Adjectives of Golarion

[KingTreyIII]

As a grammar nut, I’m always annoyed when I come across a certain phrase with respect to stuff in Golarion and I’m unsure of how to phrase it without taking some grammatical acrobatics (most often when I try to say “worshiper of Achaekek” I have to say “worshiper of Achaekek”). I decided to make this comprehensive list of adjectival forms of many things in Golarion—most notably gods and nations (both old and new)—both to help with the nomenclature as well as to open the thread up to possibly get responses from the creative team for answers on certain adjectival forms that have mostly gone unsaid. I’m going to start with the nations of the Inner Sea, then to the Core deities, then to the other notable deities listed in Lost Omens Gods and Magic. Hope this helps some random GM looking for the specific word.

This is of course not a complete list, so I’m hoping for help from the Pathfinder hivemind to fill in a lot of the holes in my knowledge. Anything with a question mark is that I either don’t know or am not confident in it.

Nations of the Inner Sea:

Absalom: Absalom?
Alkenstar: Alkenstar
Andoran: Andoren notice the second-to-last letter
Hold of Belkzen: Belkzen
Brevoy: Brevic
Cheliax: Chelish or Chelaxian sometimes used interchangeably; generally found “Chelish” to refer to nationality, while “Chelaxian” refers to the ethnicity (before 2e retconned the ethnicity)
Druma: Drumish or Druman unclear
Five Kings Mountains: ?
Galt: Galtan
Geb: Gebbite
Hermea: Hermean
Irrisen: Irriseni
Isger: Isgeri
Jalmeray: Jalmeri
Katapesh: Katapeshi
Kyonin: Kyonin?
Lastwall: Lastwall?
Lands of the Linnorm Kings: ?
Realm of the Mammoth Lords: ?
Mediogalti Island: Mediogaltian?
Molthune: Molthuni
Mwangi Expanse: Mwangi
Nex: Nexian
Nidal: Nidalese
Nirmathas: Nirmathi
Numeria: Numerian
Oprak: ?
Osirion: Osirian notice the second-to-last letter; “Osiriani” refers to the language
Qadira: Qadiran
Rahadoum: Rahadoumi
Ravounel: ?
Razmiran: Razmiri also works for the adjectival form of Razmir (the “god”)
River Kingdoms: ?
Sargava: Sargavan now known as Vidrian
Sarkoris: Sarkorian
The Shackles: Shackles?
Sodden Lands: ?
Taldor: Taldan
Thuvia: Thuvian
Ustalav: Ustalavic
Varisia: Varisian
Vidrian: Vidric?

Core Deities:

Abadar: Abadaran
Asmodeus: Asmodean
Calistria: Calistrian
Cayden Cailean: Caydenite
Desna: Desnan
Erastil: Erastilian
Gorum: Gorumite
Gozreh: Gozren
Iomedae: Iomedaean?
Irori: Iroran
Lamashtu: Lamashtan
Nethys: Nethysian
Norgorber: Norgorberite
Pharasma: Pharasmin
Rovagug: Rovagug?
Sarenrae: Sarenite
Shelyn: Shelynite
Torag: Toragdan notice the random d
Urgathoa: Urgathoan
Zon-Kuthon: Kuthite

Other Deities:

Achaekek: ?
Alseta: Alsetan
Arazni: Araznian
Besmara: Besmaran
Brigh: ?
Casandalee: ?
Chaldira: Chaldiran
Ghlaunder: ?
Grandmother Spider: ?
Groetus: Groetan
Gruhastha: Gruhasthan
Hei Feng: Hei Fengan?
Kazutal: ?
Kurgess: Kurgessan
Milani: Milanite
Nivi Rhombodazzle: ?
Nocticula: Nocticulan
Sivanah: ?
Shizuru: Shizuran
Tsukiyo: Tsukiyan

Honorable Mention:

Westcrown: Wiscrani

[vagrant-poet]

This is good.

[Grankless]

Druma's adjective is, unfortunately, consistently Drumish, because there wasn't enough unfortunate stuff going on in that nation.

All in all this is a good thread though! Interestingly enough, citizens of Ustalav are simply called "Ustalav" (sometimes "Ustalavs") but -ic remains the adjectival form.

[Michael Sayre]

A lot of this information can be found on the PathfinderWiki as well. For example, the demonym for Absalom is Absalomians! And yeah, the adjective for Absalom things that aren't people is Absalom :P

[Syri]

KingTreyIII wrote:

Cheliax: Chelish or Chelaxian sometimes used interchangeably; generally found “Chelish” to refer to nationality, while “Chelaxian” refers to the ethnicity (before 2e retconned the ethnicity)

I've got news for you: 2e retcons have struck again!

Luis Loza on the Know Direction Discord wrote:

Chelish is being phased out entirely

Chelaxian is now the adjective to use across the board.

Luis Loza also wrote:

Chelish also suggested it was derived from something other than Cheliax.

Chelish? Oh, that must mean it's from Chel/Cheland/Chellian/etc.

My theory is that another contributing factor was the word sounding too much like the Keleshite language 'Kelish'. In any case, 'Chelish' doesn't appear a single time in the Lost Omens Character Guide. The LOWG may have been its final hurrah--which puts us in the unfortunate spot of not knowing whether to keep calling it the 'Chelish Civil War' or to retcon its name to 'Chelaxian Civil War'.

[Mudfoot]

Chelaxian is a cumbersome mouthful. So while I imagine that's the proper word used in schools and government communications, the common word might well be Chelish. Especially in somewhere like Andoran where they don't think too highly of Cheliax. There will be ruder variations as well.

Arguably one might draw a distinction between the ethnicity and the nationality.

[zimmerwald1915]

Mudfoot wrote:

Chelaxian is a cumbersome mouthful. So while I imagine that's the proper word used in schools and government communications, the common word might well be Chelish. Especially in somewhere like Andoran where they don't think too highly of Cheliax. There will be ruder variations as well.

Arguably one might draw a distinction between the ethnicity and the nationality.

There is no Chelaxian ethnicity outside the chauvinist fantasies of the government in Egorian. The predominant human peoples of Cheliax, as of most of southern Avistan, are the Taldans and the Kellids, and unlike most of southern Avistan, Cheliax is home to large numbers of Varisians and Nidalese. "Chelaxian" is in reality purely a historical-national descriptor (read: demonym).

Or, well, I guess it's also supposed to be an adjective now? More chauvinist redactive nuttery that can be safely ignored, say I!

[PossibleCabbage]

What do you call the faithful of Ng, assuming you get enough of them in one place that you need a grouping term for them?

[zimmerwald1915]

PossibleCabbage wrote:

What do you call the faithful of Ng, assuming you get enough of them in one place that you need a grouping term for them?

Woos. What else?