naming a language

[Martin Haspelmath]

Yes, academics often overdo it, but in this case they were right. The 
Roma themselves have long rejected the term "gypsy", opting for "Roma" 
(or "Sinti" for certain groups), see, e.g., 
http://www.romarights.net/content/about-roma.

It is probably often difficult to distinguish cases where the speakers 
want (their language) to be known by a nontraditional name from those 
cases where only the linguists/anthropologists are the agents of 
(unhelpful) change. But there are also many cases where that is not 
difficult at all, and at least in these cases we ought to be able to get 
it right.

Martin

John Moore schrieb:
> This discussion reminds me of a news story I recently saw.  Academics 
> often go to pains to avoid ethnic terms that may be offensive, even 
> when the new terms are not well-known outside academic and politically 
> informed circles.  This can lead to problems, as in the case of a hate 
> crime trial in Canada.  The skinhead defendants had been holding up a 
> sign saying "Honk if you hate Gypsies".  The prosecution used the 
> alternative term 'Roma'.  The judge threw the case out because 
> evidence was not presented to show that 'Roma' and 'Gypsies' had the 
> same referent.
>
> John
>
>