My fellow Americans, this question might be a bit confusing. I’m not sure of the best way to word it. I’m curious if anyone has resources on this phenomenon or knows the origins.
So to try and clarify what I’m talking about, I’ve noticed that a lot of people don’t use terms like Pennsylvanian, Ohioan etc… but will instead use the states name as an adjective. Instead of saying that scrapple is “as Pennsylvanian as it gets” people will say it’s “as Pennsylvania as it gets.” Something like that. Texan and Californian seem to be outliers, but it’s just something I’ve noticed about our speech patterns.
Not sure if this makes much sense but I’m curious what y’all think.
EDIT: I’m not challenging the validity of how most people speak. I’m just curious as to why or how our state names came to function as both nouns and adjectives. Also, why in an American context a word like Pennsylvanian is almost always reserved for people where as a term like French or German can also describe the products relating to people.
21 comments
Because they are saying it belongs to the state itself, not the people of the state.
Maybe it’s regional, because I haven’t heard that pattern.
I mean, thats just a common way to speak. I guess I don’t entirely understand the question. What’s wrong with using it as an adjective, if everybody understands what it means.
They’re describing a noun, and with context it makes sense to use the state name as the adjective.
I don’t think California or Texas are an exception to this.
When you say Wisconsin you’ve said it all.
Because it’s a variation of “it’s a Pennsylvania thing.”
“It’s a Jersey thing”
That’s my example and my answer.
A helpful clarification might be that demonyms (words for people from a place) aren’t always 1:1 to an adjective meaning “of a place.” A “Hawaiian senator” would read to me as a person who is ethnically hawaiian who is also a senator. But “Hawaii senator” more clearly means the senator representing Hawaii, regardless of personal identity.
Sometimes in English we use nouns as adjectives if there isn’t a widely known word available. For example, spider web for a web made by a spider, when araneidan web would be a better adjective + noun combo.
So for example, when I’m talking about beers from Illinois, what would the adjective be? Illinois-ian? Illini? Illinois-y? I’m just going to say Illinois beer and people will get it.
People are describing stereotypes about the state
I don’t even know which word to use for my state. Massachusettsian? Massachusite? Massachusettser?
And before anyone says it, I already know which word people from other states will use, and, no, that’s not one that I want to use! haha!
Some state demononyms are terrible mouthfuls, tbh: NH’s “New Hampshirite”, CT’s “Connecticutian” or “Connecticuter”, MA’s ‘Massachusite’ or “Massachusettsan”, etc.
And some just sound funny. Delawarean or Alabamian, for instance.
Pennsylvania is such a mouthful, adding another syllable is something that feels onerous. And at least where I am, near Pittsburgh, we say P-A most often when referring to the state.
Masshole
This may be a side topic, but the largest newspaper in Oregon is The Oregonian. When people refer to things as “Oregonian” you actually do occasionally get quizzical looks from others who aren’t sure if you’re talking about the newspaper or something more general.
In my experience, when people do use Texan and Californian that way, they are almost always British. It strikes me as a foreign usage.
US news article:
– A Texas man is the winner of the $1.2 billion lottery drawing last night.
British:
– They say a Texan man won that big lottery drawing last night.
We generally only use it as a direct noun, not an adjective for people or things.
– They say a Texan won the lottery last night.
We would say something like:
– He’s a major player in Texas politics.
Not
– He’s a major player in Texan politics.
That’s the usage at the state level. When talking about countries, it’s different:
– He’s a major player in Norwegian politics.
Pop quiz hotshots: What is the only state where the demonym (name for a resident) doesn’t contain the name of the state at all?
I’ve called myself a Pennsylvanian but if I’m referring to a food or set of behavior I described it as a Pennsylvania thing.
I think the way it breaks down is that “Pennsylvanian” works on more of a strictly geographical level, while “Pennsylvania” works as more of a cultural descriptor: “God, guns and country is a very Pennsylvania way of life.”
New Jerseyian is a mouthful and hard to spell. Pretty sure there’s no y in there but whatareyougonnado?
*stares in New Yorker*
I think it depends on the state, specifically how awkward the demonym is to use as an adjective. I haven’t noticed it here, but interestingly, with Oklahoma, in general I’ve noticed that most people use our adjectives as such (with some exception):
Okie – People
Oklahoman – Thing
That’s so raven.