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Q&A Why are there different suffixes for people of different countries in English?

I never thought about it too much until now, but in Hebrew, the only suffix, if I'm not mistaken, to refer to a person from a country is to add the letter Yod to the end of the name of the country ...

1 answer  ·  posted 3y ago by Harel13‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Moshi‭

Question English suffix
#2: Post edited by user avatar Harel13‭ · 2020-10-25T18:38:35Z (over 3 years ago)
  • I never thought about it too much until now, but in Hebrew, the only suffix, if I'm not mistaken, to refer to a person from a country is to add the letter Yod to the end of the name of the country (and another Tav after the Yod for females). For example, someone from Sin (China) is a Sini (סיני), someone from Russia is a Russi (רוסי), someone from Anglia (England) is an Angli (אנגלי) and so forth.
  • However, in English there are different suffixes. A person from Finland is Finn-ish (or a Finn) while a person from China is Chin-ese. Someone from America is an America-n while someone from Israel is an Israel-i. Why the difference? How is this determined?
  • I never thought about it too much until now, but in Hebrew, the only suffix, if I'm not mistaken, to refer to a person from a country is to add the letter Yod to the end of the name of the country (and another Tav or Heh after the Yod for females). For example, someone from Sin (China) is a Sini (סיני), someone from Russia is a Russi (רוסי), someone from Anglia (England) is an Angli (אנגלי) and so forth.
  • However, in English there are different suffixes. A person from Finland is Finn-ish (or a Finn) while a person from China is Chin-ese. Someone from America is an America-n while someone from Israel is an Israel-i. Why the difference? How is this determined?
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Harel13‭ · 2020-10-25T16:05:50Z (over 3 years ago)
Why are there different suffixes for people of different countries in English?
I never thought about it too much until now, but in Hebrew, the only suffix, if I'm not mistaken, to refer to a person from a country is to add the letter Yod to the end of the name of the country (and another Tav after the Yod for females). For example, someone from Sin (China) is a Sini (סיני), someone from Russia is a Russi (רוסי), someone from Anglia (England) is an Angli (אנגלי) and so forth.

However, in English there are different suffixes. A person from Finland is Finn-ish (or a Finn) while a person from China is Chin-ese. Someone from America is an America-n while someone from Israel is an Israel-i. Why the difference? How is this determined?