A demonym is a term used to describe people of a specific nation or region, and can be formed by adding suffixes to the end of a country or place name. Some demons significantly change the spelling of the word of origin, and there can be multiple demons for one country. Imaginary places and non-existent people also have demons, as seen in science fiction and fantasy.
If you want to speak French, English or Ukrainian, you are using what is called demon or gentile to describe people of a specific nation. You can also use a demon to talk about people who live in a city, town, or region. For example, you might talk about San Franciscans or Parisians using demons, or use the general term southern for people who live in the southern part of a country.
In most cases a demon changes the name of a country or a specific geographically defined space by altering the ending or by altering the entire world. There are numerous spelling changes or suffixes that can be attached to the end of a country or place name to produce demons. These include the suffixes:
an
January
INE
ite
i
is
ish
yard
that
ic
It’s not always possible to tell why one suffix is more appropriate than another. The suffix ian is used for Brazilians, Brazilians. One could argue that Brazilians are equally appropriate, or that Brazilians are similar to Britons. A resident of Bengal is Bengali and it is unclear why he is not Bengali or Bengali.
Some types of demons significantly change the spelling of the word of origin of the country or place. In the English language French is significantly altered from France. Residents of Denmark are Danish and those of Liverpool are from Liverpool. In some cases, demon is completely different from the word used to describe a place. It might be hard to imagine that people from the Netherlands are Dutch.
You can use a demon as an adjective or a noun, like Chinese or Japanese. You could be referring to the Chinese, or a Chinese restaurant. Sometimes, when the term is in adjective form, the suffix can change. Spaniards are Spanish, but you might listen to Spanish music or watch a Spanish movie. Referring to a single person can also make a difference in the endings of words. While British refers to the inhabitants of Great Britain, English/British or British are more common singular forms.
Sometimes there is more than one demon for people of one country, such as British/English. Occasionally, a demon has been used in the past and is no longer used, and is meant to refer to an earlier era. The modern resident from Greece is a Greek. Those who lived in ancient Greece were Greeks. Someone who lives in Norway is Norwegian, but people still discuss Norse gods or Norse mythology from antiquity.
An interesting type of demonym is one for imaginary places, or those that describe non-existent people/aliens such as Martians. Works of science fiction and fantasy are full of invented demons. You can hardly get through an episode of Star Trek without bumping into some like Vulcans, Klingons, Cardassians and Bajorans.
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