Kashubian

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to the Kashubians, a Slavic people of northern Poland, or to their West Slavic language closely related to Polish
2. Describing the Slavic people of Pomerania in northern Poland or the distinctive language they speak, which is related to Polish
3. Referring to the Kashubian ethnic group of the Pomerania region or to the regional language spoken by its members

Etymology: Kashubian is a plain formation: the name of the Kashubs, a Slavic people of northern Poland, with the English suffix "-ian" added to it, so it works as both a noun for a Kashub and an adjective for things relating to them. The base "Kashub" is the older root, and the suffix carries a longer history of its own. The "-ian" ending came into English from Latin "-ianus" and "-iānus", forms that Latin itself had inherited from earlier Italic endings. Its job was always the same: to turn a name into a word meaning "of or belonging to" that name, as with "Italian" or "Victorian". The suffix therefore does most of the work here, and the ethnic name it attaches to is what gives the word its meaning. Terms like this are typically coined when a name needs an adjective and a demonym, which is why such forms are common in scholarly and regional writing about peoples.