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Well
Firstly, thanks for the flowers. I'll be back tomorrow to collect my pot ;opQuestion #1
No, this are not neutral gender nouns. If it is for males it ends with an "O", if it is for females it ends with an "A". For Example Isleño/Isleña, Jarocho/JarochaAbout the the Salvadoran forms. A guanaco is a large mammal that lives in South America and is related to the llama. It is bigger than a llama and not domesticated. They mainly eat grass and live in the mountains. I have NO IDEA why it is that they got the nickname "Guanaco" at El Salvador. Maybe because of resemblance...? (kidding)
As for Chero, Salvadorans call each other "chero" or "Chera" (depending on gender). Chero means "pal", "body". I don't have the etymology of the word Chero, Sorry.About Cuba, Isleño translates literally into "from the island". Something like "Islander"... And Guajiro is Cuban slang for "peasant", so they are both accurate in "nicknaming" a Cuban.As for Carioca, I'm sure it is what Brazilians call people from Rio de Janeiro. It is just that perhaps, the rest of the world is not about to make distinctions, so a Carioca is a person from Brazil, to the rest of us.And about Jarochos, I must admit I was WRONG. They are from Veracruz and NOT from Jalisco. You are welcome,
Magia

This message was edited 10/29/2004, 6:39 PM

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I'm sorry. I was unclear.Are those names you listed with '-a' suffixes gender neutral? For instance I know Boricua is. Are Nica, Paisa, Carioca?Further, am I right to assume that Chapín & Gachupín are made feminine by simply adding an 'a'? If not, then how?And seriously, thanks again. You've answered a whole bunch of questions in just two posts.
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Yeah, I wasn't too specific about all of them, was I?... Sorry.
I will re-post them below, with gender forms added.
In Spanish, most words denote their gender by ending in "A" or "O". When a word is neutral, it normally ends in "E" or a consonant. Of course, there are exceptions to the rules. One very clear exception is the word "POLICIA" (police), even though it ends with an "A" it is also used to refer to males: EL POLICIA= the policeman LA POLICIA = The policewoman.TICO /TICA for Costa Rica
CHAPÍN/CHAPINA for Guatemala
GUANACO/GUANACA or CHERO/CHERA for El Salvador
MUCO/MUCA for Honduras
NICA (Neutral) for Nicaragua
CHILANGO / CHILANGA for Mexicans born in Mexico D.F. (capital city).
JAROCHO /JAROCHA for Mexicans born in Jalisco, Mexico
PAISA (neutral) for people born in Medellín, Colombia
CARIOCA (neutral) for people from Rio de Janairo, Brazil
ISLEÑO / ISLEÑA for Cuba
BORICUA (neutral) for Puerto Rico
GACHUPÍN / GACHUPINA for SpainHope this helps,
Magia.
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Thanks for clearing everything up.
That is pretty much what I thought.
This has all been so very helpful.
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