Have I ever mentioned how much I like words? Because if I haven’t, let me be clear: I like words.
Last week I wrote about a word-word called the “contronym” which is a word that conveys opposite meaning despite the fact that it is still the same word. This is now a series. We’ll see how long it lasts.
One word that I learned feels particularly appropriate to an upcoming holiday. The holiday that I’m speaking of is known to us either as “Columbus Day” or “Indigenous People’s Day.” An exonym is a form of an “ethnonym,” which is the name that applies to an ethnic group. There are two sorts of ethnonyms, exonym and endonym. An endonym is the name that an ethnic group uses to define itself. An exonym is a name that was given to an ethnic group by another source.
And so – Columbus Day.
I’m not going to write a post about Columbus, colonialism, genocide, and abuse of native populations. Those are important topics, but I instead want to focus on Columbus deciding to name the inhabitants of this continent “Indians.” I’ll give him some grace here that he didn’t really have much of a way of knowing that there was a whole continent between him and India, but that’s about where my patience ends. This confusion led to the exonym that became associated with the native populations, despite the fact that we are not actually India.
Exonyms, like “Indian,” are, by definition, a distortion of the group a person is describing. It reduces people to a perception forced on it by another group. By creating an exonym, a group establishes its dominance, in effect saying, “You are who I say you are.”
And while there are some innocent exonyms, like when an endonym is unpronounceable in certain languages. Think about the city of Cologne. The endonym is “Köln.” This is a city in the country “Germany,” which is also an exonym (Endonym: Deutchland). But by and large, an exonym is, at best, ignorant, and often is simply malicious. In these cases, the best course of action is to stop using that exonym. The Romani people have been called “gypsy,” derived from the country “Egypt.” This exonym has distinct connotations, often cruel, to the point where it is used as an insult against people who aren’t even Romani. Now that we know this, we know better.
But if for whatever reason we refuse to change, then we move to doing intentional harm. When you are told an exonym is hurtful then you should just stop it. Stop it. Try to remember. Try to change. When you make mistakes, fix them. Help others use the correct endonym.
Anything else is just you pretending that you know a person better than they know themselves. It’s deciding you get to determine a person based on what you want rather than who they are. It’s degrading and dehumanizing.
Do I have more to say about exonyms? You bet! I’m thinking a lot about exonyms that have been adopted as endonyms (like the word “queer” functions as an endonym, provided it is not being said to be hurtful). I’m also interested in learning more about minor changes to exonyms (like the city Kyiv, instead of Kiev, because Kiev is of Russian origin and was the language of their oppressors). I’ve already written too much, but I’d love to monologue about it over coffee!
I hope you’re looking forward to learning about anacronyms, backronyms, retronyms, and proprietary eponyms! Because I want to keep writing about them.
Peace,
Rev. Jeff Fox-Kline
If you're still intrigued by the latest blog from our pastor, we'd love to keep the conversation going! At Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church, we believe that meaningful dialogue enriches our community. And we look forward to connecting with you! To learn more about us, contact our office by calling 585-244-8585 or visit us in person! We're located at 1200 S. Winton Road in Rochester, NY in the town of Brighton.
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