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In Dutch the demonym for a person from Gouda is Gouwenaar. What is the demonym for that person in English?

Laurel
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Bob516
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    Possible dupe or at least related: Rules for forming demonyms – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Nov 21 '21 at 16:01
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    Most English speakers aren't even aware that there's a Dutch town? city? called Gouda any more than they're aware of a town or city called Edam, and even fewer of them would call it "Houda". Because of that there isn't going to be an established English demonym. – BoldBen Nov 22 '21 at 02:25
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    @BoldBen So when writing fiction taking place in Gouda, what would be the best way to refer to someone from that town? – Bob516 Nov 22 '21 at 06:47
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    "a person from Gouda" would be a very clear way to refer to someone from that town. – James K Nov 22 '21 at 17:29
  • @BoldBen Well, see the cheese, see the town. :) – Lambie Nov 22 '21 at 17:48
  • English and Dutch are relatively closely related. It would be interesting to know whether the -aar suffix in Dutch has an English cognate. – Michael Seifert Nov 22 '21 at 18:53
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    English adopts lots of foreign words, and some people insist that such words should be modified according to the rules of the original language (e.g. "It's stimuli, not stimuluses!"), so maybe the proper term should be Gouwenaar. I occasionally hear English speakers refer to the people of Quebec as Quebecois. – DoctorDestructo Nov 22 '21 at 20:27
  • @DoctorDestructo Something to consider but wonder if using "Gouwenaar" might produce unnecessary confusion in a reader of a story set in Gouda. – Bob516 Nov 23 '21 at 02:19
  • @JamesK Yes, "a person from Gouda" is an option, but may not be the most effective in a piece of fiction. To me a more concise means of referring to a resident of Gouda would be preferable. – Bob516 Nov 23 '21 at 14:37
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    @Bob516 I suppose it might be a good idea to introduce the word in a way that makes its meaning obvious, e.g. "Why did you decide to stay in Gouda instead of relocating to New York like you always dreamed?" "Because I realized that I had more in common with the average Gouwenaar than I did with the average New Yorker." – DoctorDestructo Nov 23 '21 at 16:26
  • @DoctorDestructo That might work if I can find a context for such an introduction. – Bob516 Nov 23 '21 at 19:58

3 Answers3

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I would go with Goudan.*

There does not appear to be an established English demonym to describe the people of Gouda, let alone the adjective to describe anything coming from that province.

However, I think many linguists consider demonyms to be productive i.e. open to new formations.

Demonyms are often based on the adjective form of the noun, and typical examples derive from Proper Noun to Adjective conversion .

Continents:

  • America > American
  • Asia > Asian
  • Africa > African
  • Australia > Australian

Countries:

  • Moldavia > Moldavian
  • Australia > Australian
  • Austria > Austrian
  • Bolivia > Bolivian
  • Bulgaria > Bulgarian
  • Jamaica > Jamaican
  • Kenya > Kenyan
  • Korea > Korean
  • Liberia > Liberian
  • Russia > Russian
  • Venezuela > Venezuelan
  • Tonga > Tongan

etc

American States:

  • California > Californian
  • Virginia > Virginian
  • Dakota > Dakotan

etc.

American Cities:

  • Philadelphia > Philadelphian

I have at least several dozen more examples...but as you can see, these types of nouns end with either the phoneme /Ə/ or the diphthong /IƏ/**

No matter how you pronounce Gouda, the final syllable is /Ə/, in other words, a schwa

If we accept that this is a productive process, than the suffix '-an' seems to be the way to go.

On the other hand, it has been pointed out by @Mitch and @Andrew Leach that there are other formations based on a similar pronunciation and intonation.

China > Chinese

Ghana > Ghanaian***

Malta > Maltese

These seem to be outliers of morphological trends, not uncommon in English.

*In the last 100 years or so, the production of English demonyms with non-Latin roots tends to lean towards '-an'...

**Most city, state, and nation names in English that end in a vowel usually derive from a non-English source.

***See below comments for clarification

Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
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    The closest examples in accent and vowels to Gouda to generalize would be Cuba, China, Ghana, Malta, Tonga. so... Goudan, Goudese, or Goudaian. – Mitch Nov 21 '21 at 19:41
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    @Mitch Of course I considered all of those over the last hours, ( the final syllable is /Ə/, in other words, a schwa) I was looking for a generalization. ...you gonna post, or can I use those examples?...I kinda got bored looking for all the examples to support that idea... – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Nov 21 '21 at 19:43
  • Hi @Mitch Lovely to hear from you again...been a while. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Nov 21 '21 at 19:54
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    Hey Cascabel. Yes, still here! Yes, those were extra examples for you to include in your example supporting 'Goudan'. I couldn't find any cities at all with the pattern. Please or not at your discretion. My personal preference would be Goudwegian but that's me just being weird. – Mitch Nov 21 '21 at 19:58
  • @Mitch God forbid anyone should call you weird...let alone the English language... – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Nov 21 '21 at 20:05
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    Gouda is not a country. Some regions or cities, take er as in Londoner, New Yorker, Berliner. And frankly, as Gouda is Dutch, why should it have one in English?? And even many English places don't have one. There are some unusual ones: Person from Los Angeles, Angelinos or Moscovites for Moscow. – Lambie Nov 21 '21 at 20:18
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    My Dutch friend says ' "Goudaner" is possible. They are often stereotyped as being poor, and indeed this native says "But: being a Goudaner means that I have to beg something… So please come to Gouda when visiting Holland and pay a visit!" – Michael Harvey Nov 21 '21 at 20:19
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    @MichaelHarvey Yes, maybe in Dutch and invented for purposes of that blog or whatever. Who knows Rio de Janeiro? Carioca. Ha ha. São Paulo, Paulista, invariables. – Lambie Nov 21 '21 at 20:23
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    It's Ghanaian, where the suffix is extended, but still added to Ghana. – Andrew Leach Nov 21 '21 at 21:48
  • @AndrewLeach: “Ghanan” is, per wiktionary, a non-standard alternative to “Ghanaian”. – Krazy Glew Nov 22 '21 at 01:27
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    @KrazyGlew That may well be so, but not Ghanian, which is what my comment was about. – Andrew Leach Nov 22 '21 at 07:52
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    I have never heard Tonganese used for the demonym of Tonga (it’s always been “Tongan”). Now admittedly I haven’t known that many Tongans, so I’d hesitate to say that it’s not an alternative or something… but Google counts a bare few thousand hits for the former versus millions for the latter. – Tim Pederick Nov 22 '21 at 10:12
  • @TimPederick Yeah...good catch. I thought about that overnight, and I will change Tonga to the 'an' heap. For me, posts are always a work in progress, as we need to constantly update this amoebic beast. Insightful contributions such as yours are always appreciated. Once again, thanks. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Nov 22 '21 at 18:04
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I'm pretty sure there isn't one. We have our own demonyms for a few very well-known foreign cities (Roman, Parisian) but not for the majority of places. I don't even know of many for places in the UK.

Kate Bunting
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    Yeah, it’s hard to keep track of all the Manx in Man, Welsh in Wales, Loiners in Leeds, Exonians in Exeter, Cornish in Cornwall, Paludians in Slough, Orcadians in Orkney, Ludensians in Louth, Giernesi in Guernsey, Dundonians in Dundee, Cestrians in Chester, Haligonians in Halifax, Glaswegians in Glasgow, Silhillians in Solihull, Salopians in Shrewsbury, Aberdonians in Aberdeen, Wintonians in Winchester, Sennockians in Sevenoaks, Mancunians in Manchester, Maxonians in Macclesfield, Cantuarians in Canterbury, Novocastrians in New Castle, Liverpudlians in Liverpool, Cantabrigians in Cambridge. :) – tchrist Nov 21 '21 at 17:25
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    @tchrist 'Salopian'? That sounds almost like a slur. – Mitch Nov 21 '21 at 17:38
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    And those poor Novocastrians! – Jack O'Flaherty Nov 21 '21 at 17:54
  • @tchrist - Wow, you know a lot more of them than I do! I'm a Derbeian myself. – Kate Bunting Nov 21 '21 at 21:15
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    @Mitch - Actually Salop is an alternative name for the whole county of Shropshire, not just Shrewsbury. – Kate Bunting Nov 22 '21 at 09:17
  • @tchrist It sounds like names of ancient biblical nations like Galatians or Philistines. – mpasko256 Nov 23 '21 at 12:23
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"Person from Gouda".

This is the most effective way, not because it is the shortest possible (although it is pretty short), but because it is the easiest to understand. If the goal is to be clearly understood, then the most effective term is the one that can be understood easiest.

Using "Goudan" or "Gouwenaar" might be understood in context. But "person from Gouda" can be understood by anyone who knows that "Gouda" is a town.

It is more effective to write "Jul was from Gouda", that to write "Jul was Goudan". The second sentence is more likely to be misunderstood.

James K
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  • I'm writing in the context of residents talking to a stranger who is visiting Gouda. Which would sound more natural in English language fiction? "We people of Gouda resent your talking down to us" or "We Goudans resent your talking down to us." Yes, if a character from Gouda was in another city, and there was no information given about the character writing Goudan might be confusing. – Bob516 Nov 25 '21 at 04:42
  • "You aren't from Gouda and we resent you talking down to us" - I think using "Goudans" sounds a little silly in your examples. Suppoe the town was "Little-Whinging-on-the-Hill" Do you think "Little-Whinging-on-the-Hillians" would be the right way to go? – James K Nov 25 '21 at 06:32
  • I was just giving an off the top of my head example, not meant to be a well thought out sentence. Does it all come down to a matter of taste? Is Goudan any sillier than Liverpudlian? – Bob516 Nov 25 '21 at 16:46