Must countries be called by the same name that they use themselves?

[Rumpel]

Must countries be called by the same name that they use themselves?

There are many examples to the contrary.

 

[Jason Warfield]

I wasn't aware this is an issue.

Most nations call another nation the name they are easiest with, like we are with Spain. But when in Spain, it is just good manners to say Espana.

 

[Oborosen]

I wasn't aware this is an issue.

Most nations call another nation the name they are easiest with, like we are with Spain. But when in Spain, it is just good manners to say Espana.

It's partially a societal dynamic. Everyone does what is the easiest and most commonly recognized.

So if we spent about half a generation teaching their actual names in school courses. It would most likely be rectified at that point.

 

[beefheart]

Must countries be called by the same name that they use themselves?

There are many examples to the contrary.

I call Germany "Hooslestrickenland"

I call Hungary "MakkaMakkaWheeWhee"

I call Italy "Italy 3.0"

I call Spain "Fancypantsland"

 

[Rumpel]

Shqipëri, Shqipëria - or Albania - would be another example.

 

[Rumpel]

I wasn't aware this is an issue.

It is.

And it has surfaced again now.
When some insist that Belarus must be called Belarus all over the world and nothing else.

 

[Rumpel]

Most nations call another nation the name they are easiest with, like we are with Spain.

Let's say, they call other nations by names that have long and old traditions in their respective languages.

 

[Fledermaus]

It is.

And it has surfaced again now.
When some insist that Belarus must be called Belarus all over the world and nothing else.

Belarus calls Belarus by the name Belarus.

The UN calls Belarus by the name Belarus.

Get over it.

 

[Rumpel]

I have clicked onto Spain, Italy, Hungary, Germany.
And onto Germany, as I am German myself.
And it would be absolutely absurd to ask the whole world to call Germany "Deutschland".

There is no such thing as "the only correct name" for a country.
But in the case of Belarus some insist that this country MUST be called Belarus and NOTHING ELSE.

 

[PirateMk1]

It is.

And it has surfaced again now.
When some insist that Belarus must be called Belarus all over the world and nothing else.

What else is it called?

 

[uptower]

Must countries be called by the same name that they use themselves?

There are many examples to the contrary.

Well of course if you're a world 'leader' and can't remember the names, you could just refer to them as ****hole One, ****hole Two and so on...

 

[Sweden]

I wasn't aware this is an issue.

Most nations call another nation the name they are easiest with, like we are with Spain. But when in Spain, it is just good manners to say Espana.

Call a country by its name in the language you are speaking. Only say Espana, even in Spain, if you are speaking Spanish. When in the US I say USA if I'm speaking English. If I'm trying out my Murican I call it 'The Greatest Country in the World' just to match the locals.

 

[Rumpel]

Well of course if you're a world 'leader' and can't remember the names, you could just refer to them as ****hole One, ****hole Two and so on...

You are talking of Mr. T. Rump?

 

[Rumpel]

What else is it called?

Lots of other names.

You may have a look there:

>>> Belarus or White Russia? - Which term do you use?

 

[HK.227]

Must countries be called by the same name that they use themselves?

There are many examples to the contrary.

I doubt many people care.
The only view I have regarding this is to call a certain country Burma rather than Myanmar. Myanmar is the name the military junta chose, and I don't like them, so I make a point of calling it Burma. Childish, I know.

 

[TheParser]

Of course, I use the English name for the names of other countries.

For example, it would be very nice to refer to los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (the United States of Mexico/United Mexican States), but it is much simpler to say "Mexico."

 

[Rumpel]

The only view I have regarding this is to call a certain country Burma rather than Myanmar. Myanmar is the name the military junta chose, and I don't like them, so I make a point of calling it Burma.

So do I

 

[Rumpel]

I doubt many people care.

I do.
But not for political reasons, but for linguistic reasons.
I find it interesting and intriguing how countries are called differently in other languages.

And Germany is a good example for this variety.
Just a short list that is far from complete:


English: Germany
French: Allemagne
Danish: Tyskland
Russian: Germania
Polish: Niemcy
Italian: Germania - adjektiv: tedesco
Finnish: Saksa
Dutch: Duitsland
Swiss German: Dütschland

etc etc etc .....

 

[Rumpel]

Of course, I use the English name for the names of other countries.

Of course!
Just as I use the German names, when I am speaking in German.
And so I say "Weißrussland" instead of Belarus.

 

[HK.227]

I do.
But not for political reasons, but for linguistic reasons.
I find it interesting and intriguing how countries are called differently in other languages.

And Germany is a good example for this variety.
Just a short list that is far from complete:


English: Germany
French: Allemagne
Danish: Tyskland
Russian: Germania
Polish: Niemcy
Italian: Germania - adjektiv: tedesco
Finnish: Saksa
Dutch: Duitsland
Swiss German: Dütschland

etc etc etc .....

So do I

Germany: From Lat. "Germanus" -> derived from Celtic "Neighbours".
Alle-magne: From proto-german "Allemandi" meaning "All Men".
Tysk-land: From German "Deutch-land" meaning "People's land".
Nyemcy: From Old Slavic "Nemets" meaning "the non-speaking ones" (probably couldn't understand their language)
Saksa: From "Saxons", literally the "the scissors wielding ones". The word Seax, meaning "blade", is the origin of the word scissor, or plural "a pair of scissors".

Germany indeed has quit a few names.
To take an example from the other side of the scale, all the names of Norway are derived from the same word, which has only two meanings. Either "the north way" (If you were a Viking wanting go north, you had to sail along the nNorweigan coast), or more a more recent interpretation meaning "Land of the oil billionaire mountain monkeys who do fairly well in the Winter Olympics and have very expensive beer".

 

[Rumpel]

Germany: From Lat. "Germanus" -> derived from Celtic "Neighbours".
Alle-magne: From proto-german "Allemandi" meaning "All Men".
Tysk-land: From German "Deutch-land" meaning "People's land".
Nyemcy: From Old Slavic "Nemets" meaning "the non-speaking ones" (probably couldn't understand their language)
Saksa: From "Saxons", literally the "the scissors wielding ones". The word Seax, meaning "blade", is the origin of the word scissor, or plural "a pair of scissors".

Great to have it explained!
Especially the actual meaning of Germanus and Saxon!eace
Thank you! eace

 

[Rumpel]

Alle-magne: From proto-german "Allemandi" meaning "All Men".

.

As it happens, I am one of those Alemandi or Alemanni.
The French took that name to call all the Germans that way.
Those Alemanni are now a small minority in the Federal Republic of Germany.

I am one of them - and speak the Alemannic language also.

Here is some Info:

Alemannic dialects are spoken by approximately ten million people in several countries:

Switzerland: all German-speaking parts of the country except Samnaun
Germany: center and south of Baden-Württemberg, Swabia, and certain districts of Bavaria
Austria: Vorarlberg, Reutte District of Tyrol
Liechtenstein: entire country
France: Alsace region (Alsatian dialect) and in some villages of the Phalsbourg county
Italy: Gressoney-La-Trinité, Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Issime, Alagna Valsesia and Rimella, in some other villages almost extinct
United States: Allen and Adams County, Indiana by the Amish there and also in their daughter settlements in Indiana and other U.S. states.
Venezuela: Colonia Tovar (Colonia Tovar dialect)

More about it: Alemannic German - Wikipedia

Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (Alemannisch, pronounced [alɛˈman(ː)ɪʃ]), is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alemanni.

 

[HK.227]

As it happens, I am one of those Alemandi or Alemanni.
The French took that name to call all the Germans that way.
Those Alemanni are now a small minority in the Federal Republic of Germany.

I am one of them - and speak the Alemannic language also.

Here is some Info:



More about it: Alemannic German - Wikipedia

That is a supercool Wikipedia link by the way.
I speak a couple of Nordic languages as well as some German and Enlgish (duh!), and I can understand most of the Lord's Prayer in that link.

 

[Rumpel]

I speak a couple of Nordic languages as well as some German and Enlgish (duh!), and I can understand most of the Lord's Prayer in that link.

So let us pray then:

Fater unser, thu bist in himile
uuihi namu dinan
qhueme rihhi diin
uuerde uuillo diin,
so in himile, sosa in erdu
prooth unseer emezzihic kip uns hiutu
oblaz uns sculdi unsero
so uuir oblazem uns skuldikem
enti ni unsih firleit in khorunka
uzzer losi unsih fona ubile


>>> Alemannic German - Wikipedia

And for safety's sake, here is the translation:


Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven:
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil;
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.

 

[eman623]

China calls itself "Zhongguo"

Japan calls itself "Nippon"

Korea calls itself "Chosun"