The demonyms tag has no wiki summary.
2
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1answer
75 views
Why do only a few English demonyms indicate gender?
A friend recently pondered why Latino/Latina inflects according to gender. I suggested that it's because Latino is a loanword from a language with grammatical gender, but he found it odd that other ...
31
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2answers
3k views
If the plural of ‘man’ is ‘men,’ shouldn’t the plural of ‘German’ be ‘Germen’?
What makes these two words so different that 'man' is changed to 'men', but 'German' is changed to 'Germans'?
2
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2answers
152 views
Referring to people from different parts of United Kingdom
I see four people in front of me. One is from Wales, one is from Scotland, one is from England and one is from Northern Ireland. I can say about each one "He is Scottish/Welsh/English". But, how do I ...
3
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2answers
133 views
What is the proper demonym for someone from Shreveport?
A tweet popped up in my feed recently that posed a really good question. On first blush I thought "Oh, I can answer this!" then upon further reflection I realized I can't.
In the case of "New ...
0
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2answers
95 views
Is it unidiomatic to say “an Australian person” or “an Aussie person”?
As mentioned in For people, can you say "a British" like you can say "an Australian"?, you can use "an Australian" to talk about an Australian person.
But is it also ok to use "an ...
5
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1answer
219 views
Why do we use “the” in “the British” but not before “Canadians”? [closed]
Why do we use the definite article before most nationalities such as "the British" but we say "Canadians" without the?
Specifically, why is it that, for example,...
Canadians like maple syrup.
...
0
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1answer
186 views
Is there a rule to what ending you use when you construct the nationality adjective? Or where did the various endings come from? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are there any rules governing what we call people from different countries?
In the English language, you have several endings used when you construct an adjective out of ...
4
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1answer
400 views
Rules for forming demonyms
Are there specific rules / conventions at play when creating demonyms? Or are they merely formed organically over time - the most popular winning out?
There are many suffixes to choose from, but I ...
3
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4answers
431 views
Adjective or noun when referring to plural citizenship
What is the right form to use when talking about plural citizenship?
"We are Italian" or "we are Italians"? (or American, Or German or any other ending with "*an")
Same issue for "Saudi" or "Saudies", ...
5
votes
3answers
128 views
How should one properly construct compound nationalities?
Chinese American or American Chinese? Indian Briton or British Indian?
In practice, I've come across both forms and I would love to know whether this is a matter of personal preference or whether ...
3
votes
1answer
770 views
When to use -Ites / Ians / Ish / An / Ni / Ese / Elsh / Er [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are there any rules governing what we call people from different countries?
I have some confusion regarding usage of suffixes such as -ites / -ians / -ish.
For example: ...
1
vote
1answer
150 views
What are the rules that govern the attribute given to someone as a result of where they come from? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are there any rules governing what we call people from different countries?
For example someone from London might be said to be a Londoner. However someone from America ...
12
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7answers
877 views
Is “Canuck” offensive?
I was criticized the other day for using this word. It never occurred to me that it was offensive, but Wikipedia says it "may" be derogatory. Given Vancouver's hockey team, I tend to think it's ...
11
votes
3answers
593 views
Inhabitants of Vatican City would be referred to as ____
Keep that blank clean. No religious flaming.
What I mean is this: inhabitants of America are Americans, inhabitants of Ohio are Ohioans, and inhabitants of Cincinnati are Cincinnatians. But what ...
4
votes
3answers
226 views
Why is this show called “Singapore Idol”, not “Singaporean Idol”?
In other cases, a [country] Idol show titles use the demonym: American Idol, Malaysian Idol or Indonesian Idol. Why is this show called Singapore Idol, not Singaporean Idol?
10
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2answers
612 views
Are there any rules governing what we call people from different countries?
people from China = Chinese
people from Japan = Japanese
people from Australia = Australian
people from Lebanon = Lebanese
people from Sweden = Swedish
Are there any rules that ...
1
vote
2answers
325 views
What is the demonym for Norfolk, Virginia?
According to this Fritinancy entry, the demonym for Norfolk, England is "North Anglian," rather than "Norfolker" or "Norfolkite," for historical reasons.
What about Norfolk, Virginia, in the United ...
7
votes
4answers
750 views
Is there a difference between “Frenchmen” and “French men”?
I was just reading a news article about a couple of French men and was wondering what (if any) the difference between that and Frenchmen is?
