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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2 |
How do we decide in English which form we will use to call the people of a certain country? Why is it Israeli, Iraqi, Iranian?
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Welcome to the board imp.
Add /ese, /ian, /ish, /etc and it gets confusing. (or am I just easy to confuse?)
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
Here are some interesting geographic clusters of endings. I have no idea why this may be so:
Chinese
Japanese
Taiwanese
Burmese
Siamese
Nepalese
Vietnamese
Welsh
Irish
Scottish
English
British
Cornish
Bolivian
Brazillian
Peruvian
Ecuadorian
Chilean
Colombian
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2 |
We could add: Venezuelan, Paraguay, Uruguayan. , Argentinian (can be Argentine) Costa Rican, Salvadorian, Honduran, Guatemalan, Dominican, Cuban, Haitian, Bahaman Mexican, Canadian, American
Don't know: A person from Belize, many of the Carribean Islands
We could add: Spanish, Swedish, Finnish
Don't fit pattern: Italian, Belgian, Dutch, Norwegian, Greek, etc.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 176
member
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member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 176 |
And, of course, don't forget my dead horse: United Statesan, or United States of American, or -- oh, that's right, the citizenry of the United States of America don't have a word ...
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
the citizenry of the United States of America don't have a wor
We're the default.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500 |
Italian fits the pattern. I always considered that the term "American" referred exclusively to citizens of the United States. I once asked a young man from Hong Kong what the equivalent was - HongKongian, what? He said that it was "Hong Kong Chinese", although he said this wouldn't apply to someone whose racial origin was other than Asian. Never did figure that one out....
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Most Canadians would consider "an American" to be from the US but would agree that we are North Americans.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500 |
Yes, that's true. I once had quite an argument, though, with someone who referred to something that had happened in Canada and said "Only in America, eh?" He said we were Americans because we were North Americans. I was some upset about it, because I'm North American, but NOT American.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Imagine how Mexicans must feel.
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