Adjectives As Placenames
Some placenames originated as adjectives. In such cases the placename and the demonym are often the same word. This dual function is very common in French, where for example Lyonnais means either the region or an inhabitant of Lyon. Examples include:
- Argentina: properly República Argentina (Argentine Republic) or Tierra Argentina (Land of Silver), from Latin argentum (silver). In English, the Spanish form Argentina is used for the country, the parallel English form Argentine as demonym and general adjective. The adjectival forms of Argentinean or Argentinian are used in the United Kingdom; however, the Oxford English Dictionary lists Argentine as the correct demonym. (Argentinian is a demonym for the Argentine, an archaic name for Argentina, and hence a less direct derivation.)
- Brazil: from pau brasil (pau: wood; brasil: ember-red color), the name of a native Brazilian tree highly regarded by the Portuguese explorers. The adjective brasil (Brazil in the old Portuguese spelling) came to be the official name for the whole country and lost its adjectival nature.
- Philippines: from Philippine Islands (Spanish: Islas Filipinas), named after King Philip II of Spain. Here, Philippine is the general adjective, while the Spanish masculine noun Filipino is the demonym. The English plural is Filipinos, as in Spanish.
Read more about this topic: Demonym