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Tinanam0102 Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary

Italian British

Hi teachers,

I am very much confused when I see

Italian American
Irish American
Canadian born Chinese
Chinese born Canadian

Is it Canadian Chinese or Chinese Canadian?
Is it American Italian or Italian American?
Is it British Italian or Italian British?

Would you help me understand it?

Thanks
TN
  

Top answer

tinanam0102 Italian American That would mean an American citizen of Italian origin/ancestry. tinanam0102 Irish American An American citizen of Irish origin/ancestry. tinanam0102 Canadian born Chinese I assume that technically (without a hyphen in front of "born") that would mean a person born in China (and originally a Chinese citizen) who now lives in Canada (as a Canadian citizen).

— Ozzourti

  • tinanam0102 Italian American That would mean an American citizen of Italian origin/ancestry.
  • tinanam0102 Irish American An American citizen of Irish origin/ancestry.
  • tinanam0102 Canadian born Chinese I assume that technically (without a hyphen in front of "born") that would mean a person born in China (and originally a Chinese citizen) who now lives in Canada (as a Canadian citizen).
  • tinanam0102 Chinese born Canadian Likewise, a person born in Canada (originally a Canadian citizen) who now lives in China (as a Chinese citizen).
  • But in spoken English you can't really "hear" a hyphen, so if you said for example "American born Chinese" (with or without a hyphen), people would tend to think you meant an American-born American citizen of Chinese origin/ancestry.
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4 Answers
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tinanam0102Italian American
That would mean an American citizen of Italian origin/ancestry.
tinanam0102Irish American
An American citizen of Irish origin/ancestry.
tinanam0102Canadian born Chinese
I assume that technically (without a hyphen in front of "born") that would mean a person born
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tinanam0102Canadian Chinese, Chinese Canadian, American Italian, Italian American, British Italian, Italian British?
The first term indicates the country (or ethnicity) of origin.
The second term indicates current residency or, more often, citizenship.

This two-term designator system is probably much more used in the U.S. than elsewhere. Here we
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Hi CalifJim,

How does it work with British. I searched about Italian British, the wikipedia gave me British Italian.

1. If a British who has Italian ancestry because of intermarriage, what is the normal way to call them?
2. With Canadian, someone whose grandparents are of Irish, do you say Irish Canadian?
3. What do you call a second generation Chinese who is a cit
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tinanam0102How does it work with British.
I have no idea. I don't know how these terms are used in other countries. I would only be guessing answers to your three questions.

CJ
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