People in Halifax, Nova Scotia are called "Haligonians"...what is the
origin and history of the suffix "gonian" .

Dear dannybo-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.

The term ?Haligonian? is an adjectival form of the place ?Halifax?
that denotes the members of a people or the inhabitants of a place.
These are sometimes called ?demonyms? or ?gentilics?.

The suffix ?-gonian? most likely comes from the Old English term
?geanian? (Middle English ?iyenen? or ?yenen?) which means ?to bear
young?, so literally in this instance, the adjectival form of the name
?Halifax (?Haligonian?) establishes citizenship and implies (perhaps
incorrectly in some cases) that the person in question is a
?descendant of residents of Halifax?.

BARTLEBY.COM
http://www.bartleby.com/61/14/Y0011400.html

More recently the term has been expanded to include not only
descendants of Halifax citizens exclusively from Halifax Proper but
also to establish a resident relationship to those from surrounding
areas:

?The term Haligonians has been borrowed since amalgamation to apply
more broadly to all residents of HRM, although many citizens in
Dartmouth and smaller centres in the municipality tend to avoid use of
the term when applied to themselves. In fact, despite amalgamation,
most residents of the municipality (and Canada Post) still refer to
the names of the pre-amalgamation municipalities when describing
geographic areas.?

WORD IQ
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Halifax%2C_Nova_Scotia


I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

WORD IQ
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Demonym
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/List_of_adjectival_forms_of_place_names
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Halifax%2C_Nova_Scotia




SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

HALIFAX

HALIGONIAN

ETYMOLOGY

ORIGIN

NAME

OLD ENGLISH

MIDDLE ENGLISH

?IAN?

?ONIAN?

?GONIAN?

SUFFIX

This is an excellent answer to the question, the inclusion of both a
reference to Old English and a reference to a modern day application
within our Regional Municipality is much appreciated.

I live in northeastern Oklahoma, near a town called Bartlesville.
Several decades ago, the City Council of Bartlesville decided to hold
a public election to choose an official name for the town's residents.
Among the options were "Bartlesvillagers," "Bartlesvillians," and
"Bartlesvillites."

The winner -- a term that is still used -- was "Bartians."

I find this strangely amusing. The first thing that occurred to me
when I saw the word "Bartians" was this: since Martians come from
Mars, is it not logical to assume that Bartians come from bars?

As a former (and, at heart, still) Cantabrigian, I like knowing this
about Halifax.  Thanks for asking.

Archae0pteryx