Re: Language Naming

Jeff, here is what the book titled _Describing Morphosyntax: A Guide
for Feild Linguists_ by Thomas E Payne has to say about it.

-----<quote>-----
1.1 The Name of the Language
Self-referent of auto-denomination are the anthropological terms for
the name a group of people uses to refer to themselves. Often this
name can only be translated as "people", or "human beings". It may
also have hierarchically related meanings. For example, the word
_e'n~apa_ in Panare (a Carib language of Venezuela) means "person"
when used in opposition to the term _ne('na_ "wild animal" or "evil
spirit". The same term means "indigenous person" when used in
opposition to the term _tato_ "outsider"/"white person". Finally,
the term can also refer strictly to Panares, when used in opposition
to terms referring to neighboring indigenous groups. Only the
context can disambiguate.

The terms by which language groups are know to outsiders are usually
drawn from the outsiders' language, and are often derogatory in
nature, e.g., in Peru the group now known as the Urarina used to be
called the _Chimaco_, a Quechua term meaning "unreliable". Such
terms are often not recognized by the people themselves, and, as in
the case with the Urarina, the self-referent can sometimes be
substituted for the outsiders' term. On the other hand, the term
_Panare_ mentioned above is a Tupi word meaning "friend". So the
outsiders' form of reference is not always derogatory.
-----<end of quote>-----

Hope that helps. The book itself is pretty informative and is what I
call a "must-have" for all conlangers.

Regards,
-Kristian- 8-)