Demonyms As Roots
While many demonyms are derived from placenames, many countries are named for their inhabitants (Finland for the Finns, Germany for the Germans, Thailand for the Thais, Denmark for the Danes, France for the Franks, Slovakia for the Slovaks, and Slovenia for the Slovenes). Tribes and peoples generally have a longer continuous history than their countries; tribal names often imply a descent from a single ancestor, such as Rus as the legendary ancestor of the Russians. In Bantu languages the name of the land and the name of the inhabitants will have a common root distinguished by different prefixes (e.g. Buganda, land, and Baganda, inhabitants).
Read more about this topic: Demonym
Famous quotes containing the word roots:
“You know, honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)