# Ethnonym

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ethnonym
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ethnonym.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnonym
> Source revision: 1343639746
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Identifier or designation referring to ethnicity

Part of a series on Linguistics Outline History Index General linguistics Diachronic Lexicography Morphology Phonology Pragmatics Semantics Syntax Typology Applied linguistics Acquisition Anthropological Applied Mathematical Computational Conversation analysis Corpus linguistics Discourse analysis Determinism Distance Documentation Ethnography of communication Ethnomethodology Forensic History of linguistics Interlinguistics Neurolinguistics Philology Philosophy of language Phonetics Psycholinguistics Sociolinguistics Text Translating and interpreting Writing systems Theoretical frameworks Formalist Constituency Dependency Distributionalism Generative Glossematics Functional Cognitive Construction grammar Functional discourse grammar Grammaticalization Interactional linguistics Prague circle Systemic functional Usage-based Structuralism Topics Autonomy of syntax Compositionality Conservative and innovative language Descriptivism Etymology Iconicity Internet linguistics LGBTQ linguistics Origin of language Orismology Orthography Philosophy of linguistics Prescriptivism Second-language acquisition Theory of language Terminology Usage Portal v t e

An **ethnonym** (from [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language) [ἔθνος](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BC%94%CE%B8%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%82#Ancient_Greek)*(*éthnos*)* 'nation' and [ὄνομα](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BD%84%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%B1#Ancient_Greek)*(*ónoma*)* 'name') is a [name](/source/Name) applied to a given [ethnic group](/source/Ethnic_group). Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: [exonyms](/source/Exonym) (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or [endonyms](/source/Endonym) (whose name is created and used by the ethnic group itself).

For example, the dominant ethnic group of [Germany](/source/Germany) is the Germans. The ethnonym *Germans* is a [Latin](/source/Latin)-derived exonym used in the English language, but the Germans call themselves *Deutsche*, an endonym. The German people are identified by a variety of exonyms across Europe, such as *Allemands* ([French](/source/French_language)), *tedeschi* ([Italian](/source/Italian_language)), *tyskar* ([Swedish](/source/Swedish_language)), and *Niemcy* ([Polish](/source/Polish_language)).

As a sub-field of [anthroponymy](/source/Anthroponymy), the study of ethnonyms is called ethnonymy or ethnonymics.

## Variations

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 considering [Library of Congress](/source/Library_of_Congress) headings for literature pertaining to [Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people](/source/Indigenous_Australians). 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.[1]

## Change over time

Ethnonyms can change in character over time; while originally socially acceptable, they may [come to be considered offensive](/source/List_of_ethnic_group_names_used_as_insults), or become [ethnic slurs](/source/List_of_ethnic_slurs). For instance, the term [gypsy](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gypsy) has been used to refer to the [Romani](/source/Romani_people). Other examples include [Vandal](/source/Vandals), [Bushman](/source/Bushmen), [Barbarian](/source/Barbarian), and [Philistine](/source/Philistine).

The ethnonyms applied to [African Americans](/source/African_Americans) have demonstrated a greater evolution; older terms such as *[colored](/source/Colored_people)* carried negative connotations and have been replaced by modern-day equivalents such as Black or *[African American](/source/African_American)*.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Other ethnonyms such as *[Negro](/source/Negro)* have a different status. The term was considered acceptable in its use by activists such as [Martin Luther King Jr.](/source/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.) in the 1960s,[2] but other activists took a different perspective. In discussing an address in 1960 by [Elijah Muhammad](/source/Elijah_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".[3]

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 the [NAACP](/source/NAACP), or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

In such contexts, ethnonyms are susceptible to the phenomenon of the [euphemism treadmill](/source/Euphemism_treadmill).[4]

## Morphology and typology

This section needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Further information: [Morphology (linguistics)](/source/Morphology_(linguistics)), [Semantics](/source/Semantics), and [Demonym](/source/Demonym)

In English, ethnonyms are generally formulated through [suffixation](/source/Suffixation); most ethnonyms for toponyms ending in *-a* are formed by adding *-n*: *Bulgaria, [Bulgarian](/source/Bulgarians)*; *Estonia, [Estonian](/source/Estonians)*. In English, in many cases, the name for the dominant [language](/source/Natural_language) of a group is identical to their English-language ethnonym; the French speak [French](/source/French_language), the Germans speak [German](/source/Germany). This is sometimes erroneously overgeneralized; it may be assumed that people from [India](/source/India) speak "Indian",[5] 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](/source/Language), or another distinct feature. Ethnonym may be a compound word related to origin or usage.

A *polito-ethnonym* indicates that name originated from the political affiliation, like when the [polysemic](/source/Polysemic) term *[Austrians](/source/Austrians)* is sometimes used more specifically for native, German speaking inhabitants of [Austria](/source/Austria), who have their own endonyms.

A *topo-ethnonym* refers to the ethnonym derived from a [toponym](/source/Toponym) (name of a geographical locality, placename), like when the [polysemic](/source/Polysemic) term *Montenegrins*, which was originally used for the inhabitants of the geographical area of the *Black Mountain* ([Montenegro](/source/Montenegro)), acquired an additional ethnonymic use, designating modern [ethnic Montenegrins](/source/Ethnic_Montenegrins), who have their own distinct endonyms. Classical geographers frequently used *topo-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.

## Related terms

In [onomastic](/source/Onomastic) studies, there are several terms that are related to ethnonyms, like the term *ethnotoponym*, that designates a specific [toponym](/source/Toponym) (placename) that is formed from an ethnonym. Many names of regions and countries are *ethnotoponyms*.[6]

## See also

- [-onym](/source/-onym)

- [Demonym](/source/Demonym)

- [diaspora studies](/source/Diaspora_studies)

- [Ethnonymic surname](/source/Ethnonymic_surname)

- [hyphenated American](/source/Hyphenated_American)

- [onomastics](/source/Onomastics)

- [Confessionym](/source/Confessionym)

- [Ethnic slur](/source/Ethnic_slur)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Aboriginal Rountable (1995): LCSH for ATSI People](http://www.nla.gov.au/niac/libs/martin.html). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110321105159/http://www.nla.gov.au/niac/libs/martin.html) 2011-03-21 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Jr.Holloran2005_2-0)** King, Martin Luther Jr.; Holloran, Peter; Luker, Ralph E.; Penny A. Russell (1 January 2005). [*The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Threshold of a New Decade, January 1959 – December 1960*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TU_HozbJSC8C&pg=PA40). University of California Press. p. 40. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-520-24239-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-520-24239-5). Retrieved 29 July 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Message from the Wilderness of North America. A Journal for MultiMedia History article](http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol1no1/elijahmuhammad.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20071224142008/http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol1no1/elijahmuhammad.html) 2007-12-24 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["The game of the name"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110515171806/http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/1994_04_03_newyorktimes.pdf) (PDF). *Baltimore Sun*. 1994-04-03. Archived from [the original](http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/1994_04_03_newyorktimes.pdf) (PDF) on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2011-01-19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BournePollard2002_5-0)** Bourne, Jill; Pollard, Andrew (26 September 2002). [*Teaching and Learning in the Primary School*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KOsXN9eJvDkC&pg=PA34). Taylor & Francis. p. 34. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-203-42511-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-203-42511-4). Retrieved 29 July 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTERoom199639_6-0)** [Room 1996](#CITEREFRoom1996), p. 39.

## Sources

- Coates, Richard (2021). ["Some thoughts on the theoretical status of ethnonyms and demonyms"](https://onomastica.ijp.pan.pl/index.php/ONOM/article/view/326). *Onomastica*. **65** (2): 5–19. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.17651/ONOMAST.65.2.1](https://doi.org/10.17651%2FONOMAST.65.2.1).

- Roberts, Michael (2017). "The semantics of demonyms in English: *Germans*, *Queenslanders*, and *Londoners*". In Zhengdao Ye (ed.). [*The Semantics of Nouns*](https://books.google.com/books?id=n0ypDgAAQBAJ). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 205–220. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-873672-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-873672-1).

- Room, Adrian (1996). [*An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies*](https://books.google.com/books?id=XEtiAAAAMAAJ). Lanham and London: The Scarecrow Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8108-3169-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8108-3169-4).

- Tuite, Kevin (1995). ["The declension of ethnonyms in English"](https://journals.linguisticsociety.org/proceedings/index.php/BLS/article/view/1420). *Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistics Society*. **21**: 491–502. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.3765/bls.v21i1.1420](https://doi.org/10.3765%2Fbls.v21i1.1420).

## External links

- Media related to [Ethnonyms](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ethnonyms) at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Ethnicity Concepts Clan Ethnic group Ethnographic group Ethnolinguistic group Ethnonational group Ethnoreligious group Ethnographic realism Diaspora Immigration / Emigration Hyphenated ethnicity Indigenous peoples In-group and out-groups Meta-ethnicity Metroethnicity Minority group Influence Monoethnicity Nation Nationality Panethnicity Polyethnicity Population Race Reactive ethnicity Supraethnicity Symbolic ethnicity Tribe Ethnology Anthropology Ethnic studies Ethnoarchaeology Ethnobiology Ethnobotany Ethnoecology Ethnomycology Ethnozoology Ethnocinema Ethnogeology Ethnography Autoethnography Clinical Critical Institutional Netnography Online Person-centered Salvage Transidioethnography Video Ethnohistory Ethnolinguistics Ethnology Ethnomathematics Ethnostatistics Ethnomedicine Ethnomethodology Ethnomuseology Ethnomusicology Ethnophilosophy Ethnopoetics Ethnopsychopharmacology Ethnoscience Ethnosemiotics Ethnotaxonomy Groups by region World Contemporary ethnic groups Countries by ethnic groups Africa Americas Indigenous Canada Greenland Mexico United States Caribbean Central America South America Asia Central Asia East Asia North Asia South Asia Southeast Asia West Asia Australia Aboriginal groups Torres Strait Islanders Europe Oceania Indigenous European Identity and ethnogenesis Cross-race effect Cultural assimilation Cultural identity Demonym Development Endonym Ethnarch Ethnic flag Ethnic option Ethnic origin Ethnic religion Ethnicity in censuses Ethnofiction Ethnonym Folk religion Historical Imagined community Kinship Legendary progenitor Linguistic homeland Mores Mythomoteur Nation-building Nation state National language National myth Origin myth Pantribal sodality Social construct Tribal name Tribalism Detribalization Neotribalism White ethnic Multiethnic society Consociationalism Cultural appropriation Diaspora politics Dominant minority Ethnic democracy Ethnic enclave Ethnic interest group Ethnic majority Ethnic media Ethnic nationalism Ethnic pornography Ethnic theme park Ethnoburb Ethnocracy Ethnographic film Ethnographic village Ethnopluralism Indigenous rights Middleman minority Minority rights Model minority Model minority myth Multinational state Ideology and ethnic conflict Allophilia Communal violence Ethnic bioweapon Ethnic cleansing Ethnic hatred Ethnic joke Ethnic party Ethnic penalty Ethnic slurs Ethnic stereotype Ethnic violence Ethnic riots Ethnocentrism Ethnocide Ethnofuturism Ethnosymbolism Indigenism Indigenization Nativism Remigration Separatist movements Xenocentrism Xenophilia Xenophobia Related Minzu (anthropology)

Authority control databases National Czech Republic Latvia Other Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ethnonym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnonym) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnonym?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.