Gilbertese

From Gilbert +‎ -ese. See Gilbertese language § Name on Wikipedia.

Gilbertese

1. An Austronesian language spoken in Kiribati.

• Kiribati

Gilbertese (plural Gilbertese)

1. (chiefly in the plural) A person from the Gilbert Islands in Kiribati.

   Synonym: Kiribatian

   • 1981, Roland W. Force, Brenda Bishop, Persistence and Exchange: Papers from a Symposium on Ecological Problems of the Traditional Societies of the Pacific Region : XIV Pacific Science Congress, Khabarovsk, U.S.S.R., August--September, 1979:

     If each Gilbertese passes on land to his or her children, not very many generations will pass before the land plots become relatively fragmented. This was and is the case. Many land plots are small, […]

As with other terms for people formed with -ese, the countable singular noun in reference to a person (as in "I am a Gilbertese", "writing about Gilbertese cuisine as a Gilbertese") is uncommon and often taken as grammatically incorrect. In its place, the adjective is used, by itself (as in "I am Gilbertese") or before a noun like person, man, or woman ("writing about Gilbertese cuisine as a Gilbertese person"). See also -ish, which is similarly only primarily used as an adjective or as a plural noun.

• Ethnologue entry for Gilbertese, gil ⁠
• “Gilbertese”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.