Talk:Herculina

wikipedia:talk:532 Herculina#demonym

• Cross-post from Wikipedia: What would be the proper demonym in English for this minor planet? Herculinan or Herculinian? Nicole Sharp (talk) 15:39, 8 October 2015 (UTC)
  • If it has the same demonym as Hercules, that would be Herculinian. But it is a vanishingly rare word.SemperBlotto (talk) 15:47, 8 October 2015 (UTC)
    • I agree that "Herculinian" sounds more correct as an adjectival form, but I am leaning towards "Herculinan" instead as a more correct usage, in analogy with "Europan" vs. "European" for the English demonym of (first-declension feminine) Latin astronomical bodies. However, I cannot find any good sources clearly leaning towards either term. I have found instances from Google of both words in use. Herculina has a satellite, so it does need a demonym to designate the gravitationally-bound astronomical system (the Herculinan? System). Nicole Sharp (talk) 16:43, 8 October 2015 (UTC)
    • According to wikipedia:4 Vesta on "Vestan" vs. "Vestian," "Vestan" (like "Europan") is the more commonly-used term of the two. There is also a note suggesting that since many minor planets are named after mythical (or literary) persons, that the "-ian" (or "-ean") bisyllabic-suffixed adjective be better used to describe the mythical/literary person, and the "-an" monosyllabic-suffixed adjective be better used to describe the eponymous minor planet. If that suggestion is taken, then "Herculinan" would be the correct demonym for the minor planet, with "Herculinian" then being for literary discussion instead of astronomy. Nicole Sharp (talk) 17:31, 8 October 2015 (UTC)
      • Another astronomical example would be "Terran" vs. "Terranean," the monosyllabic-suffixed "Terran" is the most-commonly used demonym of the two. Nicole Sharp (talk) 17:56, 8 October 2015 (UTC)
  • The correct answer is that a demonym for this place does not exist. You could make one up, but it is not clear to me that Wiktionary is, or should be, the proper venue to coin invented words. Geoffrey.landis (talk) 19:17, 19 March 2019 (UTC)