Designations of nationality

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 421.

2.2.3.1. In one group of these designations the adjectives are derived from nouns by means of the ending -ish (in the sense 'concern', 'belong', 'be associated with'), for which reason this group has distinct adjectives and nouns: Danish (Dane), Finnish (Finn), Polish (Pole), etc. The type goes back to OE: Denisc (Dane) 'Danish', and many adjectives were formed in this way, also in later periods. The adjective Spanish is derived from the name of the country and is attested in EarlyME in the form Spainisce. Spain- became Span- in the 15th century by an abbreviation of the first element (OED). Perhaps Dutch influence is of relevance here (Middle Dutch Spaensch). The noun Spaniard, which stems from OF, is likewise derived from the name of the country. The suffix -ard, which is now used negatively of person, is well known from words like bastard, coward and drunkard.

2.2.3.2. Another group consists of regular adjectives, and their substantival use should be seen in this light: Irish, the Irish (the nation), an Irishman (2.2.1.1.). Historically, this group has much in common with that discussed in the preceding paragraph (2.2.3.1.): in either case, the adjectives constitute original derivations from nouns, cp. OE Wielisc (Wealas 'Welshmen') and OE Englisc (Engle 'Englishmen'). But Engliscmon crops up already in OE.

The adjective Manx requires a brief comment. It is derived from Man +

-(i)sk(r), which is the ON equivalent of -ish. By consonant inversion (metathesis), ON *Mansk(r) became /mæŋks/, spelled Manx.

In Scotland the adjective Scots is preferred to Scotch. However, the substantival form the Scots (the nation) can alternatively be seen as a regular plural form of the noun Scot, and the sequence Scot, Scots; Scottish thus corresponds to Dane, Danes; Danish (2.2.3.1.).

2.2.3.3. In the largest group of words designating nationality (American, German, Italian, etc.) the singular of the substantival form is identical with the adjective, and the group should therefore be reckoned among the words dealt with in 2.2.2.

2.2.3.4. The fourth and last group comprises adjectives that act unchanged as nouns in the singular and the plural. Apart from Swiss, its members are exclusively words ending in -ese, which is an adjectival suffix going back to OF -eis (Latin -ensem) 'belong', 'come from'. This suffix was added to the name of the country in question: Chinese, Japanese, etc. Except for its suffix -ese, the form Sin(g)halese stems from the Sanskrit designation for Ceylon, i.e. Sinhalam (cp. the French orthographic version: Cingalese). Originally, nouns ending in -ese added -s in the plural (Chineses 17th century) and were therefore comparable to the group treated in the preceding paragraph (cp.1.1.11.). The disappearance of the plural ending should perhaps be ascribed to a misinterpretation of stem final /-z/ as the plural ending -a secondary singular from like Chinee (1871) suggests that this might have been the case. Or perhaps the loss is due to haplology (1.3.6.).

The word Swiss (< French Suisse) belongs to the present group, and like the words in -ese its original plural form in substantival use was denoted by means of the normal plural ending: The Swisses (attested until about 1800).