[-er] New Zealander
- New Zealand -> Kiwi.
  
  Only in the same way Australia -> Aussie, or England -> pom. Colloquial terms
- Or just a different word completely. Dutch.
  
  Pfft. The Dutch...
- Odd way to spell Kiwi but you do you pal
- Booo I'ma still say New Zealish
  
  New Zealot
- New Zealander is the least odd sounding of the lot.
  
  New Zealandish
  
  New Zealandan
  
  New Zealandese?
- New Zealander is the least odd sounding of the lot.
  
  New Zealandish
  
  New Zealandan
  
  New Zealandese?
- Newfoundlander
Canada = Canadese (nuts fit in your mouth?)
There is no common rule. It varies by the way the language evolved over time.

Also the word you are looking for is "Demonym"
I can tell you that this is called demonym, but I don't know the answer to your question... The Wikipedia page has a long list of suffixes, but no rules: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonym
- The answer is that many languages import their demonyms from different foreign languages. The reason for the inconsistencies is the different, unrelated sources for words.
There are no rules in English. Ask the people from each country what they prefer
- Oh there's plenty of rules, and if you follow them you'll be wrong because each rule has 20 exceptions you have to memorize because English isn't a language, it's several languages in a trench coat.
- they blame the welsh.
I'm in Michigan, that makes me a Michigander. The rules are made up and the suffixes don't matter.
- I'm from South Dakota, I'm South Dakotant. It is what it is.
  
  Do you change the emphasis? da-ko-TANT?
- Michiguy or Michigal
- If you're from Halifax, NS, you're a Haligonian.
- I'm a Connecticutian by birth. Though I've also heard someone call themselves Connecticuter once or twice, but never cared for that one.
  
  Either one seems to break a lot of normal grammar/spelling rules.
People from Iceland are only called Icelandic because “Icish” would sound a bit silly.
- Icelandese.
  
  Icelandian.
- Iceland = Icelandic
  
  Thailand != Thailandic
  
  Thailand comes from adding the Germanic -land suffix to the demonym Thai, a common pattern for non-Indo-European places. There’s also Swaziland and Somaliland (though there is also a Somalia).
  
  Don't forget Englandic people.
  
  So we should call them Ices from now on?
- I think I could get behind New Zealandic
  
  I believe they're properly called New Zoolanders.
  
  As an outsider I'll say that "Kiwi" is an awesome name for you folks.
  
  (hope I don't assume too much based on the instance name)
We're all Earthicans, no need to divide it up further than that
Denmark -> Dane

I guess that actually the other way around, Denmark : Dane's field/farm(there is a better English word for mark but can't remember)
- But isn't Dane a noun? I thought the adjective was danish.
  
  Yes you're right , the Danes are Danish
It's based on what sounds best.
- Then explain Liverpudian or Mancunian.
  
  They're both aposematisms - they're meant to be a clear signal to discourage interactions.
  
  Nothing sounds good in those accents, so it's anything goes.
  
  That's why people say Scouse and Manc (not to be confused with Manx)
Find what sounds most natural, if that can't be found, go with what sounds the least catastrophically unnatural.
Meanwhile there is no specific demonym for people from the united states, you can say american buy that would also include every other north and south american country
- Literally nobody who isn't a Latin American with a chip on their shoulder has a problem distinguishing Americans from "people who live on either north or south america"
- I think the rest of the world calls them Freedum Dolts.
- Nobody calls Mexicans or Canadians Americans. Nobody calls Brazilians or Peruvians Americans. They maybe North Americans and South Americans but American means someone from the United States. The Canadians and Mexicans I know would be offended if I called them American.
- People outside the US all assume "American" means US. Nobody thinks there's even a small chance you are referring to anything else. If you want to refer to South Americans you say "South Americans"
- 'Murican seems pretty unique and generally accurate. Just to be clear - that is a two syllable word.
- Seppos
There is no rule. It just is whatever it is.
Just attach "man" to the end of all of them for maximum offence.
- Portugalman
- What the fuck are you talking about? The Chinaman is not the issue here, Dude! I’m talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you do not. Also, Dude, “Chinaman” is not the preferred nomenclature. “Asian-American” please.
  
  Walter Sobchak
  
  Is that some weird shortening for People's Republic of Chinamen? Wouldn't that be too easy to confuse with Republic of Chinamen?
- As in Margaret Thatcher was an Englishman?
  
  Margaret Thatcher even in her death was the inventor of the world's first gender-neutral bathroom so she can have the exception.
I was literally thinking about this yesterday… what’s someone from Belgium called? I couldn’t figure out an ending to add. Belgian?
- Belgian?
  
  yes
There is a Words For Granted podcast episode about that. Don't remember much tho. Have fun!
- Ray Belli is amazing and I've failed to learn so many things from his podcast because as soon as he starts speaking my mind wanders. It's like the audio version of reading the same paragraph four times because my brain decides to think about something else while my eyes move across the page
People from Indiana are called hoosiers - this, like many things in English, doesn't have a hard and fast rule... the sounds at the end of the word certainly impact it, but there are exceptions. Just ask a Peruvian.
Afghani, Pakistani,
- FYI, there's a little debate over this in the English language, but many would say that the proper demonyms are Afghan for the Pashtun ethnic group, and Afghanistani (or rarely Afghanese) for people from Afghanistan regardless of ethnicity.
  
  Afghani is their currency.
  
  I believe it comes from a discrepancy between the Persian and Pashto languages. Afghani being the correct term in Persian, and Afghan being the term in Pashto.
  
  Afghani is pretty widely used in English, and even appears in some dictionaries, but many argue that it's not correct.
  
  So a person is an Afghan, they eat Afghan food, wear Afghan clothing, have Afghan customs, and their currency is the Afghan Afghani (in case some other country ever adopts a currency called the Afghani and you need to differentiate between them)
So Philippines is Philippinese?

96 comments