I propose that politicians, news people and people with power begin using the Local names of places, from the local language, in all places of the world.
Instead of saying "Japan" we call it "Nippon" and instead of "Russia" we call it "Ruska" Germany becomes Deutschland... you get the picture.
I don't mean to propose a law or anything--just a movement.
I'm not an internationalist or even a world traveler, but to me it just seems silly that we have different English names for places that are already named.
I suspect the same should go for other countries too. Instead of Estados Unidos, we're the United States.
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Americans have proved quite confused about where even accepted names of countries are located. I live in Finland but I doubt many people in many countries would easily place Suomi. (It's not even recognized in my spell check)
There is a nationalistic element in language, which would object.
Sand, I hope my idea would end some of the confusion. I hope its not just Americans. I didn't know that "Finland" is really called "Suomi" locally, I had never even heard this word. This is the kind of stupidity I'd like to end.
Who came up with "Finland" anyway? It sounds like a place where Aquaman might be from. I think you guys sould try to stop us from calling your country such a name.
Local names are sometimes the abbreviated or mispronounced forms of the original name. Sometimes local names are the result of the local dialect skewing the original word to the extent it is unrecognizable. This would make things a bit difficult for anyone to make an accurate listing of what the local names really were (or are).
One example is the name Chippewa, as in Chippewa Falls or Chippewa River, which is derived from the word Ojibwa. Another is the name Cajun, which is derived from the word Acadian.
Notwithstanding where the current 'local' name came from or how it's pronounced, Hyenuf, I think its sufficient that there be only one name. If you lived in Chippewa Falls and were entertaining a guest from a far-off country, and you found out that he referred to your city as "Opretumb" or "Guterreg" or "Bubbliebop" or any other nonsense-word, you'd be perplexed and possibly offended.
We should call "Suomi" it's real name, not "Finland."
I couldn't agree more.London should be London the world over. Lisboa should be Lisboa the world over.etc, etc , etc.
I didn't know that 'Lisbon' was really 'Lisboa'. How do we get this to happen?
My point was that the correct local name to use will vary by who you ask what the name of a place is. Who's variation do the map makers use? Is it Mt. McKinley or Denali?
Although McKinley is one of the more tricky cases, it's a mountain, not a city or country--so it really doesn't come under the perview of my proposal.
according to Wikipedia, "December 2, 1980, the Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain back to Denali. However, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names maintains McKinley, which helps visitors differentiate between the mountain and Denali National Park, where the mountain is located. Alaskans tend to use "Denali" and rely on context to distinguish between the park and the mountain."
sounds like locals call it "Denali."
I don't know if President McKinley ever even climbed--or even saw--that mountain.