Making Sense of Adjectives from Country Names
2021-06-04
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1Recently a reader asked us about how English defines the adjective of nation or country.
2Hien Lai gave these examples: "We have American as the adjective of America, Vietnamese as the adjective of Vietnam, Brazilian as the adjective of Brazil, Swiss as the adjective of Switzerland and so on."
3Hien names some of the common suffixes, or endings we add to the placename to make an adjective.
4They include -ese, as in Chinese; -ish, as in Scottish; -ic, as in Icelandic and -i as in Iraqi.
5At first look, it seems that there is no reason for the choice of one adjective form over another for a country.
6However, a closer look shows that history plays a role in how we chose them.
7The suffixes to go with country names were borrowed many years ago from Greek, Latin, French and even Arabic.
8Europe is commonly known as the Old Continent.
9It has countries like England, Sweden, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Turkey and Poland.
10They all use the suffix -ish in the adjective form to become English, Swedish, Spanish, Scottish, Irish, Turkish and Polish.
11The suffix -ish, meaning "born in or of a country," came into use in Old English until around 1150.
12Staying in Europe, you will hear a similar suffix in the adjectives French and Dutch for the countries France and the Netherlands.
13This is a shorter form of the -ish suffix that English speakers used for their close neighbors.
14Speaking of neighbors, we took the adjective Swiss in the 1500s from their neighbors, the French, who used the word Suisse.
15Looking further East from England, the country of Iceland forms an adjective with -ic for Icelandic.
16This is another old French and Latin suffix that you will find on terms related to groups of people in European history, such as Celtic and Gothic.
17A few countries make their adjectives with the suffix -i.
18These include Israeli, Iraqi, Yemeni, Omani, Pakistani, Somali and Bengali.
19These countries usually have populations of Arabic speakers or have neighbors as Arabic speakers.
20A similar sound is used in Arabic to make adjectives.
21But do remember that the adjective for Madagascar has the same sound only it is spelled with the letter -y, Malagasy.
22Portugal, a European country, forms its adjective with the suffix -ese.
23This suffix is borrowed from the Old French -eis.
24So, when the Portuguese started trading with China, the word Chinese entered the English language in the 1570s.
25Country names borrowed into English from Medieval Latin around 1530 include Russian, Egyptian and Norwegian, all ending with one of the most common suffixes, -ian.
26You will find that many countries in the New World, or America, and newly independent countries usually have the suffix -ian or -an.
27They include Canadian, Brazilian, Chilean or Peruvian in America.
28There are Estonian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian in Europe and Ethiopian, Nigerian and Kenyan in Africa.
29When a new country is formed in modern days, its founders usually decide what they want to be called.
30In the African country of Burkina Faso, its founders wanted the people to be called Burkinabè, not Burkinese or Burkinish or Fasoan, in 1984.
31Another new country in the Pacific Ocean, the Republic of Vanuatu, independent since 1980, uses the adjective form Ni-Vanuatu, which translates to "Of Vanuatu" from a local language.
32To find the official name of a country or its people, you can go to The World Fact Book.
33The website also has useful maps and information on each country.
34The next time you are together with some friends, a fun party game might be to test their knowledge of adjectives, people and countries in English.
35And when you have finished learning the adjectives for the countries, there are many more to learn for people of different states or cities!
36For example, I came from the American state of Indiana, but people from my state are called "Hoosiers."
37And that's Everyday Grammar!
38I'm Jill Robbins.
1Recently a reader asked us about how English defines the adjective of nation or country. Hien Lai gave these examples: "We have American as the adjective of America, Vietnamese as the adjective of Vietnam, Brazilian as the adjective of Brazil, Swiss as the adjective of Switzerland and so on." 2Hien names some of the common suffixes, or endings we add to the placename to make an adjective. They include -ese, as in Chinese; -ish, as in Scottish; -ic, as in Icelandic and -i as in Iraqi. 3At first look, it seems that there is no reason for the choice of one adjective form over another for a country. However, a closer look shows that history plays a role in how we chose them. The suffixes to go with country names were borrowed many years ago from Greek, Latin, French and even Arabic. 4Europe is commonly known as the Old Continent. It has countries like England, Sweden, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Turkey and Poland. They all use the suffix -ish in the adjective form to become English, Swedish, Spanish, Scottish, Irish, Turkish and Polish. The suffix -ish, meaning "born in or of a country," came into use in Old English until around 1150. 5Staying in Europe, you will hear a similar suffix in the adjectives French and Dutch for the countries France and the Netherlands. This is a shorter form of the -ish suffix that English speakers used for their close neighbors. Speaking of neighbors, we took the adjective Swiss in the 1500s from their neighbors, the French, who used the word Suisse. 6Looking further East from England, the country of Iceland forms an adjective with -ic for Icelandic. This is another old French and Latin suffix that you will find on terms related to groups of people in European history, such as Celtic and Gothic. 7A few countries make their adjectives with the suffix -i. These include Israeli, Iraqi, Yemeni, Omani, Pakistani, Somali and Bengali. These countries usually have populations of Arabic speakers or have neighbors as Arabic speakers. A similar sound is used in Arabic to make adjectives. But do remember that the adjective for Madagascar has the same sound only it is spelled with the letter -y, Malagasy. 8Portugal, a European country, forms its adjective with the suffix -ese. This suffix is borrowed from the Old French -eis. So, when the Portuguese started trading with China, the word Chinese entered the English language in the 1570s. 9Country names borrowed into English from Medieval Latin around 1530 include Russian, Egyptian and Norwegian, all ending with one of the most common suffixes, -ian. 10You will find that many countries in the New World, or America, and newly independent countries usually have the suffix -ian or -an. 11They include Canadian, Brazilian, Chilean or Peruvian in America. There are Estonian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian in Europe and Ethiopian, Nigerian and Kenyan in Africa. 12When a new country is formed in modern days, its founders usually decide what they want to be called. 13In the African country of Burkina Faso, its founders wanted the people to be called Burkinabè, not Burkinese or Burkinish or Fasoan, in 1984. Another new country in the Pacific Ocean, the Republic of Vanuatu, independent since 1980, uses the adjective form Ni-Vanuatu, which translates to "Of Vanuatu" from a local language. 14To find the official name of a country or its people, you can go to The World Fact Book. The website also has useful maps and information on each country. 15The next time you are together with some friends, a fun party game might be to test their knowledge of adjectives, people and countries in English. 16And when you have finished learning the adjectives for the countries, there are many more to learn for people of different states or cities! For example, I came from the American state of Indiana, but people from my state are called "Hoosiers." 17And that's Everyday Grammar! 18I'm Jill Robbins. 19Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 20___________________________________________________________ 21Stephen Powell made this map showing the adjective endings for countries around the world. 22What is the adjective in English for your country? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.