Legal Commentary

Odd Grammatical Feature

By Eugene Volokh

Garrett Coyle asks this question:

[Why is] the adjective form of U.S. state names ... generally the same as their noun form, but the adjective form of foreign countries is generally different from their noun forms[?] So it?s ?I?m from California? and ?a question of California law,? but ?she?s from France? and ?a question of French law.? Is there any reason for the difference?

I don?t know the answer, and before the question was posed I wasn?t even conscious of the difference ? though, of course, together with nearly all other lawyers, my speech and writing reflected that difference. A quick Westlaw query for ?Californian law? in the ALLCASES database uncovered 10 cases, one of which used the term ?Mexico-Californian laws,? and zero references to ?France law? (except for a few references to the France Law Digest). But there are 1856 references to ?French law,? and too many references to ?California law? for Westlaw to accurately report (but I did find 693 references to ?California law? in just the last two months).

So we know what?s standard usage, and that?s enough for practical purposes. But I share Mr. Coyle?s curiosity about why this is indeed standard usage.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on February 25, 2011 (boomark / email).