What's the rule for which 'national identity adjective' suffix to use?

58008@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 98 points –

[-ish] Ireland, Scotland = Irish, Scottish

[-an] Morocco, Germany = Moroccan, German

[-ese] Portugal, China = Portuguese, Chinese

What rule is at play here? 🤔

Cheers!

110

You are viewing a single comment

The English Language, where the grammar is made up and the rules don't matter.

I can add:

[-er] New Zealander

New Zealand -> Kiwi.

Only in the same way Australia -> Aussie, or England -> pom. Colloquial terms

When does a colloquial term become a non-colloquial? Usage by government/official contexts?

In August 2022, Minister of Immigration Michael Wood referred to 85,000 holders of recently approved New Zealand 2021 resident visas as "new Kiwis".

New Zealander is the least odd sounding of the lot.

New Zealandish

New Zealandan

New Zealandese?

New Zealander is the least odd sounding of the lot.

New Zealandish

New Zealandan

New Zealandese?