Amoyese

/ˌæmoʊˈiz/ noun, adjective

Definition

A person from Amoy (Xiamen) or the dialect spoken there; also used as an adjective meaning 'of or relating to Amoy or its people.'

Etymology

From 'Amoy' plus the suffix '-ese,' a productive English suffix borrowed from words like 'Japanese' and 'Portuguese' to denote both people and languages associated with a place.

Kelly Says

The '-ese' suffix is fascinating because it reveals how English borrowed its own tools for naming foreign peoples and languages from the Romance languages—it's linguistic borrowing inside English itself.

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