# Forming adjectives from country names

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-adjectives-from-country-names/501562>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 1, 2009, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-adjectives-from-country-names/501562 "2009-07-01T09:42:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-adjectives-from-country-names/501562/41 "2009-07-02T21:08:48Z")

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> [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](#):
>
> Do other languages have this variety in their national adjectives, or do they impose a uniform “style”?

As to the OP:

In Hungarian, the vast majority of national demonyms are the root word, with the country name being formed by adding “-ia” or “-ország”, usually the latter. There are a few exceptions, but I only remember two. (svájci=swiss, svájc=Switzerland; amerikai=American, america=America\*)

Examples:

magyar= Hungarian, magyarország=Hungary

román=Romanian, románia=Romania

\*this no doubt has something to do with the fact that the full name is a phrase: “amerikai egyasült államok”

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-adjectives-from-country-names/501562/42 "2009-07-02T21:12:45Z")

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> [@AK84](#):
>
> “Miss” is what pretty much all female teachers are called regardless of gender

I think you mean regardless of marital status. It would be hard to find a female teacher of any other gender. 😉

That’s a fairly common usage in Britain, too, or at least it was in 1993.

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**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-adjectives-from-country-names/501562/43 "2009-07-02T22:01:33Z")

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> [@AK84](#):
>
> “Miss” is what pretty much all female teachers are called regardless of gender

Story I heard as a child: Englishman in late 19th century India talking to some Indian guy. Both influential people but the Indian guy has a limited command of English and is trying to make a good impression.

They are exchanging some small talk and the Indian asks “And who is the King of England now?” The Englishman replies “ **Queen** Victoria”. To which the Indian man says “Ah, yes, of course, Queen Victoria… a very fine King!”.

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forming-adjectives-from-country-names/501562/44 "2009-07-03T11:17:25Z")

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> [@constanze](#):
>
> Thanks for that info, but I’m still unclear on how the nouns themselves are formed: in English and other European languages, the names of the countries themselves were formed at different times with different rules, so you have England, Norway along with France and Aserbaijdshan. Are there simple rules without exceptions for forming the names themselves in the languages you cited above?

How are names of countries formed? That’s a completely different question from the OP which asked about adjective formation. There is no one answer to this. Names are just proper names, usually named either for the ethnic group there, or something about the geography, with no particular rhyme or reason.

I’ll take Arabic for example. Countries in the Middle East tend to have native Arabic names: _Misr_ (Egypt), _al-Yaman, al-‘Irāq, Baḥrayn, ‘Umān, al-Sūdān_. The only pattern I can see is the absence of a pattern. Countries in other parts of the world generally have the foreign names adapted into Arabic: _Frānsiyā, Isbānyā, Almānyā_ (Germany \< French _Allemagne_), _Barītānyā, Amrīkā_, etc. The only pattern I can see is that these names are adopted from other languages, since the ancient Arabs hadn’t known about them.

So the short answer is: No.

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