Do you know what an exonym is? It's a word you use for certain people, that they don't use for themselves. For example, in English the country the Olympics are from is called "Greece". However, people in Greece don't use that word - they call their country "Ellada" or "Hellas". We call them that, but they don't call themselves that. "Japan" is another example - most people here call their country "Nihon", not "Japan".
It's interesting to find out the stories of why we started using these words. Have you ever wondered why "Japan" in English is different from "Nihon" in Japanese? How about why England is called "Igirisu" in Japanese? Why do both English and Japanese call one country "Spain" when they call themselves "España"? Language can sure be a mystery sometimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment