Nation and nationality names

[Tony Williams]

A couple of things which have niggled at the back of my idle mind:

If Austrians live in Austria, Bulgarians in Bulgaria and Romanians in Romania, why don't Hungarians live in Hungaria?

If a native of Scotland is a Scot, why isn't a native of England an Eng (much handier than "Englishperson") and a native of Ireland an Ire (which sounds quite appropriate...)? And why doesn't Wales have a "land" in its name?

From a mystified Eng....:undecided:

[Mr.Smoketoomuch]

If people from Poland are called Poles, why arent people from Holland called Holes ?
(That was actually in the Beano about 1959, I know cos I was there).

[skbuncks]

A couple of things which have niggled at the back of my idle mind:

If Austrians live in Austria, Bulgarians in Bulgaria and Romanians in Romania, why don't Hungarians live in Hungaria?

If a native of Scotland is a Scot, why isn't a native of England an Eng (much handier than "Englishperson") and a native of Ireland an Ire (which sounds quite appropriate...)? And why doesn't Wales have a "land" in its name?

From a mystified Eng....:undecided:

It would imagine its a combination of many things, the name of a country/its inhabitants changing over time and translation issues and transposition of foreign names into a native tongue being three that spring to mind.

As for Engs:
England (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=England) http://www.etymonline.com/graphics/dictionary.gif (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=England)O.E. Engla land, lit. "the land of the Angles" (see English (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=English)).
English (1) (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=English) http://www.etymonline.com/graphics/dictionary.gif (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=English)"people or speech of England," O.E. Englisc, from Engle (pl.) "the Angles," one of the Gmc. groups that overran the island 5c., supposedly so-called because Angul, the land they inhabited on the Jutland coast, was shaped like a fish hook (but how could they know this from the ground?). The term was used from earliest times without distinction for all the Gmc. invaders -- Angles, Saxon, Jutes (Bede's gens Anglorum) -- and applied to their group of related languages by Alfred the Great. In pronunciation, "En-" has become "In-," but the older spelling has remained. Meaning "English language or literature as a subject at school" is from 1889.skb

[Drop Bear]

Just to confuse things further:


Inhabitants of Crete are called 'Cretans'

All inhabitants of Lesbos are called 'Lesbians'. Many are really pissed off about the other connotations of the name.

I guess it's a bit like we Adelaidians having our city referred to as 'the bizarre murder capital of Australia'. But,we get 'em back by making rude comments about their convict ancestors.( South Australia was founded as the only free colony in Australia)

[Tony Williams]

In pronunciation, "En-" has become "In-," but the older spelling has remained.
I thought it was "Inger" as in "Ingerland" (according to our football fans, anyway).

[Tony Williams]

I guess it's a bit like we Adelaidians having our city referred to as 'the bizarre murder capital of Australia'. But,we get 'em back by making rude comments about their convict ancestors.( South Australia was founded as the only free colony in Australia)
I read a curious piece of info the other month: that in German-speaking lands, "Heidi" is the short form or nickname of the girl's name "Adelaide".

So I suppose you could be "Heidians" to your friends!