Afghan(i)

[Carol Snow]

The term Afghani would be used by Farsi speakers to denote the people
of Afghanistan, and as an adjective, but Farsi has no gender.
Capitalization rules pertain to the language used.  It would make
sense if one were writing in English; Farsi has no such system.


>"Afghani" would be the Arabic noun (inhabitant) or adjective "of or
>pertaining to Afghans or Afghanistan" masc. Afghani (fem. Afghaniyah).
>In Arabic this term is called al-nisbah which Wright's Grammar glosses as
>Nomen relativum or, in a later section, "relative adjectives" which "are
>formed by adding the termination -[macron]i to the words from which they
>are derived, and denote that a person or thing belongs to or is connected
>therewith (in respect of origin, family, birth, sect, trade, etc.)" v.1,
>p.149, sec. C.
>
>I wouldn't hesitate capitalize and to use it as the adjective/inhabitant.
>
>allen
>maberry at u.washington.edu
>
>On Tue, 16 Oct 2001, Mark Mandel wrote:
>
>>  Apropos of Barry's restaurant-surfing and other comments, AHD3 says
>>  "afghani" is a unit of currency. Is there any justification for
>>  capitalizing it and using it as the adjective/inhabitant? I've used it
>>  myself, but now I'm dubious.
>>
>>  What does it do that "Afghan" doesn't? It seems to be formed by a careless
>>  analogy to "Pakistani", where the root before "-istan", whatever its
>>  origins, is not an ethnonym.
>>
>>  -- Mark A. Mandel
>>