Re: Language naming terminology

Carlos Thompson wrote:

> There is an adjective in Spanish for people from the United States:
> 'estadounidences' or 'estadinences' for short.  Althow there existes, most
> people just say 'gringo', 'americano' or 'norteamericano'.  Leftish people,
> who refuse to use 'americano', say 'yankee' with some imperialistic meaning
> implied.  Personally I don't find 'estadinence' ugly... I can't say the same
> about Unitedstatisian.
Of course, though, that's because to use such a construction in English,would, I
think, be similar to construction you use in Spanish.  The idea
of identifying a nation by formal compound and then adjectivalizing it
is, to my knowledge, wholly alien to English speakers (try saying
"United-kingdomers" or "Soviet Unionians").  It just sounds
weird, because no one says it.  That doesn't mean it's objectively ugly,
but weird things are always apt to be seen as things to be avoided.

> I was thinking about a proposal for an adjective... but I guess is too late
> for that (and we are talking about a natlang: English).  In Esperanto the
> United States are Usono (after USA)... maybe something for hipotetical
> futuristic English, when USA becames Usa, and the adjective Usian?
I would think this is rather unlikely, though not impossible.  I read that
among very lower class segments of the American population, sometimes
one will hear them speaking about the "American" language, rather than
English.

Americans tend to see themselves as a special nation, that is somehow
different from the rest of the world, much as Israel saw and sees itself as
unique (this would seem to be confirmed by a recent poll, where something
like 71% of those polled held something like that belief).  So, getting back to
why people of the United States call themselves Americans rather than citizens
of the US, I see it as a very complex mixture of issues: ranging from what Nik
said about our being the first independent nation in the hemisphere by some
thirty
years or so, to how we form adjectives (like the above), and, I think, there is
some element of our national ideology mixed into it.  We tend (only tend) to
think of ourselves as having a special mission to spread at least our
governmental
values around the world.  So, it's probably not surprising that there is some
element of ethnocentrism in it, though I don't consider it of the malevolent
kind.


=======================================================
Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

We look at [the Tao], and do not see it;
  Its name is the Invisible.
                 - Lao Tsu, _Tao Te Ching_

Nature is wont to hide herself.
                 - Herakleitos
========================================================