Exonyms and endonyms
Peking is an example of an exonym, a name given to a place or group of people by foreigners. Other exonyms for places in China include Canton, Amoy, Macau and China itself. The endonyms or autonyms (native names) for these places are 广州 (Guǎngzhōu in Mandarin, Gwóngjàu in Cantonese); 厦门 (Xiàmén), 澳門 (Ngoumún) and 中国 (Zhōngguó).
English exonyms for countries in Europe include:
Croatia (Hrvatska), Finland (Suomi), Germany (Deutschland), Hungary (Magyarország), Poland (Polska), Spain (España), Sweden (Sverige) and Wales (Cymru)
English exonyms for cities in Europe include:
Copenhagen (København), Moscow (Москва/Moskva), Prague (Praha), Rome (Roma), The Hague (Den Haag), Munich (München), Cologne (Köln), Vienna (Wien) and Warsaw (Warszawa)
(the endonyms are shown in brackets)
Exonyms are used in other languages, of course, not just in English. For example, London is called Londres in French, Spanish and Portuguese, Londra in Italian and Romanian, Llundain in Welsh, Lunnain in Scottish Gaelic, ロンドン (rondon) in Japanese, and 倫敦 [伦敦] (Lúndūn) in Mandarin.
You can find the native names (endonym/autonyms) of all the countries of the world here and the native names of many languages here, and a good place to find both exonyms and endonyms of countries, cities, languages, etc. is www.geonames.de
10 Responses to “Exonyms and endonyms”
Minstrel Ayreon on 02 Aug 2006 at 11:32 pm #
I LOVE these links…thanks! I’ve been working on stuff like this too for my conlangs. One sity whose autonym is “Hláthina” is rendered “Lahsin” in my more “Germanic” language…thanks for some real examples. :-)
Damien Ryan on 03 Aug 2006 at 12:48 am #
You forgot Ireland for Eire ;)
Weili on 03 Aug 2006 at 1:16 am #
I don’t think he forgot, he just didn’t want to list ALL European countries ;)
Declan on 03 Aug 2006 at 1:19 am #
Would Éire really be that much of an exonym? Because most of us speak English as our first language and refer to the country as Ireland.
Podolsky on 03 Aug 2006 at 2:45 am #
Most European names of places in Asia are exonyms, like India for [bhaarat], Egypt for [misr], Delhi for [dillii].
Paul S on 03 Aug 2006 at 11:06 am #
Like the question over the example of Ireland, are “Finland” and “Wales” true exonyms? Both are the names of the countries in official, autochthonous (hooray!) languages of those countries: namely; Swedish and English.
On a side note, I do find the differences in the intra-celtic exonyms very interesting: Cernyw, Kernev-Veur, A’ Chòrn, Corn na Breataine; Kembre, A’ Chuimrigh, An Bhreatain Bheag; A’ Bhreatainn Bheag, Llydaw, An Bhriotáin, Breten Vyghan; Ynys Manaw, Oileán Mhanann; Iwerddon, etc.
Also: Rywvaneth Unys Breten Veur ha Kledhbarth Iwerdhon; Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire agus Thuaisceart Éireann; Rouantelezh Unanet Breizh Veur ha Norzhiwerzhon, etc.
Aeneas on 03 Aug 2006 at 4:51 pm #
Cologne, if anything, is a French exonym for Koln. In English, we just take the French word (like in so many other intances…).
AR on 03 Aug 2006 at 6:35 pm #
Lots of cities in India are changing their English exonym versions to the native Indian versions.
Ex. Bombay => Mumbai
Madras => Chennai
Calcutta => Kolkata
Trivandrum => Thiruvananthapuram
Baroda => Vadodara
Benares +> Varanasi
Aeneas on 03 Aug 2006 at 8:28 pm #
Another correction…
Bombay comes from the Portuguese Bom Baia, meaning good bay. India’s “Hindinizing” a foreign name.
New Zealand Coffee Lover on 19 Feb 2007 at 12:07 am #
Eritrea was named by Italians.