Why the world calls the same place by many different names
Is it Germany, Deutschland, or Germania? The names we use for places and people often depend entirely on who is speaking. Understanding the tension between how a community identifies itself and how outsiders label them reveals the hidden mechanics of language and power.
At the heart of linguistic identity lies the distinction between an endonym and an or exonym. An endonym, or autonym, is a native, self-chosen name used by a community to identify itself, its language, or its geography. In contrast, an exonym is a non-native name established by outsiders. For example, while English speakers use the exonym Germany, the endonym for that same nation is Deutschland.
Exonyms arise from several complex linguistic mechanisms. Some are cognates, meaning they are simply variations in pronunciation or spelling, such as the many forms of London, including the Italian Londra and the Greek Λονδίνο. Others are calques, or translations, like the various names for the Netherlands that all translate to 'Low Countries', such as the French Pays-Bas. Some exonyms are even derived from entirely different roots, such as the English 'Germany' compared to 'Deutschland'.
The formation of these names is often driven by practical or social pressures. Geographers note that exonyms can emerge from the difficulty of pronouncing foreign sounds, such as the challenges faced when transliterating names into Māori, which possesses only one liquid consonant. Historically, exonyms can also be borrowed from third-party languages; for instance, the Avar name for Paris is actually borrowed from Russian, which in turn originated from Polish and Italian.
Beyond mere convenience, exonyms can carry social weight. Linguist James Matisoff suggests that exonyms can stem from an 'egocentric' tendency where groups use names that only make sense to them, or from a neighborly tendency to use pejorative labels. This is seen in terms like 'yeren', a Chinese word meaning 'wild men' used by the Jingpo and Burmese to refer to the Lisu people.
Source: Endonym and exonym
