Filipino vs Filipina. (Hispanic) American English? (how much, living in, friendly)

[Neutre]

Hi!
Unlike most of other European languages, English adjectives are not gender specific. This includes nationalities and ethnicities.
Compare English & Spanish:
Mexican = mejicano & mejicana
Korean = coreano & coreana
Chinese = chino & china
Russian = ruso & rusa
etc.
When it comes to the Philippines, things get a bit confusing. Having an ear for accent differences, I realized that my British friends generally use only Filipino as an adjective before a noun, whereas Americans seem to use Filipina too. Is this a difference between American and British English? Is it because of Hispanic influence in the US? Do Hispanics do this more? How do you use it?

English (British?) | Spanish (as a comparison)
1. the Filipino guy | el chico filipino
2. the Filipino guys | los chicos filipinos
3. the Filipino girl | la chica filipina
4. the Filipino girls | las chicas filipinas

Do you use Filipina for phrase 3?
How about phrase 4? The Filipinas girls?
And phrase 2? The Filipinos guys?

Cheers!

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Neutre

Hi!
Unlike most of other European languages, English adjectives are not gender specific. This includes nationalities and ethnicities.
Compare English & Spanish:
Mexican = mejicano & mejicana
Korean = coreano & coreana
Chinese = chino & china
Russian = ruso & rusa
etc.
When it comes to the Philippines, things get a bit confusing. Having an ear for accent differences, I realized that my British friends generally use only Filipino as an adjective before a noun, whereas Americans seem to use Filipina too. Is this a difference between American and British English? Is it because of Hispanic influence in the US? Do Hispanics do this more? How do you use it?

English (British?) | Spanish (as a comparison)
1. the Filipino guy | el chico filipino
2. the Filipino guys | los chicos filipinos
3. the Filipino girl | la chica filipina
4. the Filipino girls | las chicas filipinas

Do you use Filipina for phrase 3?
How about phrase 4? The Filipinas girls?
And phrase 2? The Filipinos guys?

Cheers!

I'm sure it's because of the Spanish influence (Spain used to control the Philippines). Even though Spanish is no longer spoken in the Philippines, the influence is still there. In addition to being a very Catholic country, most Filipinos have Spanish family names. I used to live in the Philippines (a gorgeous country with supremely friendly people) and was surprised at how much Spanish influence there was with proper names customs.

[Smtchll]

I say Filipino guys & Filipina girls. But that's because I'm half Filipino and I'm used to saying it like that. I think most Americans would just say Filipino guys & girls.

The word "Filipino/a" is one of the few ethnicities in the English language that ends in a/o. If it were like most ethnicities it'd be called "Philippine"

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Smtchll

I say Filipino guys & Filipina girls. But that's because I'm half Filipino and I'm used to saying it like that. I think most Americans would just say Filipino guys & girls.

The word "Filipino/a" is one of the few ethnicities in the English language that ends in a/o. If it were like most ethnicities it'd be called "Philippine"

I think you're right. Most Americans just say "Filipino" and don't think about it. I find myself correcting them when they refer to a female as "Filipino" I guess because of my background of living in the Philippines. (By the way, my dad loves the Philippines so much that when he dies he says his spirit is going to Baguio.)