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Is it really "impolite" that some peoples and countries have different names in different languages?

Is it really "impolite" that some peoples and countries have different names in different languages?

  • yes, it is impolite

    Votes: 2 7.7%

  • yes, it is insulting

    Votes: 2 7.7%

  • no, it is not impolite

    Votes: 12 46.2%

  • no, it is not insulting

    Votes: 11 42.3%

  • it is just the way that languages work

    Votes: 14 53.8%

  • i find it interesting that there are different names in different languages for the same country

    Votes: 12 46.2%
  • Total voters
    26
R

Rumpel

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Is it really "impolite" that some peoples and countries have different names in different languages?

Again and again one can read comments that go like this:
"For me it is a point of honour and politeness to call every country and every people by exactly the same name that it calls itself."

To which one may answer: "Are you sure? Do you really do?"

And:

May we say Hungary, or must we say Magyarország, the way the country calls itself?
May we say Wales, or must we say Cymru, the way the country calls itself?
May we say Germany, or must we say Deutschland, the way the country calls itself?

I could go on with a lot of other examples.

So now I'd like to aks these question in a poll.
 
Those who are interested in languages may ask Google how many different names are there for Germany. :)

Starting with Allemagne - and not ending with Tyskland ....

And nobody here thinks this "impolite" or "insulting". :)
 
And I might add this question:

May we say Baskenland and Basque Country, or must we say Euskal Herria and Euskadi, the way the country calls itself?

And there are many more cases like that.
 
We call countries by their names in the language we're speaking. For example, when I'm speaking English I say Germany, Spain, and France. When speaking Spanish I say Alemania, España and Francia. In German it's Deutchland, Spanien and Frankreich.

You just call the country by its name in the language you're speaking. I don't see were rudeness enters into it.

BTW, the Basque are a people not a country, although there is a movement...
 
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It’s not an unreasonable question: why don’t we call Germany Deutschland? It’s not as if Germans are aliens and our tongues can’t replicate the sounds that form their names.
 
Cardinal said:
It’s not an unreasonable question: why don’t we call Germany Deutschland?
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You are welcome to call Deutschland Germany - or Allemagne or Tyskland etc etc.
No German is insulted because of it.

On the contrary, I find it fascinating from a linguistic point of view. :)
 
Cardinal said:
It’s not an unreasonable question: why don’t we call Germany Deutschland? It’s not as if Germans are aliens and our tongues can’t replicate the sounds that form their names.
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For the same reason don't call us the United States, is it rude for Germans to call us Die Vereinigten Staaten?
 
Rumpel said:
You are welcome to call Deutschland Germany - or Allemagne or Tyskland etc etc.
No German is insulted because of it.

On the contrary, I find it fascinating from a linguistic point of view. :)
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I’m not approaching it from a perspective of what is rude or offensive to them. I’m just wondering why we don’t call countries by their own names.
 
Loulit01 said:
For the same reason don't call us the United States, is it rude for Germans to call us Die Vereinigten Staaten?
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The short form in German is often just "Amerika".
Now I hope nobody is insulted or offended by the use of the k instead of the c. :)
 
Cardinal said:
I’m just wondering why we don’t call countries by their own names.
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I hope you will find answers to this one day.
There are good old and traditional reasons for that. :)
 
Loulit01 said:
For the same reason don't call us the United States, is it rude for Germans to call us Die Vereinigten Staaten?
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What’s rude doesn’t enter into it. “Constanza” means perseverance. I don’t insist on calling an Italian woman named Constanza “Perseverance.”
 
Cardinal said:
What’s rude doesn’t enter into it. “Constanza” means perseverance. I don’t insist on calling an Italian woman named Constanza “Perseverance.”
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Names of persons are a different case altogether.
Family names and first names of persons stay the same. All over the world.
That is a different case from the names of countries.
These two topics should not be mixed up.
 
Rumpel said:
Names of persons are a different case altogether.
Family names and first names of persons stay the same. All over the world.
That is a different case from the names of countries.
These two topics should not be mixed up.
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Why not?
 

Names of Germany​


Because of Germany's long history as a non-united region of distinct tribes and states before 1871, there are many widely varying names of Germany in different languages, more so than for any other European nation. For example, in the German language, the country is known as Deutschland from the Old High German diutisc, in Spanish as Alemania and in French as Allemagne from the name of the Alamanni tribe, in Italian as Germania from the Latin Germania (although the German people are called tedeschi), in Polish as Niemcy from the Protoslavic nemets, and in Finnish and Estonian as Saksa and Saksamaa respectively from the name of the Saxon tribe.
Click to expand...

More about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Germany
 
Cardinal said:
What’s rude doesn’t enter into it. “Constanza” means perseverance. I don’t insist on calling an Italian woman named Constanza “Perseverance.”
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Rude was the OP word. I said, "I don't see where rudeness enters into it."
 
Loulit01 said:
I said, "I don't see where rudeness enters into it."
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I said and think exactly the same!
It is OTHERS who think it rude!
I thought I had made that clear.
Please do not mix me up with those others.
 
USA has multiple names in English, but the French call us "Les Etats Unis". I don't find it insulting and I think it would be kinda wrong to find it insulting unless the country perhaps came out and stated why it sees such use as insulting.
 
Rumpel said:
I said and think exactly the same!
It is OTHERS who think it rude!
I thought I had made that clear.
Please do not mix me up with those others.
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The word was from the Original Post is what I meant. No offense.
 
Loulit01 said:
Rude was the OP word. I said, "I don't see where rudeness enters into it."
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Fine, true, but that's not the basis for my own curiosity.
 
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