Linguonym

Linguonym (from Latin: lingua / language, and Greek: ὄνομα / name) also known as glossonym (from Ancient Greek: γλῶσσα / language) or glottonym (from Attic Greek: γλῶττα / language), is a linguistic term that designates a proper name of an individual language, or a language family. The study of language names is known as linguonymy (glossonymy, glottonymy), or linguonymics (glossonymics, glottonymics). As a distinctive linguistic discipline, linguonimic (glossonymic, glottonymic) studies are closely related to some other onomastic disciplines, particularly those that are focused on the study of ethnonyms (names of ethnic groups) and choronyms (names of regions and countries). In that context, the field is related to ethnolinguistic and sociolinguistic studies. Various questions related to the study of formation and use of language names are also relevant for several other disciplines within social sciences and humanities.

The term linguonym was introduced to the linguistic terminology in the second half of the 20th century, first in 1973, and again in 1977, while further attempts to define the field were made in 1979. Three synonymic terms (linguonym, glossonym, glottonym) gradually came into use, primarily among linguists and other scholars, but the field of linguonimic (glossonymic, glottonymic) studies itself is still considered to be in its formative stages.

Typology

Language names can be classified by several criteria. According to origin, they can be divided into two groups:

• Endonimic language names, known as endolinguonyms (autolinguonyms), endoglossonyms (autoglossonyms) or endoglottonyms (autoglottonyms) represent language names of endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native speakers as designations for their languages. For example, term Deutsch is an endolinguonym (native name) for the language that is called German in English.
• Exonimic language names, known as exolinguonyms (exoglossonyms, exoglottonyms) represent language names of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used by those who are not native speakers of the referred languages. For example, term German is an exolinguonym (foreign name), used in English language as a designation for the language that is called Deutsch by its native speakers.

Related terms

In recent years, some authors have tried to introduce the term "logonym" as an alternative designation for the same onomastic class, that encompasses the names of languages, thus avoiding the use of already accepted terms (linguonym, glossonym, glottonym), but those attempts were challenged by the very polysemic nature of the proposed term (logonym), that has several meanings, spanning across different fields of study. As a consequence, the proposed use was treated with caution, and did not gain acceptance.

Searching for appropriate onomastic terms for some other classes of proper names, several researchers have tried to use term linguonym (glossonym, glottonym) as a designation not for the names of languages, but for a specific class of anthroponyms (proper names of humans, individual and collective) that are given to the groups of speakers of any particular language. Some of those attempts were made as a result of misunderstanding, by referencing to official UNESCO documents, that used those terms in their proper meaning, as designations for language names, thus revealing the lack of bases for the proposed alternative uses. Other attempts were made without any referencing, or addressing the issue of the proper meanings and uses of the terms. In the same time, the question of defining an appropriate onomastic term for the specific class of proper names that are given to groups of speakers, remained opened and focused on several available solutions that would combine terms for speakers, speaking, or speech (like Latin: loquor, loquere) with standard suffix -onym (loquonym). Such issues, related to proper formation and use of onomastic terms, have gained importance in scholarly circles, since international surveys among experts revealed the existence of several challenging issues related to the process of terminological standardization within the field.

See also

• List of language names
• List of metaphorical terms for languages

Sources

• Back, Otto (1988). "Glottonyme und Ethnonyme". Die Slawischen Sprachen. 14: 5–9.
• Coupland, Nikolas; Jaworski, Adam, eds. (2009). Sociolinguistics: The Sociolinguistics of Multilingualism. Vol. 4. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415408547.
• Dubois, Alain (2000). "Synonymies and related lists in zoology: General proposals, with examples in herpetology". Dumerilia. 14 (2): 33–98.
• Duliĉenko, Aleksandro D. (1973). "La lingvonimiko — ĝiaj esenco kaj problemoj". Scienca Revuo. 24 (2–3): 83–90.
• Goebl, Hans (1979). "Glottonymie, Glottotomie und Schizoglossie: Drei sprachpolitisch bedeutsame Begriffe" (PDF). Ladinia. 3: 7–38.
• Gold, David L. (1977). "Dzhudezmo". Language Sciences. 4: 14–16.
• Good, Jeff; Cysouw, Michael (2013). "Languoid, Doculect, and Glossonym: Formalizing the Notion Language" (PDF). Language Documentation & Conservation. 7: 331–359.
• Harvalík, Milan; Caffarelli, Enzo, eds. (2007). "Onomastic Terminology: An International Survey" (PDF). Rivista Italiana di Onomastica. 13 (1): 181–220.
• Kamusella, Tomasz (2015). Creating Languages in Central Europe During the Last Millennium. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137507846.
• Kikvidze, Zaal (2013). "Lost and Acquired in Translation: Shades of Meaning in Language Names". General and Specialist Translation/Interpretation: Theory, Methods, Practice. Vol. 6. Kyiv. pp. 194–198.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Klamer, Marian (2010). A Grammar of Teiwa. Berlin-New York: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110226072.
• Léglise, Isabelle; Migge, Bettina (2006). "Language-Naming Practices, Ideologies, and Linguistic Practices: Toward a Comprehensive Description of Language Varieties". Language in Society. 35 (3): 313–339. doi:10.1017/S0047404506060155. hdl:10197/5810. JSTOR 4169502.
• Martí, Fèlix (2005). Words and Worlds: World Languages Review. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. ISBN 9781853598272.
• Peetermans, Andy (2016). "Glottonymy as a could-be subfield of onomastics: Terminological considerations and historiographical applications". Annual Colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society. Cambridge: Pembroke College.
• Picone, Michael D. (2015). "French Dialects of Louisiana: A Revised Typology". New Perspectives on Language Variety in the South: Historical and Contemporary Approaches. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. pp. 267–287. ISBN 9780817318154.
• Reisigl, Martin; Wodak, Ruth (2001). Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism. London-New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781134579570.
• Room, Adrian (1996). An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies. Lanham and London: The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810831698.
• Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove (2000). Linguistic Genocide in Education - or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights?. Mahwah: Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 1135662363.
• Wicklander, Dale R. (1978). Ethical Survey of Culture Media: Narration and Worksheets. Winston-Salem: Hunter. ISBN 9780894590412.

External links

• Coby Lubliner (2006): Adventures in Glossonymy