A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a people or the inhabitants of a place. The English language uses several strategies to create demonyms. The most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location's name. These include: *''-an'' or ''-ian'' (America -> American) *''-ite'' (Vancouver -> Vancouverite) (mostly cities) *''-er'' (London -> Londoner) (mostly cities) *''-ish'' (Spain -> Spanish) (mostly countries) *''-ese'' (Taiwan -> Taiwanese, Vienna -> Viennese) (mostly East Asian and Francophone locations, from the similar-sounding French suffix ''-ais'') *''-i'' (Iraq -> Iraqi, Bengal -> Bengali) (mostly Middle Eastern and South Asian locales) In some cases, both the location's name and the demonym are produced by suffixation, for example ''England'' and ''English'' (derived from the Angle tribe). In some cases the derivation is concealed enough that it is no longer morphemic: ''France'' -> ''French''. Sometimes the name of the country is derived from the people's name (''Swiss'' -> ''Switzerland'', ''Arab'' -> ''Arabia'', ''Croat'' -> ''Croatia''). In a few cases, demonyms are borrowed from other languages or adapted in a process of linguistic mutation where English demonyms are similar to those of other languages (''Kosovo'' -> ''Kosovan'' (English demonym) -> ''Kosovar'' (Albanian language demonym also used in English)). Finally, in a few cases the name of the country is not at all related to the name of the people (''Netherlands'' -> ''Dutch''), usually because the two words originate from different languages. Demonyms can be nouns or adjectives. In many cases the noun and adjective forms are the same (''Canadian/Canadian''); in other cases they are different (''Spaniard/Spanish people'', ''Slovene/Slovenian''). In some of the latter cases the noun is formed by adding -man or -woman (''English/Englishman/Englishwoman'', the obsolete ''Chinese/Chinaman/Chinawoman''). Often the name of the Language is the same as the demonym. In the case of U.S. states, it is non-standard to use demonyms as adjectives (for example "Georgia peach", not "Georgian peach") except when referring to people ("Ben Franklin is Pennsylvanian.") ==See also== * List of adjectival forms of place names * -onym
===Mars and Fiction=== I added "Mars -> Martian", and Reub2000 saw fit to remove it as 'silliness'. I'm not going to engage in a revert war, but I will explain my logic for including it, so that others can decide how to better incorporate this into the article. When we found new towns and nations, or when we create them in works of literature, the creators must also choose which demonym form to use. The chosen form connotes information about the society. Why did English-speaking convention settle on "Martian" (returing to the Martial root, and its militaristic connotations) instead of Marish, Marsene, etc? The curious word "Earthling" implies that the fictional aliens who quip it misunderstand our demonyms and are calling humans "little ones out of the Earth", instead of "Earthian", etc, "ones from Earth". More mundanely, do people from DC take on airs when they call themselves "Washingtonians" instead of "Washingtoners"? Since I'm not a linguist, I don't feel qualified to go into this level of dissertation. But I don't think we should deny that demonyms have a creative quality. User:Mareino 18:49, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC) isn't spanish wrong and shouldn't it say spaniard?
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Words begining with Demonym:
Demonym
Demonym
Demonyms
Demonym
A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a people or the inhabitants of a place. The English language uses several strategies to create demonyms. The most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location's name. These include: *''-an'' or ''-ian'' (America -> American) *''-ite'' (Vancouver -> Vancouverite) (mostly cities) *''-er'' (London -> Londoner) (mostly cities) *''-ish'' (Spain -> Spanish) (mostly countries) *''-ese'' (Taiwan -> Taiwanese, Vienna -> Viennese) (mostly East Asian and Francophone locations, from the similar-sounding French suffix ''-ais'') *''-i'' (Iraq -> Iraqi, Bengal -> Bengali) (mostly Middle Eastern and South Asian locales) In some cases, both the location's name and the demonym are produced by suffixation, for example ''England'' and ''English'' (derived from the Angle tribe). In some cases the derivation is concealed enough that it is no longer morphemic: ''France'' -> ''French''. Sometimes the name of the country is derived from the people's name (''Swiss'' -> ''Switzerland'', ''Arab'' -> ''Arabia'', ''Croat'' -> ''Croatia''). In a few cases, demonyms are borrowed from other languages or adapted in a process of linguistic mutation where English demonyms are similar to those of other languages (''Kosovo'' -> ''Kosovan'' (English demonym) -> ''Kosovar'' (Albanian language demonym also used in English)). Finally, in a few cases the name of the country is not at all related to the name of the people (''Netherlands'' -> ''Dutch''), usually because the two words originate from different languages. Demonyms can be nouns or adjectives. In many cases the noun and adjective forms are the same (''Canadian/Canadian''); in other cases they are different (''Spaniard/Spanish people'', ''Slovene/Slovenian''). In some of the latter cases the noun is formed by adding -man or -woman (''English/Englishman/Englishwoman'', the obsolete ''Chinese/Chinaman/Chinawoman''). Often the name of the Language is the same as the demonym. In the case of U.S. states, it is non-standard to use demonyms as adjectives (for example "Georgia peach", not "Georgian peach") except when referring to people ("Ben Franklin is Pennsylvanian.") ==See also== * List of adjectival forms of place names * -onym
Demonym
===Mars and Fiction=== I added "Mars -> Martian", and Reub2000 saw fit to remove it as 'silliness'. I'm not going to engage in a revert war, but I will explain my logic for including it, so that others can decide how to better incorporate this into the article. When we found new towns and nations, or when we create them in works of literature, the creators must also choose which demonym form to use. The chosen form connotes information about the society. Why did English-speaking convention settle on "Martian" (returing to the Martial root, and its militaristic connotations) instead of Marish, Marsene, etc? The curious word "Earthling" implies that the fictional aliens who quip it misunderstand our demonyms and are calling humans "little ones out of the Earth", instead of "Earthian", etc, "ones from Earth". More mundanely, do people from DC take on airs when they call themselves "Washingtonians" instead of "Washingtoners"? Since I'm not a linguist, I don't feel qualified to go into this level of dissertation. But I don't think we should deny that demonyms have a creative quality. User:Mareino 18:49, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC) isn't spanish wrong and shouldn't it say spaniard?
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
D
DA | DB | DC | DE | DF | DG | DH | DI | DJ | DK | DL | DM | DN | DO | DP | DR | DS | DT | DU | DW | DX | DY | DZ |Words begining with Demonym:
Demonym
Demonym
Demonyms
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