Reply
Sat 17 Oct, 2009 06:38 pm
No dics define this word
Context:
Historically, Iraq was known in Europe by the Greek eponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers); after the foundation of the Kingdom of Iraq in 1932, it became known by its ancient endonym 'Iraq'. Iraq has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is identified as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing and the wheel.
An exonym (from the Greek: ??"ξω, éxō, "out" and ὄνομα, ónoma, "name") is a name for a place or a personal name that is not used within that place or for that person by the local inhabitants (neither in the official language of the state nor in local languages), or a name for a people or language that is not used by the people or language to which it refers. The name used by the people or locals themselves is called endonym, autonym (from the Greek ??"νδον, éndon, "within" or αὐτό, autó, "self" and ὄνομα, ónoma, "name"), or self-appellation. For example, Germany is the English exonym corresponding to the endonym Deutschland and Greece is the English exonym corresponding to the endonym Ellada.
Exonym and Endonym
Exonyms may derive from distinct roots as in the case of Deutschland, Germany mentioned above, they may be cognate words which have diverged in pronunciation or orthography, or they may be fully or partially translated from the native language. For example, London is known as Londres in French, Spanish and Portuguese, Londino (Λονδίνο) in Greek, Londen in Dutch, Londra in Italian, Romanian and Turkish, Londýn in Czech and Slovak, Londyn in Polish, Lundúnir in Icelandic, and Lontoo in Finnish. An example of a translated exonym is the name Soviet Union.
Exonyms can also be divided into native and borrowed (i.e., from a third language). For example, Slovene uses the native exonyms Dunaj (Vienna) and Benetke (Venice), but the exonyms Kijev (Kiev) and Vilna (Vilnius), borrowed from Russian and Polish, respectively.
I learned two new words today.
That's worthy of celebration.
I learned something too! Here's another example.
Exonym: "Japan"
Endonym: "Nippon/Nihon"
T
K
O