Why don't we call nations by what they call themselves?
Or at least as close to our languages allow us? Like, why do we just decide that no Deutschland, we're going to call you Germany.
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MethDozer · M
Well the region has been called Germany/Germania for longer than it has called itself Deutschland. To use that example further though and with better reason would be that. It would be kinda odd to call another nation the Land of the People or the People's Land.
Idk, man. Some names of areas in English predate the existence of the modern names of a country and sometimes they get named something before the language knows what the natives call it but they need a name so that's just how it goes.
Idk, man. Some names of areas in English predate the existence of the modern names of a country and sometimes they get named something before the language knows what the natives call it but they need a name so that's just how it goes.
ViciDraco · 41-45, M
@MethDozer It's not unheard of for us to update names, so I'm not really sold on the 'we have it a name before the natives did' or the name changed reasoning. As for something like Deutschland, we would call it Deutschland not translate it to Land of the People. It would work fine unless several nations call themselves the same thing in the same language (China/Taiwan maybe? I'm not sure what they call themselves I know they just both claim to be the legitimate government).
ViciDraco · 41-45, M
@MethDozer I guess the point to me is to me is consistency and respect.
If I'm out having lunch and the guys at my table see a server walking around and start talking about him as 'The Tall Waiter' and he eventually stops at the table and introduces himself as Trent then we all start calling him Trent. There's no point in calling him Trent. We could keep calling him 'Tallwaiter'.
Would it not also be strange to have a different name for a person in every language? I know pronunciations of names frequently change from language to language just based on available syllables. But the essence remains the same. Trent in Japanese might be called Turentu, for example. The name is adapted for local speech but it is recognizable as the same name for anyone who knows how Japanese syllabizes.
I understand it would be a huge thing to try to change now. I'm not actively advocating that we make the change. Just musing about how strange it is that we respect self identifying individuals but not really self identifying groups.
If I'm out having lunch and the guys at my table see a server walking around and start talking about him as 'The Tall Waiter' and he eventually stops at the table and introduces himself as Trent then we all start calling him Trent. There's no point in calling him Trent. We could keep calling him 'Tallwaiter'.
Would it not also be strange to have a different name for a person in every language? I know pronunciations of names frequently change from language to language just based on available syllables. But the essence remains the same. Trent in Japanese might be called Turentu, for example. The name is adapted for local speech but it is recognizable as the same name for anyone who knows how Japanese syllabizes.
I understand it would be a huge thing to try to change now. I'm not actively advocating that we make the change. Just musing about how strange it is that we respect self identifying individuals but not really self identifying groups.