So, somebody - I already forgot who, sorry - posted about the latest episode of Severance

[conuly]

and pointed out that it was directed by somebody from Quebec, which is (apparently) unsurprising, as it seemed Quebecish. That's my word, not theirs, and that's why I am posting, because as soon as the word "Quebecish" popped into my head so did "Quebecy". And, for that matter, so did "It's a very Quebec sort of episode", which is a different way to form the same adjective.

Which left me wondering how, exactly, English speakers know which formation to pick when neologizing. This is not a question you can simply answer, unfortunately, because whatever you think you're doing, you're bound to be wrong when you try to explain it.

Still, I'll take everybody's wild guesses and speculation, just for kicks.

Comments

[watervole]

I think I'd generally go for 'ish', but then 'oid' instantly sprang into mind...

I 'oid' sounds slightly more formal and more relating to shape.

'teddyish' like a teddy.

'teddyiod'shaped like a teddy.

[lilysea]

I guess you can't say "Quebecesque"

[conuly]

Not three times fast.

[calimac]

Very early on in the history of science fiction fandom, a group in the course of discussion decided that the plural of 'fan' should be 'fen', analogous to 'man' -> 'men'. It caught on.

[gingicat]

Whichever seems less awkward in my mouth at the time if I don't already know a standard one.

[conuly]

Yeah, that’s what it boils down to, but is there a pattern and what is it?

[frith]

It's Québecois. C'est un épisode Québecois. Or French Canadian.

[conuly]

Sure, if you’d like to dodge the question, and also not answer why this time you use the foreignism and not other times. A related question.

[gingicat]

That is a good question! I wonder how Newfies say it?

[frith]

But of course! Dodging is a national sport, it is written in the constitution, the nation of Quebec as a Distinct Society and most importantly, the Notwithstanding Clause! It's Quebecer Identity *cough ach!* I mean Patrimoine Québecois! ;^)

[dewline]

C'est vrai!

[ioplokon]

Quebecker is always a weird one to me, also.

[topaz_eyes]

To me it almost sounds like an Anglicised version of Québecois when referring to people from Québec.

[the_siobhan]

I haven't started this season yet, and now I'm very curious to see if I can pick out the episode you're talking about.

[topaz_eyes]

I agree with frith, English-speaking Canadians would call the episode "Québecois" or French-Canadian. That is a term used to refer to the art style from the province of Québec (as well as a person). That's because Québec has a distinct culture from the rest of Canada: Québec produces its own music, art, TV, movies, and books to keep the province's French language, culture, customs, and identity in Canada alive.

[conuly]

Sure, but it's a random, non-specific example. I mean, it's not, but it also is.

[erinptah]

"Quebecois" is already in my head, so all the other constructions feel unnatural compared to that.

Thinking about US states (which don't have that problem), "-y" is the suffix my brain jumps to most. Maryland-y, New York-y, Masschusetts-y.

Those sound wrong if the states end with vowels, though (Ohioy, Californiay, New Mexicoy). Then I'd go with "-an", which is also the word for a person from that place: Ohioan, Californian, New Mexican.

Not sure what to do if it ends with a Y sound. New Jersey-y is too hard to say, New Jerseyan doesn't sound right. "A very New Jersey sort of episode" works, though, that's fine for all of them. (Like being in a New York state of mind.)

The "-er" words for "a person from that place" don't work as substitutes. "That episode seemed Marylander" doesn't mean "That episode seemed Maryland-y." (And "That episode seemed Masshole" is clearly its own specific thing.)

Couldn't tell you why! Just that these are all "what sounds right."

[offcntr]

New Jerseyish?

[erinptah]

I wouldn't add "-ish" unless I was hedging or softening the adjective. That isn't clearly, recognizably from New Jersey, it's just somewhat New Jerseyish. New-Jersey-adjacent.

[pauamma]

This. -y to me implies a stronger link than -ish.

[conuly]

But “Spanish” “Jewish” etc are well established.

[erinptah]

The established meaning of the specific word overrides the vibe of the general acronym!

Not sure how many words this applies to, but people will absolutely use "Jew-ish" as a separate word, when they want to bring back the vibe of the acronym. Referring to something/someone that's Judaism-adjacent.

[conuly]

It's not an acronym.

Also, I think the neutral definition may be the older one...? I don't know, I'll have to look that up.

[erinptah]

...I meant suffix! The "-ish" suffix. No idea what happened between my brain and my hands to type "acronym."

[james]

My take is that the brain is doing more work than we're aware of, and it's probably doing a 'most times when a word ends like this, it's been neologized this way' and sticking the 'standard' on it, which may be how you get regional differences. (I.e., grow up hearing the same sorts of words.)

But you aren't really doing this consciously, in the same way you don't visualise the numbers when doing the math to figure out if you can cross the street before the car hits you.

This could also explain why sometimes you'd use a foreign word (or word style) - if your area has a large enough group of folks who speak that language that live there, you might pick up their words when someone a town over might not have picked up that word.

So maybe it's the sort of thing you could consider to be slang? Or explained in the same way as slang.

[conuly]

Yeah, probably, but I want a more satisfying answer.

[james]

Well, that's the only thing I can think of, and you said you wanted to be entertained with guesses, so I tried!

[conuly]

You did :D

[radiantfracture]

Oo linguistic intuition questions

hmm

I think maybe for me. -y might mark a closer affinity than -ish? Like I might use "-ish" to mean either "characteristic of" or "alike" but with "-y" I would more likely mean "characteristic of". Like -ish is slightly more about comparison and -y about identity.

She's very conductorish. (She is very much like a conductor.)
She's very conductory. (She, a conductor, exhibits behaviour characteristic of the role.)

[tielan]

To quote a classic Aussie movie, "It's the vibe."

[fred_mouse]

^this

[silveradept]

I've been close enough to Canada for my entire life that "Québécois" doesn't sound wrong to me, but I would probably have gone for the construction "Québec-like" over any of the others, as, for me, that indicates the strongest degree of similarity. "Quebec-y" is "definitely in the ballpark, but not fully the thing" and "Québec-ish" is "matches someone's conception of Québec, may not actually match in any way more than the surface." I'm sure the linguist can explain to me why I do that, but I haven't a clue myself.