# Argentine vs Argentinian



## mjscott

Which is correct. When in Argentina (some years ago) people referred to themselves as Argentines (with a long "i"). In more recent postings, I've seen them referred to as Argentinians. The phrases, "This is a picture of an Argentine countryside," or "He is an Argentine performer,"--are they passè?
 
I always felt "in the know" by using the same adjective the Argentines used. Now I am afraid I am "out of the loop" by not keeping up with the Argentinian changes!


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## Sextus

Hi,

As far as I know, people here and elsewhere use "Argentinian", "Argentine" and even "Argentinean". I saw this last one in an American dictionary this year. I myself use the first one.

Sextus


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## Tormenta

mjscott said:
			
		

> Which is correct. When in Argentina (some years ago) people referred to themselves as Argentines (with a long "i"). In more recent postings, I've seen them referred to as Argentinians. The phrases, "This is a picture of an Argentine countryside," or "He is an Argentine performer,"--are they passè?
> 
> I always felt "in the know" by using the same adjective the Argentines used. Now I am afraid I am "out of the loop" by not keeping up with the Argentinian changes!



Hi mj,

Not sure if I can help you, as I don't know what my people really want

Personally, I never refer to myself as "Argentine" , to be honest I don't really like the sound of this word.  I prefer " Argentinean/Argentinian", I think it's better sounding.
I have heard many Americans using the word "Argentine"; however, here in the UK, I usually hear "Argentinian" .

As I said before, this is just my personal opinion. Maybe I should write to all my friends in Argentina and make a little survey.  

Tormenta


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## Focalist

Tormenta said:
			
		

> Maybe I should write to all my friends in Argentina and make a little survey.


With respect, T., isn't that beside the point? The people of Argentina can't decide what words those speaking other languages use to describe them and their country.

I don't think the people of the Netherlands are all that keen on being called "Dutch" (cognate with Deutsch/Duits, i.e. German), but they have to put up with it. 

In the UK "Argentine" is the word almost always used by official bodies like the government and in BBC reports:
- Thousands of unemployed Argentines have marched to demand jobs
- The Argentine peso ended trading stable against the United States dollar
- Following a meeting with the Argentine Foreign Minister Dr Carlos Ruckauf
- Argentines have had to struggle with military dictatorship

although the occasional "Argentinian" slips in: 
- an Argentinian woman living in Britain

"Argentinian" is almost certainly more frequently used in everyday speech however. ("Argentinean", BTW, is an American spelling.)

Argentina often used to be known as "the Argentine" (short for "the Argentine Republic"), but that usage is now more or less extinct.

Now for *my* question:

Why is it Río de la Plata (as you would expect), but Sierra *del* Plata and Mar *del* Plata?

F


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## Tormenta

I think you might have misunderstood me, F.  I did not mean to say that I will ask my Argentinians friends which English word/adjective should be used to describe us or our land.  I know it is not up to us/me to decide.  Actually, it is not up to native English speakers either, as the decision has  already been made.

Most dictionaries (Webters' , Cambridge, etc) show all three words : Argentine, Argentinean (Am), Argentinian (B ).  According to the definitions they give, it is correct to use any of these three words.

Now, as I understand it,  mjscott, was not asking which one is the correct English word.  She/he was rather asking which word Argentinians prefer to use when speaking English. I do believe it is up to me to decide which word I prefer; I am not making up a "new word" , I am just choosing from three existing ones.

When she/he visited Argentina most Argentinians seemed to use the word "Argentine" when speaking English; however, in this forum we use the word "Argentinian" more.  Mjscott was wondering if most Argentinians would now say "Argentinean" instead of "Argentine" when speaking English.  Since I do not know what my people prefer, I said I would ask them which one of the 3 words they prefer so that mjscott can use THAT word when visiting Argentina again.

As for myself, I prefer "Argentinian" , as I stated earlier; however, they can call me "Argie" if they want; I can surly  hold my ground.

Tormenta




			
				Focalist said:
			
		

> With respect, T., isn't that beside the point? The people of Argentina can't decide what words those speaking other languages use to describe them and their country.
> 
> I don't think the people of the Netherlands are all that keen on being called "Dutch" (cognate with Deutsch/Duits, i.e. German), but they have to put up with it.
> 
> In the UK "Argentine" is the word almost always used by official bodies like the government and in BBC reports:
> - Thousands of unemployed Argentines have marched to demand jobs
> - The Argentine peso ended trading stable against the United States dollar
> - Following a meeting with the Argentine Foreign Minister Dr Carlos Ruckauf
> - Argentines have had to struggle with military dictatorship
> 
> although the occasional "Argentinian" slips in:
> - an Argentinian woman living in Britain
> 
> "Argentinian" is almost certainly more frequently used in everyday speech however. ("Argentinean", BTW, is an American spelling.)
> 
> Argentina often used to be known as "the Argentine" (short for "the Argentine Republic"), but that usage is now more or less extinct.
> 
> Now for *my* question:
> 
> Why is it Río de la Plata (as you would expect), but Sierra *del* Plata and Mar *del* Plata?
> 
> F


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## mjscott

Dear Tormenta,
You are surely correct! You _can_ hold your ground! Also, yes, as only two people had responded, I am sure that two people does not a forum make. Also, I do believe that it is important to call people by what they call themselves most generally. Understanding that neither is offensive nor passè is most helpful.


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## Tormenta

Interesting question, F.
To be honest, I do not have any bibliography to support my answer.  All I have is the word of my Spanish teacher back home.

"Río de la Plata" sounds correct, as you said, because "Plata" is a feminine noun which takes the feminine article.  When the river was named "Rio de la Plata" the idea was to indicate that it was a "river of silver", because the Spaniards tought there was  much silver there.

Mar del Plata  does not mean "Sea of silver" , it means "Sea of the Plata Territory" (a region in Argentina). During the colony, the entire region was called "Territorio del Río de la Plata"  In this case, it is  "el" because it refers to  "territorio" , not "Plata"

Mar del  territorio del Río de la Plata 
Mar del territorio Plata

(BTW, my dad was born in Mar del Plata)

Anyhow, this is what I can remember, but I will investigate a little more and let you know what I find out.

Tormenta




			
				Focalist said:
			
		

> Why is it Río de la Plata (as you would expect), but Sierra *del* Plata and Mar *del* Plata?
> 
> F


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## Focalist

Tormenta said:
			
		

> I think you might have misunderstood me, F.  I did not mean to say that I will ask my Argentinians friends which English word/adjective should be used to describe us or our land.  I know it is not up to us/me to decide.


Sorry, T., I think I might. The original question was "which is correct?" (Argentine/Argentinian) -- and I jumped to the conclusion that your survey was an attempt to answer that question in those "correctness" terms. While it would be incorrect, of course, to call the people of Argentine, say, "Australian" or "Algerian", Argentine/Argentinian is not a question of correctness but of usage. Both are "correct" in that both are used and both are unambuguous. It's a very similar case to Slovak/Slovakian, Serb/Serbian, etc.[/quote]





			
				Tormenta said:
			
		

> Actually, it is not up to native English speakers either, as the decision has already been made.


There, however, I disagree with you. No linguistic decisions are set in stone. Language changes. The court of usage decides. One example I already gave was the change in English from "the Argentine" to "Argentina" over the years. This was not an imposed change: it just happened.





			
				Tormenta said:
			
		

> Most dictionaries (Webters' , Cambridge, etc) show all three words : Argentine, Argentinean (Am), Argentinian (B ).  According to the definitions they give, it is correct to use any of these three words.


But of course!


			
				mjscott said:
			
		

> I do believe that it is important to call people by what they call themselves most generally


That's a bit of an odd argument. Most people in Argentina call themselves "argentinos". The people of Germany most generally call themselves die Deutschen: but when they speak other languages they of course use the names that others use: Allemands, Germans, Niemcy, saksalainen, etc. The people known to others as Breatnaigh, Gallois and Welsh call themselves Cymry: Irish-, French- and English-speakers make no effort to call them by what they call themselves -- and that's just the way things are. It's because languages work like that that we call Russians by the Finnish name for Swedes. 

F


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## mjscott

Quote:
Originally Posted by mjscott
I do believe that it is important to call people by what they call themselves most generally 

That's a bit of an odd argument. Most people in Argentina call themselves "argentinos". The people of Germany most generally call themselves die Deutschen: but when they speak other languages they of course use the names that others use: Allemands, Germans, Niemcy, saksalainen, etc. The people known to others as Breatnaigh, Gallois and Welsh call themselves Cymry: Irish-, French- and English-speakers make no effort to call them by what they call themselves -- and that's just the way things are. It's because languages work like that that we call Russians by the Finnish name for Swedes. 

F

When in Argentina and the people from Argentina were speaking English, I recall most referring to themselves as Argentines--they didn't switch back to Spanish and call themselves argentinos. Whether in Spanish or English, I prefer to respect the preferences of the people I'm speaking with and use the same nouns and adjectives they use themselves when referring to themselves. It is more a matter of courtesy....


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## Sextus

There's no point in continuing with this discussion (I don't mean to be rude). As I said in my first post, I have heard both Argentinian people and foreigners using both of them. And I know that both are grammatically correct (as you have pointed out). So it's just up to speaker.

Sextus


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## Focalist

Tormenta said:
			
		

> Interesting question, F.
> To be honest, I do not have any bibliography to support my answer.  All I have is the word of my Spanish teacher back home.
> 
> "Río de la Plata" sounds correct, as you said, because "Plata" is a feminine noun which takes the feminine article.  When the river was named "Rio de la Plata" the idea was to indicate that it was a "river of silver", because the Spaniards tought there was  much silver there.
> 
> Mar del Plata  does not mean "Sea of silver" , it means "Sea of the Plata Territory" (a region in Argentina). During the colony, the entire region was called "Territorio del Río de la Plata"  In this case, it is  "el" because it refers to  "territorio" , not "Plata"
> 
> Mar del  territorio del Río de la Plata
> Mar del territorio Plata
> 
> (BTW, my dad was born in Mar del Plata)
> 
> Anyhow, this is what I can remember, but I will investigate a little more and let you know what I find out.
> 
> Tormenta


Sorry, I forgot to thank you earlier for this answer, T. 

Sounds convincing to me -- and will also settle a debate in the Wikipedia! 

Since the name of the river itself is frequently shortened, if I am not wrong, to *el Plata* -- from el (río de la) Plata -- I presume that many instances of "del Plata" also come directly from that.

F


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## Leopold

Tormenta said:
			
		

> Interesting question, F.
> To be honest, I do not have any bibliography to support my answer.  All I have is the word of my Spanish teacher back home.
> 
> "Río de la Plata" sounds correct, as you said, because "Plata" is a feminine noun which takes the feminine article. When the river was named "Rio de la Plata" the idea was to indicate that it was a "river of silver", because the Spaniards tought there was much silver there.
> 
> Mar del Plata does not mean "Sea of silver" , it means "Sea of the Plata Territory" (a region in Argentina). During the colony, the entire region was called "Territorio del Río de la Plata" In this case, it is "el" because it refers to "territorio" , not "Plata"
> 
> Mar del  territorio del Río de la Plata
> Mar del territorio Plata
> 
> (BTW, my dad was born in Mar del Plata)
> 
> Anyhow, this is what I can remember, but I will investigate a little more and let you know what I find out.
> 
> Tormenta


 I'm almost sure you're right. I think it refers to the river in fact.
 Mar del (Río de la) Plata

 L.


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## Tormenta

Leopold said:
			
		

> I'm almost sure you're right. I think it refers to the river in fact.
> Mar del (Río de la) Plata
> 
> L.




Sí, como "virreinato del río de la plata"


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## radiolibre

Merriam Webster's dictionary says Argentinian. Argentine means "silvery." So, you can have an argentine spoon, if that's silvery, but you can't have an argentine person, unless they're made of silver


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## nach_in

About the "Río de la Plata" thing, if I'm not mistaken it's related to what radiolibre said, argentine it's an adjetive so "República Argentina" could be silvery republic 

And that's why the river is called "de la Plata" because it's the river of the silver (land?), and the rest of the names are called "del Plata" because they refer to the river because it's an important place in the region (Mar del Plata = Mar del Río de la Plata) of course this is an historical and cultural determination, not logical, so it's not too rare to hear "Río del Plata" and I would doubt to say it's incorrect.


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## djweaverbeaver

Hello,

Officially, all English-speaking countries call the people of Argentina *Argentines*. * Argentine *is also the suggested adjective.  In practice, however,  I think most people, in the U.S. at least, use Argentinians/Argentineans in speech and in writing.  In more careful writing, you will probably come across Argentine more. I personally almost never use Argentine.  I do have an American friend living in Buenos Aires, and she constantly says Argentine whenever I speak to her over the phone or online.  To me, I sounded weird at first, and I'm not sure if she's always said Argentine even before moving there.

Also, when using Argentine, I would pronounce the last syllable like "teen" and not like "tahyn" (long i sound).  The friend I mentioned early says the latter.  I would say that both pronunciations would be common in American English, but the "een" pronunciation is much more usual just in other words such as Byzantine or Florentine.


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## merquiades

Dictionary recommendations aside, I use both Argentine and Argentinian.  Argentinean seems strange to me, albeit apparently correct.  I'd probably write more often Argentine, well it depends how it sounds in the sentence.  Argentine people sounds infinitely better than Argeninian people, but Argentinian wine sounds better to me than Argentine wine. It's about preference. Argentine sounds a bit more formal and learned to me, but just a bit.  As for the pronunciation, it may be as common to say Argentáin as Argentín but I prefer rhyming it with teen but tien doesn't shock me.  In the spoken language I must say though I usually say Argentinian when speaking. I'd expect Argentine on a news report though


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## Dandee

Hi,
Teachers always taught us that we are _argentinians_. I have heard the term _argentine,_ but never said by a teacher. I thought it was an incorrect way of calling us.


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## merquiades

Dandee said:


> Hi,
> Teachers always taught us that we are _argentinians_. I have heard the expresion _argentine,_ but never said by a teacher. I thought it was an incorrect way of calling us.



I'm wondering if Argentine might be newer?  I definitely know I learned to say Argentinian first and Argentine later on, probably hearing it on the news.


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## Istriano

I think _Argentinian _(just like _Slovenian_) is the preferred form, but both are possible as in the case of _California English _vs _Californian English_


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## wildan1

Personally I always thought _Argentine_ was a noun and _Argentinian_ an adjective--similar to _Englishman/English; Scot/Scottish; Frenchman/French_, etc.

_He's an Argentine; he's Argentinian_ both sound fine to my AE ear. And _-tine_ always rhymes with _fine_ whenever I hear native speakers using it...


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## argentina84

I like to be called "Argentinian" but the word "Argentine" is also correct.

I read once that "Argentine" was preferred when describing inanimate objects from Argentina, wheareas "Argentinian(s)" was used to decribe the people. I don't remember the source but would be good to investigate on that. 

Regards!


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## Cpt_S_Jacob

The adjective and demonym are both Argentine.
Please refer to this essay:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Argentine,_not_Argentinian


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## Cenzontle

The Google Books Ngram Viewer counts up the forms used in _millions_ of books and shows them on a graph.
On that basis, "Argentine" wins over "Argentinian" by a factor of 7 to 1.
Unfortunately we can't get the pronunciation from there.


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## Pedro y La Torre

The official name of Argentina is the Argentine Republic _not _the Argentinian Republic.


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## Hulalessar

Pedro y La Torre said:


> The official name of Argentina is the Argentine Republic _not _the Argentinian Republic.



Does the country have an official name in English?


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## merquiades

It's probably a calque.  The _Argentine republic_ looks closer to La _república argentina_ than the _Argentinian republic_ would.


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## Lord Delfos

Pedro y La Torre said:


> The official name of Argentina is the Argentine Republic _not _the Argentinian Republic.





Hulalessar said:


> Does the country have an official name in English?



Wait, what? This Globalization thing is taking a turn for the worse! 

Kidding aside, I'm not aware of any non-Spanish official name. 

What I think is happening with Argentinian vs. Argentine is that back in the 70's and 80's the word "Argentine" was all over the place. It was the "see? I know some English" word of the day. To the point that it wore out. It is still the most used of the two by people that doesn't know English. But most of the people I've talked to that knew English, would use Argentinian because now Argentine sound "cheap" and to some extent corny and taken out of an old Alberto Olmedo's movie (despite being a great humorist, he used that "arshentáin" waaaay too much).


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## wildan1

Lord Delfos said:


> What I think is happening with Argentinian vs. Argentine is that back in the 70's and 80's the word "Argentine" was all over the place. It was the "see? I know some English" word of the day. To the point that it wore out. It is still the most used of the two by people that doesn't know English.


Well the Embassy of Argentina in the United States consistently uses the term _Argentine_ on its website. I'm pretty sure most people working in that embassy know English….


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## Pedro y La Torre

Hulalessar said:


> Does the country have an official name in English?



I'm basing this on what I have seen in diplomatic circles.


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## Galván

Argentine is wrong, the correct word is Argentinian.


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## Stoggler

Galván said:


> Argentine is wrong



Why?  There have been plenty of posts above suggesting otherwise (including usage in English by the government of Argentina, no less!!).


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## Galván

Stoggler said:


> Why?  There have been plenty of posts above suggesting otherwise (including usage in English by the government of Argentina, no less!!).



The word Argentine sounds wrong to me. It's possible that the people working at the embassy made a mistake.
I wouldn't use it, it sounds terrible.


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## Stoggler

So it’s just your opinion that it sounds wrong or terrible, rather than how many others actually use the word and how it is presented in dictionaries.  

I seriously doubt the Government of Argentina routinely makes a mistake in the naming of its own country.


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## Galván

Stoggler said:


> So it’s just your opinion that it sounds wrong or terrible, rather than how many others actually use the word and how it is presented in dictionaries.
> 
> I seriously doubt the Government of Argentina routinely makes a mistake in the naming of its own country.



I believe it has different uses, for example I've heard the term Argentine used with Argentinosaurs, the Argentine Dinosaur.
Somehow it does not sound so terribly wrong when used in Archeology.

_From Wiki: The Argentinosaurus_ was named by Bonaparte and the Argentine palaeontologist Rodolfo Coria in 1993.

But when you go out and ask for the closest Argentinian restaurant, you don't say "Argentine restaurant".


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## merquiades

Argentine and Argentinian are equally fine as adjectives and a matter of personal preference:   Argentine/Argentinian restaurant, embassy, movie.  If you don't like one, use the other.


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