Anethnonym (from Ancient Greek ἔθνος (éthnos) 'nation' and ὄνομα (ónoma) 'name') is aname applied to a givenethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories:exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, orendonyms (whose name is created and used by the ethnic group itself).
For example, the dominant ethnic group ofGermany is the Germans. The ethnonymGermans is aLatin-derived exonym used in the English language, but the Germans call themselvesDeutsche, an endonym. The German people are identified by a variety of exonyms across Europe, such asAllemands (French),tedeschi (Italian),tyskar (Swedish) andNiemcy (Polish).
As a sub-field ofanthroponymy, the study of ethnonyms is called ethnonymy or ethnonymics.
Ethnonyms should not be confused withdemonyms, which designate all the people of a geographic territory, regardless of ethnic or linguistic divisions within its population.[1]
Numerous ethnonyms can apply to the same ethnic or racial group, with various levels of recognition, acceptance and use. The State Library of South Australia contemplated this issue when consideringLibrary of Congress headings for literature pertaining toAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Some 20 different ethnonyms were considered as potential Library of Congress headings, but it was recommended that only a fraction of them be employed for the purposes of cataloguing.[2]
Ethnonyms can change in character over time; while originally socially acceptable, they maycome to be considered offensive, or becomeethnic slurs. For instance, the termgypsy has been used to refer to theRomani. Other examples includeVandal,Bushman,Barbarian, andPhilistine.
The ethnonyms applied toAfrican Americans have demonstrated a greater evolution; older terms such ascolored carried negative connotations and have been replaced by modern-day equivalents such as Black orAfrican American.[citation needed] Other ethnonyms such asNegro have a different status. The term was considered acceptable in its use by activists such asMartin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s,[3] but other activists took a different perspective. In discussing an address in 1960 byElijah Muhammad, it was stated "to the Muslims, terms like Negro and colored are labels created by white people to negate the past greatness of the black race".[4]
Four decades later, a similar difference of opinion remains. In 2006, one commentator suggested that the term Negro is outdated or offensive in many quarters; similarly, the word "colored" still appears in the name of theNAACP, or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
In such contexts, ethnonyms are susceptible to the phenomenon of theeuphemism treadmill.[5]
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In English, ethnonyms are generally formulated through suffixation; most ethnonyms for toponyms ending in-a are formed by adding-n:Bulgaria,Bulgarian;Estonia,Estonian. In English, in many cases, the name for the dominantlanguage of a group is identical to their English-language ethnonym; the French speak French, the Germans speak German. This is sometimes erroneously overgeneralized; it may be assumed that people fromIndia speak "Indian",[6] despite there being no language in India which is called by that name.
Generally, any group of people may have numerous ethnonyms, associated with the political affiliation with a state or a province, with geographical landmark, with the language, or another distinct feature. Ethnonym may be a compound word related to origin or usage.
Apolito-ethnonym indicates that name originated from the political affiliation, like when thepolysemic termAustrians is sometimes used more specifically for native, German speaking inhabitants ofAustria, who have their own endonyms.
Atopo-ethnonym refers to the ethnonym derived from atoponym (name of a geographical locality, placename), like when thepolysemic termMontenegrins, which was originally used for the inhabitants of the geographical area of theBlack Mountain (Montenegro), acquired an additional ethnonymic use, designating modernethnic Montenegrins, who have their own distinct endonyms. Classical geographers frequently usedtopo-ethnonyms (ethnonyms formed from toponyms) as substitute for ethnonyms in general descriptions, or for unknown endonyms.
Compound terminology is widely used in professional literature to discriminate semantics of the terms.
Inonomastic studies, there are several terms that are related to ethnonyms, like the termethnotoponym, that designates a specifictoponym (placename) that is formed from an ethnonym. Many names of regions and countries areethnotoponyms.[7]
Media related toEthnonyms at Wikimedia Commons
