"Chinese" in English comes from Portuguese ("chinês"), who were some of the earliest Europeans there. -ês and -ese both come from the same Latin origin. I haza

"Chinese" in English comes from Portuguese ("chinês"), who were some of the earliest Europeans there. -ês and -ese both come from the same Latin origin. I hazard that words like Cantonese, etc., came either via the same route, or by back-formation to match the existing wider term "Chinese". Interestingly, "Japanner" used to be another word for a Japanese person.