Nationality suffixes...why?

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
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Inspired by this thread

While were on this subject, what defines the suffix appended to a nationality?

People from America are American.
People from Canada are Canadian.
People from England are English.
People from Congo or Congolese.
People from Iraq are Iraqi.

It seems to have no standard convention.

For instance, most Asians get *ese, but not all of them (like Koreans).
Sometimes it seems based on ease-of-use (Koreaese is hard to spell and pronounce) but why are people from Congo Congolese and not Congan or Congoan as in Morrocans or Samoans?

Just one of those silly questions that I always wondered.
 

chrisms

Diamond Member
Mar 9, 2003
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Americian
Americanian
American
Americese
Americi
Americo
United Statesian
 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
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Trying to find the rules in the English language is like trying to find order in something really complicated...

(best analogy ever?)
 

bandana163

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2003
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AFAIK, no language has one standard suffix to sign nationality.
I'm probably wrong, though.
 

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
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Originally posted by: Mwilding
Trying to find the rules in the English language is like trying to find order in something really complicated...

(best analogy ever?)

It's not just English.

In Spanish, Germans are called Alemanes. Japanese are Japaneses. Chinese are Chinos. It seems equally arbitrary.
 

dighn

Lifer
Aug 12, 2001
22,820
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Originally posted by: Vaerilis
AFAIK, no language has one standard suffix to sign nationality.
I'm probably wrong, though.

in chinese it's just name of country + "person"