Demonym

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Slava
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Demonym

Postby Slava » Fri May 03, 2013 7:38 pm

The word used to denote where one is from. Many are quite interesting and fun:

Liverpool - Liverpudlian
Glasgow - Glaswegian
etc.

I had to ask a classmate about Benin. I figured Beninian wouldn't quite make the grade, but had forgotten about -ese. Beninese it is.

Why's someone from Moscow a Muscovite? Way back when, the place was known as Muscovy.

There are lots more out there, so feel free to pile on.

This is a new word, perhaps less than 20 years old, but I think it would make a good Good Word.
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Re: Demonym

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri May 03, 2013 7:52 pm

Rustonian, Monrovian, Louisianian, or - for short, redneck!
pl

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call_copse
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Re: Demonym

Postby call_copse » Tue May 07, 2013 12:38 pm

Nice word, new one on me - it seems to be a word that needed coining.

Natives of my own fair-ish city are Sotonians.

Presumably less formal names also qualify as demonyms? For instance Liverpudlians would commonly be referred to as Scousers, and Glaswegians as Weegies in the UK.
Iain

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Slava
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Re: Demonym

Postby Slava » Tue May 07, 2013 1:43 pm

Nice word, new one on me - it seems to be a word that needed coining.

Natives of my own fair-ish city are Sotonians.

Presumably less formal names also qualify as demonyms? For instance Liverpudlians would commonly be referred to as Scousers, and Glaswegians as Weegies in the UK.
Sotonian - A new one for me, so I guess we're even.

As to the less formal ones, I'd go for calling them nicknames.

I do like Weegies, though. Reminds me of the Gibb brothers' band from nearly way back when.
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gailr
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Re: Demonym

Postby gailr » Tue May 07, 2013 8:17 pm

Demonym: Legion

:wink:

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Re: Demonym

Postby William Hupy » Thu May 09, 2013 8:57 am

Great word. This needs to be posted for all to see.
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Re: Demonym

Postby Audiendus » Thu May 09, 2013 1:28 pm

A similar word, ethnonym, was discussed last year.

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Re: Demonym

Postby Philip Hudson » Thu May 09, 2013 9:46 pm

Gail, you wrote, "Demonym: Legion". Are you referring to a Biblical event on the east shore of Galilee? You could compile an Apocrypha of your own.
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Slava
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Re: Demonym

Postby Slava » Thu May 09, 2013 11:09 pm

A similar word, ethnonym, was discussed last year.
Thanks for reminding us, Audiendus. Odd that I forgot, as I posted ethnonym myself.

Does anyone have any idea on how these two might actually differ? Or are they just two recently coined words with essentially the same meaning?
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Re: Demonym

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri May 10, 2013 12:07 am

Stabbing without reserch, I'd guess ethnonym might connote a racial or ethnic location or refer to a collection of ethnic groups in a location such as a ghetto, "quarters," or Cajun country. I might expect demonyms to be more neutral, perhaps used more like, "I'm from Podunk."
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Re: Demonym

Postby gailr » Fri May 10, 2013 1:31 am

Gail, you wrote, "Demonym: Legion". Are you referring to a Biblical event on the east shore of Galilee? You could compile an Apocrypha of your own.
It was a pun on demon (and the implied plural from demos) + nym. :twisted:

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Re: Demonym

Postby misterdoe » Wed May 22, 2013 11:58 pm

I've always been interested in ethnicities and such, and the way I understand it, demonym is basically a group's name for itself. Deutschen versus Germans, for example, or Chechens (English) vs. Nokhchiy (Chechen). Ethnonym can be any name applied to an ethnic group, meaning that Deutschen (German), Germans (English), Alemanes (Spanish), Doitsu (Japanese), and Tedeschi (Italian) are all ethnonyms for Germans but in different languages.


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