Argentine Armenian or Armenians of Argentina?

[Mher]

We, the Armenians, are spread all over the world. We have a huge diaspora. I always have difficulties whenever I have a chance to talk about different Armenian communities of the world. Accordingly, I wonder whether it is correct to say "Armenian community of Argentina" or "Armenian community in Argentina" or "Argentine Armenian community" or "An eminent Argentine Armenian businessman ...." Which of these examples do you like the most?

 

[emsr2d2]

I would use "the Armenian community in Argentina".

With the businessman example, I certainly wouldn't use "Argentine Armenian businessman". That suggests that he has two nationalities and says nothing about where he lives. "An eminent Argentine businessman in Armenia ..." or "An eminent Armenian businessman in Argentina ...".

 

[Mher]

So, "an eminent Armenian businessman in Argentina" suggests that the given person lives in Argentina but is of Armenian origin. Am I right?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes.

 

[Raymott]

It can get confusing. For example, the Australian Polish community and the Polish-Australian community can mean the same thing - the community of Polish-born people in Australia. The only difference is the hyphen.
Similarly, I'd guess that the American Korean community is also the Korean-American community - Koreans in America.

 

[Tdol]

It's also a sensitive area where people tiptoe about and try not to cause any offence, which can add to the confusion.

 

[SoothingDave]

And there are questions of ethnicity versus citizenship. A "Korean American" (with or without the hyphen) would be a citizen of the USA, but of Korean ethnic origin.

 

[riquecohen]

So, "an eminent Armenian businessman in Argentina" suggests that the given person lives in Argentina but is of Armenian origin. Am I right?

That depends on what you mean by "origin." I would interpret that to mean that he could be Armenian and working in Argentina. If he is, in fact, Argentine, I would say "an eminent Argentine businessman of Armenian descent."

 

[Mher]

And there are questions of ethnicity versus citizenship. A "Korean American" (with or without the hyphen) would be a citizen of the USA, but of Korean ethnic origin.

Thus, can I say "the eminent Armenian Argentine businessman....", meaning that he is the citizen of Argentina, but of Armenian ethnic origin?

In case of the USA, the issue of ethnicity is a little bit complex. Everybody there has dual ethnicity because all their ancestors were from different countries.
Here I am talking about Armenians who were saved from the Armenian Genocide - the first genocide of the 20th century - perpetrated in the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in 1915. As a result, some of them settled in Latin American countries and formed Armenian communities there.

 

[SoothingDave]

Thus, can I say "the eminent Armenian Argentine businessman....", meaning that he is the citizen of Argentina, but of Armenian ethnic origin?

That is how I, as an American, would understand "Armenian Argentine."

To Americans "ethnicity" is about the countries of origin of your ancestors. American is not an ethnicity. I am an American citizen or national. My ethnicity is a blend of Irish, Swedish and Scottish.

 

[emsr2d2]

And yet, interestingly, when I worked at an international airport and arriving passengers had to fill in an official form, in answer to the word "Nationality", holders of American passports would invariably write "Caucasian/African/Irish-Italian/Hispanic" and many other things. Very few of them wrote "American", which was the answer we were looking for.
Out of curiosity, SoothingDave, having said "I am an American citizen or national", what would you write in the space marked "Nationality"?

 

[SoothingDave]

And yet, interestingly, when I worked at an international airport and arriving passengers had to fill in an official form, in answer to the word "Nationality", holders of American passports would invariably write "Caucasian/African/Irish-Italian/Hispanic" and many other things. Very few of them wrote "American", which was the answer we were looking for.
Out of curiosity, SoothingDave, having said "I am an American citizen or national", what would you write in the space marked "Nationality"?

I would write "USA."

I wrote "nationality" earlier exactly because of this type of question or usage.

I have traveled enough and understand the concept of foreign travel to know they are interested in my citizenship and not the birthplace of my great grandparents. Many Americans apparently are not.

Yes, "nationality" is a synonym of sorts here for what I called "ethnicity" above.

For example, the "nationality rooms" at the University of Pittsburgh are decorated to represent the various cultures from where immigrants to the area came from.

http://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu/

(It's much more interesting when the rooms are decorated for Christmas.)