Tristanian

English

Etymology

From Tristan +‎ -ian.

Adjective

Tristanian (not comparable)

1. (literature) Of or pertaining to Sir Tristan, legendary Arthurian knight and tragic hero of the mediaeval romance Tristan and Iseult.
   • 2001, Bonnie Wheeler, Fiona Tolhurst (editors), On Arthurian Women: Essays in Memory of Maureen Fries, Scriptorium Press, page 274,

     With this assumption, that Tintagel haunted Hardy from 1870 to 1923, it becomes possible to suggest that not only was his Tristanian work infused with his life-long themes, but that Tristanian themes may have subtly influenced his earlier works as well.

   • 2008, Isabel DiVanna, Reconstructing the Middle Ages, Cambridge Scholars, page 157:

     Although Brugger had already expressed this idea, it was because of Bedier's work that academics began to see Tristanian poems as unified literary works with a coherent narrative thread from the lovers' first meeting to their inevitable death:

2. Of or pertaining to the Atlantic archipelago Tristan da Cunha or its inhabitants.
   • 2003, Ben Fogle, The Teatime Islands: Journeys to Britain's Faraway Outposts, Michael Joseph, page 36:

     One of the curiosities of Tristanian English is the inclusion of an 'h' at the start of words that begin with a vowel.

Noun

Tristanian (plural Tristanians)

1. An inhabitant of Tristan da Cunha.

   Synonym: Tristanite

   • 1964, Margaret Mackprang Mackay, Angry Island, Rand McNally, page 256:

     The Tristanians were to occupy some fifty neat modern houses in the former Married Quarters inside the high-fenced compound.

   • 2003, Daniel Schreier, Isolation and Language Change: Contemporary and Sociohistorical Evidence from Tristan da Cunha English‎^[1], Springer Nature (Palgrave MacMillan), page 205:

     After having lived among the Tristanians for half a year, I am under the impression that, due to their experiences in the outside world, younger Tristanians have developed a stylistic range that is limited in the speech of non-mobile members of the community.