First, let’s look at how G.W. Bush’s uses them (from Combinatoric Irregularity):
| “If the East Timorians decide to revolt, I’m sure I’ll have a statement.”
(The New York Times, June 16, 1999)
“Keep good relations with the Grecians.”
(The Economist, June 12, 1999)
“Kosovians can move back in.”
(CNN Inside Politics, April 9, 1999)
|
There’s a reason why G.W. Bush’s idiolect is called “Bushism”.
The following are names of countries and the words for their local citizens.
Local citizens of countries/regions with –n/–an suffix:
Countries
|
Local Citizens
|
| Albania | Albanian |
| Algeria | Algerian |
| America | American |
| Andorra | Andorran |
| Angola | Angolan |
| Antigua | Antiguan |
| Armenia | Armenian |
| Australia | Australian/Aussie |
| Austria | Austrian |
| Belgium | Belgian |
| Belize | Belizean |
| Bolivia | Bolivian |
| Bosnia | Bosnian |
| Brunei | Bruneian |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian |
| Burundi | Burundian |
| Cambodia | Cambodian |
| Cape Verde Islands | Cape Verdean |
| Chile | Chilean |
| Colombia | Colombian |
| Comoros | Comoron |
| Cuba | Cuban |
| Djibouti | Djiboutian |
| Dominica | Dominican |
| Equatorial Guinea | Equatorial Guinean |
| Eritrea | Eritrean |
| Ethiopia | Ethiopian |
| Fiji | Fijian |
| Georgia | Georgian |
| Guinea | Guinean |
| Guatemala | Guatemalan |
| Haiti | Haitian |
| Honduras | Honduran |
| Hungary | Hungarian |
| Italy | Italian |
| India | Indian |
| Indonesia | Indonesian |
| Jamaica | Jamaican |
| Kenya | Kenyan |
| Latvia | Latvian |
| Liberia | Liberian |
| Libya | Libyan |
| Lithuania | Lithuanian |
| Macedonia | Macedonian |
| Malawi | Malawian |
| Malaysia | Malaysian |
| Mali | Malian |
| Mauritania | Mauritanian |
| Mauritius | Mauritian |
| Mexico | Mexican |
| Micronesia | Micronesian |
| Moldova | Moldovan |
| Mongolia | Mongolian |
| Montenegro | Montenegrin |
| Morocco | Moroccan |
| Mozambique | Mozambican |
| Namibia | Namibian |
| Nauru | Nauruan |
| Nicaragua | Nicaraguan |
| Niger | Nigerien |
| Nigeria | Nigerian |
| North Korea | North Korean |
| Papua New Guinea | Papua New Guinean |
| Paraguay | Paraguayan |
| Romania | Romanian |
| Russia | Russian |
| Rwanda | Rwandan |
| St. Lucia | St. Lucian |
| Singapore | Singaporean |
| South Africa | South African |
| South Korea | South Korean |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Lankan |
| Syria | Syrian |
| Tanzania | Tanzanian |
| Tonga | Tongan |
| Tobago | Tobagan/Tobagonian |
| Tunisia | Tunisian |
| Tuvalu | Tuvaluan |
| Uganda | Ugandan |
| Ukraine | Ukrainian |
| Uruguay | Uruguayan |
| Venezuela | Venezuelan |
| Western Samoa | Western Samoan |
| Zambia | Zambian |
| Zimbabwe | Zimbabwean |
Local citizens of countries/regions with –ian/–ean suffix:
Countries
|
Local Citizens
|
| Argentina | Argentinean |
| Bahamas | Bahamian |
| Barbados | Barbadian |
| Belarus | Belarusian/Byelorussian |
| Brazil | Brazilian |
| Cameroon | Cameroonian |
| Canada | Canadian |
| Chad | Chadian |
| Ecuador | Ecuadorian |
| Egypt | Egyptian |
| El Salvador | El Salvadorian |
| Ghana | Ghanaian |
| Grenada | Grenadian |
| Iran | Iranian |
| Jordan | Jordanian |
| Laos | Laotian |
| Maldives | Maldivian |
| Norway | Norwegian |
| Panama | Panamanian |
| St. Vincent | St. Vincentian |
| Sierra Leone | Sierra Leonian |
| Trinidad | Trinidadian |
| Zaire | Zairean |
Local citizens of countries/regions with –ese suffix:
Countries
|
Local Citizens
|
| Benin | Beninese |
| Bhutan | Bhutanese |
| Burkina | Burkinese |
| Burma | Burmese |
| China | Chinese |
| Congo | Congolese |
| Gabon | Gabonese |
| Guyana | Guyanese |
| Japan | Japanese |
| Lebanon | Lebanese |
| Macao | Macanese |
| Malta | Maltese |
| Nepal | Nepalese |
| Portugal | Portuguese |
| Senegal | Senegalese |
| Siam | Siamese |
| Sudan | Sudanese |
| Taiwan | Taiwanese |
| Togo | Togolese |
| Vietnam | Vietnamese |
Local citizens of countries/regions with –i suffix:
Countries
|
Local Citizens
|
| Azerbaijan | Azerbaijani |
| Bahrain | Bahraini |
| Bangladesh | Bangladeshi |
| Iraq | Iraqi |
| Israel | Israeli |
| Kuwait | Kuwaiti |
| Oman | Omani |
| Pakistan | Pakistani |
| Qatar | Qatari |
| Saudi Arabia | Saudi/Saudi Arabian |
| Somalia | Somali |
| Yemen | Yemeni |
Local citizens of countries/regions with –er suffix:
Countries
|
Local Citizens
|
| Falkland Islands | Falkland Islander |
| Greenland | Greenlander |
| Iceland | Icelander |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourger/ Luxembourgian |
| New Zealand | New Zealander |
| Solomon Islands | Solomon Islander |
| Suriname | Surinamer/ Surinamese |
| Virgin Islands | Virgin Islander |
Local citizens of countries/regions with –man/–woman suffix:
*Also sometimes used without this suffix
Countries
|
Local Citizens
|
| France | Frenchman/Frenchwoman |
| Ireland | Irishman/Irishwoman |
| Netherlands | Dutchman/Dutchwoman |
Local citizens of countries/regions with irregular forms or without any suffix:
Countries
|
Local Citizens
|
| Afghanistan | Afghan |
| Botswana | Tswana |
| Croatia | Croat/Croatian |
| Cyprus | Cypriot |
| Czech Republic | Czech |
| Denmark | Dane |
| Finland | Finn |
| Germany | German |
| Greece | Greek |
| Kazakhstan | Kazakh |
| Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyz |
| Madagascar | Malagasay/ Madagascan |
| Monaco | Monégasque/Monacan |
| Peru | Peruvian |
| Philippines | Filipino (male)/Filipina (female) |
| Poland | Pole |
| Scotland | Scott |
| Serbia | Serb/Serbian |
| Slovakia | Slovak |
| Spain | Spaniard |
| Seychelles | Seychellois |
| Slovenia | Slovene/Slovenian |
| Swaziland | Swazi |
| Sweden | Swede |
| Switzerland | Swiss |
| Tajikistan | Tajik/Tadjik |
| Thailand | Thai |
| Turkey | Turk |
| Turkmenistan | Turkmen/Turkoman |
| United Kingdom | Briton/Brit |
| Uzbekistan | Uzbek |
| Yugoslavia | Yugoslav |
As we can from the lists above, most names of local citizens of countries/regions are derived from the country or region itself plus –n/an/ean/ian suffix. Because this ‘regular’ ending is prevalent, many speakers of English tend to generalize the use of the suffix with other countries/regions as well, as G.W. Bush has shown us.
Unfortunately, the only way of learning the combinatoric irregularity is by memorization. This has been proven a tough task for both native and non-native speakers of English.
It would make an interesting research to investigate why such irregularity takes place. Does the native language of the country/region contribute to it? Does the history (the founding of these countries/regions) influence the designation of suffix (or lack of)?
References:
Oxford Concise English Dictionary (9th Edition).
Linguistics 001: Lecture 7: Morphology: The peculiar nature of morphology. http://ling.upenn.edu/courses/ling001/morphology.html
.
No comments:
Post a Comment