Here we will talk about how to use and create demonyms (gentilicios) in Nawat from what is now El Salvador.
-Chanej
The suffix –chanej is added to toponyms as follows: x-chanej, xchanej. X being any given town/city/country. to create a word that essentially means “dweller, resident, or a person from x.” Typically this is only used for towns or cities, and often they are already in Nawat. For instance, a person that is from Kuskatan (the territory of Nahuas in what is today Western and Central El Salvador) is a Kuskatanchanej. Santo Domingo de Guzman is referred to as Witzapan in Nawat, and a person from this town would be a Witzapanchanej.
Examples
| Kuskatan | Kuskatanchanej |
| Witzapan | Witzapanchanej |
| Sihuatehuacan (Santa Ana) | Sihuatehuacanchanej |
| Panchimalco (Panchimalku) | Panchimalcochanej (Panchimalkuchanej) |
| Comecayo (Kwawmecayu) | Comecayochanej (Kwawmecayuchanej) |
The noun -chan (which is unalienable, thus must always be possessed) means home. Thus nuchan, would be “my house.” Tuchan, “our house,” and techan “people’s house, or town.” For demonyms -chanej functions to show that whatever town, say x, is that person’s home. To say you are from a place, you say, “Naja nixchanej.”
Plural
Pluralizing demonyms is pretty simple as well. You simply add -ket as the terminal suffix to the word. For instance, xchanej, a person from x, would become xchanejket when more friends arrive.
| Kuskatan | Kuskatanchanej | Kuskatanchanejket |
| Witzapan | Witzapanchanej | Witzapanchanejket |
| Sihuatehuacan (Santa Ana) | Sihuatehuacanchanej | Sihuatehuacanchanejket |
| Panchimalco (Panchimalku) | Panchimalcochanej (Panchimalkuchanej) | Panchimalcochanejket |
| Comecayo (Kwawmecayu) | Comecayochanej (Kwawmecayuchanej) | Comecayochanejket |