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I wasn't aware of any other demonyms that add a V, except the unofficial Whovian (a fan of Doctor Who). This Wikipedia page turned up a few more more:

  • Barrow-in-Furness → Barrovian
  • Oamaru → Oamaruvian
  • Oslo → Oslovian
  • Peru → Peruvian
  • Warsaw → Varsovian
  • Waterloo → Waterluvian

Judging from the switch from W to V in Varsovian, I'm guessing this has something to do with Latin, but the places in that list don't seem to be linked by a Latin sphere of influence. Why do some demonyms add a V?

Sam Kauffman
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    Peru and Waterloo stand out because orthographically we don't see a w at the end of the noun form, but phonologically it's the same as Harrow, Shaw (=Harrovian, Shavian). That's to say we always change the w to a v - my guess being that it's easier to articulate, but what do I know? – FumbleFingers Feb 28 '16 at 17:15
  • @FumgleFingers: Togo is Togolese, where we change the w to an l instead. – Peter Shor Feb 28 '16 at 17:16
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    I think "Varsovian" may be unrelated to the others -- note that is pronounced /v/ in Polish. Also, v-insertion is not 100% restricted to demonyms; consider e.g. "Monrovia". But, +1 -- this is a really interesting question! – ruakh Feb 28 '16 at 17:19
  • @Peter: Now that you mention it, also Congolese, and doubtless others. I wonder if those "non-standard" ones have anything in common not shared by OP's examples. – FumbleFingers Feb 28 '16 at 17:20
  • Possible duplicate of Rules for forming demonyms – Rob_Ster Feb 28 '16 at 17:53
  • It is a Latinization. The places aren't linked by a Latin sphere of influence; the terms are linked by using a Latinate suffix (-ian). – herisson Feb 28 '16 at 18:08
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    Yeah, basically if you're going to form the word by appending "-ian" you need to insert a consonant sound after a word ending with the oh" or "ooo" sound in order for it to be reasonably pronounceable. "V" works better in this regard than, say, "K". – Hot Licks Feb 28 '16 at 19:06
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    Seems 'V' has a deep bonding with long 'O', or 'U' or, for that matter, 'W'. But, Oh! Pity me. I know little of phonetics. – Barid Baran Acharya Feb 28 '16 at 19:23
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    There's one word that shows an analogous alternation of y and j: Troy, Trojan – herisson Feb 28 '16 at 19:38
  • @sumelic - Yeah, if you intend to post-pend "-an" then a "J" sound is more appropriate. Try "J" with the "-ian" words and "V" with the "-an" words, though, and I think you will see the existing pairings are smoother-sounding. – Hot Licks Feb 28 '16 at 21:31
  • And then we have the Moscovites... – Rob_Ster Feb 28 '16 at 22:29
  • Moscow used be known as Moscovia in Latin and Muscovy in English. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Moscow#Name – Sam Kauffman Feb 29 '16 at 16:10
  • A related example is Monroe → Monrovia. – Sam Kauffman Mar 19 '21 at 19:54

1 Answers1

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Wikipedia gives the etymology as Piruw [pɪɾʊw], from Quechua, the Inka language.
That [w] at the end would become a /v/ in Spanish when adding a suffix to produce Peruviano.

English demonyms have lots of odd features, and this isn't even English demonymy.
I remember when I was in grad school we used to try to figure out what kind of process
could possibly produce Glaswegian from Glasgow, and Norwegian from Norway.

Pang
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John Lawler
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