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A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic
Many demonyms function both endonymically and exonymically (used by the referents themselves or by outsiders); others function only in one of those ways.
As a sub-field of anthroponymy, the study of demonyms is called demonymy or demonymics.
Since they are referring to territorially defined groups of people, demonyms are Semantics different from (names of Ethnicity). In the English language, there are many Polysemy words that have several meanings (including demonymic and ethnonymic uses), and therefore a particular use of any such word depends on the context. For example, the word Thai may be used as a demonym, designating any inhabitant of Thailand, while the same word may also be used as an ethnonym, designating members of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms. For example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British people, a Briton or, informally, a Brit.
Some demonyms may have several meanings. For example, the demonym Macedonians may refer to the population of North Macedonia, or more generally to the entire population of the region of Macedonia, a portion of which is in Greece. In some languages, a demonym may be borrowed from another language as a nickname or descriptive adjective for a group of people: for example, Québécois, Québécoise (female) is commonly used in English for a native of the province or city of Quebec (though Quebecer, Quebecker are also available).
In English, demonyms are always capitalization.
Often, demonyms are the same as the adjectival form of the place, e.g. , Japanese people, or Greeks. However, they are not necessarily the same, as exemplified by Spanish instead of Spaniard or British instead of Briton.
English commonly uses national demonyms such as Brazilian or Algerian, while the usage of local demonyms such as , Okie or is less common. Many local demonyms are rarely used and many places, especially smaller towns and cities, lack a commonly used and accepted demonym altogether.
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Continents and regions Countries Constituent states, provinces and regions Cities -ian Countries Constituent states, provinces, regions and cities -anian -nian -in(e) -(h)in The Tayabas Tagalog suffix -in, which is mostly used by the natives in the province of Quezon, is also used for their local or native demonyms in English. -a(ñ/n)o/a, -e(ñ/n)o/a, or -i(ñ/n)o/a Adaptations from the standard Spanish language suffix -e(ñ/n)o (sometimes using a final -a instead of -o for a female, following the standard Spanish suffix -e(ñ/n)a) Countries and regions Cities -ite -(e)r Often used for locations and Canada locations -(i)sh (Usually suffixed to a truncated form of the toponym, or place-name.) "-ish" is usually proper only as an adjective. See note below list. -ene Often used for locations and locations. -ensian (These are largely obsolete.) -ard -ese, -nese or -lese "-ese" is usually considered proper only as an adjective, or to refer to the entirety. Thus, "a Chinese person" is used rather than "a Chinese". Often used for Italian and East Asian, from the Italian suffix -ese, which is originally from the Latin adjectival ending -ensis, designating origin from a place: thus Hispaniensis (Spanish), Danensis (Danish), etc. The use in demonyms for Francophone locations is motivated by the similar-sounding French suffix -ais(e), which is at least in part a relative (< lat. -ensis or -iscus, or rather both). -i(e) or -i(ya) Countries States, provinces, counties, and cities Mostly for and locales. -i is encountered also in Latinate names for the various people that ancient Romans encountered (e.g. Allemanni, Helvetia). -i.e. is rather used for English places. -iot or -iote Used especially for Greece locations. Backformation from Cypriot, itself based in Greek -ώτης. -k -asque Often used for Italy and France locations. -(we)gian -onian Often used for United Kingdom and Irish locations. -vian -ois(e), -ais(e) While derived from French, these are also official demonyms in English. From Latin or Latinization |
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Other science fiction examples include Jovian for those of Jupiter or its moons and Venusians for those of Venus. Fictional aliens refer to the inhabitants of Earth as Earthling (from the diminutive -ling, ultimately from Old English -ing meaning "descendant"), as well as , Terrene, Tellurian, Earther, Earthican, Terrestrial, and Solarian (from Sol, the sun).
Fantasy literature which involves other worlds or other lands also has a rich supply of gentilics. Examples include Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians, from the islands of Lilliput and Brobdingnag in the satire Gulliver's Travels.
In a few cases, where a linguistic background has been constructed, non-standard gentilics are formed (or the eponyms back-formed). Examples include Tolkien's Rohirrim (from Rohan), the Star Trek franchise's (with various names for their homeworld), and the Sangheili from the Halo franchise, (also known as Elites in the game by humans, as well as players) named after their homeworld of Sanghelios.
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