Linguonym (from / language, and / name), also known as glossonym (from / language) or glottonym (from

Attic Greek Attic Greek is the Greek language, Greek dialect of the regions of ancient Greece, ancient region of Attica, including the ''polis'' of classical Athens, Athens. Often called Classical Greek, it was the prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige diale ...

: γλῶττα / language), is a

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

term that designates a

proper name A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa''; ''Jupiter''; ''Sarah''; ''Walmart'') as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, pl ...

of an individual

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

, or a

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term ''family'' is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics ...

. The study of language names is known as linguonymy (''glossonymy'', ''glottonymy'') or linguonymics (''glossonymics'', ''glottonymics''). As a distinctive linguistic discipline, linguonymic studies are closely related to some other

onomastic Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onom ...

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 Ethnolinguistics (sometimes called cultural linguistics) is an area of anthropological linguistics that studies the relationship between a language or group of languages and the cultural practices of the people who speak those languages. It exa ...

and

sociolinguistic Sociolinguistics is the descriptive, scientific study of how language is shaped by, and used differently within, any given society. The field largely looks at how a language changes between distinct social groups, as well as how it varies unde ...

studies. Various questions related to the study of formation and use of language names are also relevant for several other disciplines within

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

. The term "linguonym" was introduced in 1973, and again in 1977, and 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 linguonymic studies 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: * ''Endonymic language names'', known as endolinguonyms ( autolinguonyms), endoglossonyms ( autoglossonyms) or endoglottonyms ( autoglottonyms) represent language names of

endonymic An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

(native) origin, created and used by native speakers as designations for their languages. For example, the term ''Deutsch'' is an endolinguonym (native name) for the language that is called German in English. * ''Exonymic language names'', known as exolinguonyms (exoglossonyms/alloglossonyms, exoglottonyms/alloglottonyms) represent language names of exonymic (foreign) origin, created and used by those who are not native speakers of the referred languages. For example, the 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 proposed the term " logonym" as an alternative designation for the

class that includes the names of languages, thus avoiding the use of already accepted terms (linguonym, glossonym, glottonym). Critics replied that the proposed term ( logonym) has several meanings, spanning different fields of study. As of 2015 the term had not gained wide acceptance. Searching for appropriate

terms for some other classes of

proper names A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa''; ''Jupiter''; ''Sarah (given name), Sarah''; ''Walmart'') as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a Class (philoso ...

, 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 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

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 anthroponomastic term for the specific class of proper names that are given to groups of speakers of any particular language (names such as: Anglophones / speakers of English, or Francophones / speakers of French), remained opened and focused on several available solutions that would combine classical terms for speakers or speaking (based on

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

verb loquor, loqui, locutus) with standard suffix

-onym The suffix ''-onym'' (from ) is a bound morpheme, that is attached to the end of a root word, thus forming a new compound word that designates a particular ''class'' of names. In linguistic terminology, compound words that are formed with suffix ...

, thus producing the term ''loquonym''. Such issues, related to proper formation and use of

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.

Typology

Related terms

See also

References

Sources

External links