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stranger
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Hi,
I am a newbie here. I have a question that I don't seem to find anyone able to answer. Who or how is it decided what you call people from different countries or places? For example, a person from Hong Kong is a Hong Konger, why not Hong Kongnese? A person from Shanghai, a Shanghainese, why not Shanghaians? What about Angola? Angolians? Croatia, Croats or Croatian? Of course many are easy and obvious, like America = Americans, India = Indians, California = Californians. etc. What about Karachi? Karachians? Its actually Karachite, but why and who or how is it decided?
Thank you & best regards
William Sim
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Carpal Tunnel
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how about those from liverpool--scousers?
Who decides on that? (there isn't even a hint of liverpool in the name!
me? i am a new Yawker.
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stranger
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People from Liverpool are known as Liverpudlians, why? I don't know!? But Scouser is a slang with possibly Norwegian or German source.
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and here I thought those from Liverpool were Liverpudlians. - ron o.edit: Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians but are also known as "Scousers", in reference to the local meal known as 'scouse', a form of stew. The word 'scouse' is probably a contraction of 'lobscouse', the name of a Scandanavian stew which is thought to be a precursor of the scouse dish. - Wikipedia
Last edited by tsuwm; 10/23/07 05:02 AM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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tsuwm, is it me or did you just mantle wsim?
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Carpal Tunnel
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>did you just mantle wsim?
yeahbut, note time and note edit (actually, I only noticed it after the edit).
-joe (it's you) friday
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Pooh-Bah
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dalehileman
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Like many things in language, it seems to be on a word by word basis. See how the various languages in Europe handle the Germans: German Deutschland (country), Italian Germania (country), tedesco (people, language), Spanish Alemania (country), Russia Германия (Germanija, country), немецкий язык (nemtskij jazyk, language), Finnish Saksa (country), France Allemagne (country), Lithuanian Vokietija (country). Most of these names come from one of the many tribes into which the Germans were divided in antiquity. (Excepting the Slavic names which are based on a root meaning deaf-mute. Many placenames (and their adjectival forms) were borrowed at different times and some have been subjected to some extensive changes in pronunciation: e.g., Leghorn for Livorno. How different words are formed within languages is answerable, but I doubt that the why is.
I've always wondered where the -n- in Shanghainese came from? Probably just an epenthetic consonant to make it easier to pronounce. Then there are curiosities like the almost standard (US) mispronunication of the capital of the PRC as /bejʒIŋ/ rather than /bejdʒIŋ/.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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> Then there are curiosities like the almost standard (US) mispronunication of the capital of the PRC as /bejʒIŋ/ rather than /bejdʒIŋ/.
you mean Peking?
formerly known as etaoin...
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[Y]ou mean Peking?No, I meant Peiping. But, seriously, the j in Beijing is pronounced like the j in jingoistic, rather than the z in (some pronunciations of) azure or the second g in garage. This is similar to the pronunciation of César Chávez as /si:zɚ#ʃavɛz/ (Caesar Shavez) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Wikipedia has a nice rundown (with all the usual ranting caveats) about how the form Peking is based on a 500 year old pronunciation that the French recorded in Latin letters.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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> how the form Peking is based on a 500 year old pronunciation that the French recorded in Latin letters.
cool. I allus wondered how that came to be.
thanks. and I'm always glad that I don't need to wink for you.
formerly known as etaoin...
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I don't need to wink for you
Ta, Shrd, but, Faldo's caught me out on occasion in serious need of a wink or three.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Pooh-Bah
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There is probably a pattern but with so many exceptians(immigrants from exceptia) added that the pattern has been obscured to the point of chaos.
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stranger
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I always wonder how journalist or newspaper editor knows the right word when referring to people from certain city. Like if you are writing about the African country Burkina Faso, what do you refer the peoples there as? Burkina Fasoans? Burkina Fasis? Or Burkina Fascist?
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And Idaho f.i.? Idahoians? Utha? Uthans? Uthanians? Are there fixed ones for all the states?
It is a recurring reason for doubts,that's true.
Saskatchewannnees?
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Burkina Faso :- Burkinabé. Idaho :- Idahoan, Idahoer. Utah :- Utahn, Utahan; Utatian. Are there fixed ones for all the states?Here's a list from Wikipedia, and another one from the State History Guide website. Saskatchewan :- Saskatchewanian, Fransaskois.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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(Excepting the Slavic names which are based on a root meaning deaf-mute. This seems very strange to me. The Slavs didn't really think the Germans were deaf-mutes, surely?
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The Slavs didn't really think the Germans were deaf-mutes, surely?
Who knows, but it's similar to the ancient Greeks calling non-Greek speakers barbarian 'stutterers'.
[Addendum: Russian Немец (Nemets) 'German' is related to the adjective немой (nemoj) 'mute, speechless' (Leonard Nimoy's surname is probably related); other Slavic languages have related words meaning stranger, mute, stammerer, German, Northwind; the Slavic root is related to English mumble, German murmurln]
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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addict
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Barbados -> Bajan (officially it's Barbadian, but no one seems to care what the officials say...)
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Pooh-Bah
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Saskatchewan :- Saskatchewanian we usually just say stubble jumper.
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Saskatchewan :- Saskatchewanian we usually just say stubble jumper. zat anything like a stump-jumper*? *back-woods North Dakotan** **glaring redundancy - joe (I auto-know) friday
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>>from the State History Guide website<<
Can't say I've much seen the term "Michiganite." Either/or Michigander/Michiganian.
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the REAL answer is, the locals decide for themselves!
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>>from the State History Guide website<<
Can't say I've much seen the term "Michiganite." Either/or Michigander/Michiganian. Or either Yoopie if you're from the Upper Peninsula, or Troll if you live in the mitten.
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veteran
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Make that "yooper" Faldage. I am going to meet six of them this weekend at Burnside State Park in Kentucky. And about ten or so from lower Michigan will be there as well. I call them "Michanigans" -- which they are -- but I'll ask them what they call themselves.  Edit: Oh yeah, I just remembered what they call me. They call me "that damn Aladamnbamian". It hurts my feelings. 
Last edited by themilum; 10/25/07 11:36 PM.
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could be worse milo, you could be a damned yankee!
or a New York liberal! (heavens forbid!)
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Make that "yooper" Faldage. I , you're right, Milo. They look like your kind of people. It was from a Yooper polka band that was on St. Paul Sunday one fine Sunday a while back that I learned that schottisches and reggae were just a split heart beat apart.
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They call me "that damn Aladamnbamian".
I like the rhythm.
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