Suffix "-i" in Iraqi, Israeli, Bangladeshi

[AndrasBP]

Hello,

Does anyone know the origin of the adjective suffix "-i" in Iraqi, Israeli, Omani, Qatari, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, etc.?
It might be something from Arabic but I'm not sure.

 

[ahvalj]

It's the suffix of Semitic relational adjectives, e. g. in Arabic: ي - Wiktionary.

 

[AndrasBP]

Thank you.

What, "Israel" with an Arabic suffix?!

In the case of Pakistan and Bangladesh, which are not Arabic-speaking, do you know if it was the local languages that adopted the Arabic suffix, or are the forms an English invention (less likely, I suppose, but I'm not sure)?

 

[ahvalj]

Don't worry, it's common Semitic and further Afro-Asiatic, cp. ישראלי - Wiktionary & עברי - Wiktionary.

Not sure about Indo-Aryan languages, but in Persian/Dari/Tajik a homonymous suffix with the same meaning is inherited: Old Persian -īka > Middle Persian -īk>-īg > New Persian -ī > Modern Persian -i, e. g. "mountainous" *kaufīka (from کوه - Wiktionary) > kōfīk > kōfīg > kōhī > Tajik кӯҳӣ (e. g. Кӯҳӣ in Russian, translation, Tajik-Russian Dictionary - Glosbe).

 

[Zec]

Is it just my impression, or did this suffix become quite common in English to form names of languages and peoples in fantasy ("Dothraki" comes to mind, but I'm pretty sure there's more)?

 

[AndrasBP]

Is it just my impression, or did this suffix become quite common in English to form names of languages and peoples in fantasy ("Dothraki" comes to mind, but I'm pretty sure there's more)?

I've taken a look at this list of constructed languages, and there are indeed a few ending in -i, but it doesn't seem to be common.

.

Another significant (real) nationality and language name with this suffix is Nepali.

 

[Zec]

To be fair, most of the examples I remembered are from G. R. R. Martin's ASOIAF (i.e. Game of Thrones), and they're - not surprisingly - concentrated in the world's Middle East equivalent.

 

[desi4life]

Don't worry, it's common Semitic and further Afro-Asiatic, cp. ישראלי - Wiktionary & עברי - Wiktionary.

Not sure about Indo-Aryan languages, but in Persian/Dari/Tajik a homonymous suffix with the same meaning is inherited: Old Persian -īka > Middle Persian -īk>-īg > New Persian -ī > Modern Persian -i, e. g. "mountainous" *kaufīka (from کوه - Wiktionary) > kōfīk > kōfīg > kōhī > Tajik кӯҳӣ (e. g. Кӯҳӣ in Russian, translation, Tajik-Russian Dictionary - Glosbe).

It's also a part of Indo-Aryan usage as an inherited form from Prakrit and as a borrowing from Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic. The word "Bangladeshi", for example, is composed of "Bangla" + "deshi" where the -i (-ī) is a regular New Indo-Aryan continuation of Sanskrit -īya.

 

[Abu Talha]

This post also gives some explanation:
Persian: هندى / هندوستانى (Indian)