Alternative words for American: Difference between revisions
Michael Hardy (talk | contribs) "Usono" came _from_ Esperanto; it did not "make its way into" Esperanto. It is older than Frank Lloyd Wright's books. |
MartinHarper (talk | contribs) m rm link to American |
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The word '''Usian''' is one of the many attempts to create an adjective--specifically, a [[demonym]]--for [[United States]] nationals, as an unambiguous alternative to |
The word '''Usian''' is one of the many attempts to create an adjective--specifically, a [[demonym]]--for [[United States]] nationals, as an unambiguous alternative to ''American'', which is the term usually used. Mentions of the word, and proposals to use it (or close variants), have been around at least since the first half of the 20th century. The usage of "Usian" is not common. |
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Use of the word has been practiced and advocated to distinguish U.S. nationals from people living in other countries in [[the Americas]]. The concern that motivates use of the word is that, since "America" is part of the names of both North America and South America, it follows that "American" means, or ought to be understood to mean, "inhabitant of the Americas". |
Use of the word has been practiced and advocated to distinguish U.S. nationals from people living in other countries in [[the Americas]]. The concern that motivates use of the word is that, since "America" is part of the names of both North America and South America, it follows that "American" means, or ought to be understood to mean, "inhabitant of the Americas". |
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Revision as of 14:30, 11 February 2003
The word Usian is one of the many attempts to create an adjective--specifically, a demonym--for United States nationals, as an unambiguous alternative to American, which is the term usually used. Mentions of the word, and proposals to use it (or close variants), have been around at least since the first half of the 20th century. The usage of "Usian" is not common.
Use of the word has been practiced and advocated to distinguish U.S. nationals from people living in other countries in the Americas. The concern that motivates use of the word is that, since "America" is part of the names of both North America and South America, it follows that "American" means, or ought to be understood to mean, "inhabitant of the Americas".
Other words that have been suggested for the same purpose are Columbian, Columbard, Fredonian, Frede, Unisian, United Statesian, Colonican, Appalacian, Usian, Washingtonian, Usonian ("Usonian" is an adaptation from Esperanto, apparently coined by Zamenhof; among its users was Frank Lloyd Wright), Uessian, U-S-ian, and Uesican (in approximately historical order from 1789 to 1939, according to Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage).
Other examples observed in the field:
- "Usanian"
- "USAian"
It should be noted that several of these terms have direct parallels in languages other than English:
- "United Statesian" directly parallels Spanish estadounidense.
- "Usonian" is derived from "Usono", the name in Esperanto of the USA.
- "Usanian" clearly derived from the Ido word 'Usana'.
See also: Cultural imperialism, Ethnocentrism