| Use Of The Word American |
Index for Use Of |
Website Links For Use |
Information AboutUse Of The Word American |
|
Use of the word "American" to exclusively describe citizens of the United States became perceptibly controversial as the 21st century began. In the US, this is the standard usage, but it is less so in other English-speaking countries. In the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America , considerable numbers of people bristle at seeing or hearing the word used in the narrow sense; many advocate a more general and inclusive meaning which parallels the Spanish word ''América''. See: This article describes historical and current usage, as well as advocacy for more inclusive meanings. The word ''American'', in English , nearly always means "of or relating to the United States Of America ". For example, "Elvis Presley was an American singer." or, "The American president gave his speech today..." Other speakers, particularly in Latin America, have objected to this usage, feeling it unfairly appropriates the meaning of "American", which they say rightfully belongs to the whole American Continent . Some people describe "American" as a False Friend of the Spanish word ''americano'' because although the two words share meanings, the most salient sense in each language is different. In the United States, America is usually considered as two and South America —which are considered subcontinents in Latin America—and referred to collectively as "the Americas ", or less frequently "the American continent", instead of simply "America". Less frequently, the adjective "American" does mean "of or relating to the Americas ", even when used in the United States. When used as a noun in English, it most frequently is used to mean "a person from the United States." The most similar word in Spanish is the adjective or noun ''americano'', which means "of or relating to the Americas" and "a person from anywhere in the Americas". ''American'' in the Americas Various Theories exist for the derivation of the word ''America''. The most commonly expounded is that German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller derived it from the Latinized version of the name of Amerigo Vespucci (''Americus Vespucius''), an Italian merchant and cartographer whose exploratory journeys in the early 1500s brought him to the eastern coastline of South America and to the Caribbean . Alternative theories include its derivation from the name of one Richard Amerike of Bristol in England , financier of John Cabot 's expedition or from the region of Amerrique in Nicaragua . However it came into existence the term ''American'' was subsequently used as an adjective describing the New World and its native people. By the 1700s, the word ''American'' was used by Europeans for the indigenous habitants of the New World and was extended to describe newly settled Europeans and their mixed progeny. It was not until 1765 that "American" was first used to refer to the British colonists in North America, but that usage had become widespread by 1774 . In 1776, the Declaration Of Independence proclaimed a new country, "The United States of America." At that time ''America'' was also used to designate continents in atlases published in Europe, but very few people ever saw those books. The American Revolution was closely followed in Europe, and the term became common for the inhabitants of the new nation. The once uniform meaning of the word American gradually diverged through this time into the controversial False Friends ''American'' and ''americano''. Since 1776, the term ''American'' has gained universal usage in reference to residents of the United States Of America . Controversy over semantic divergence of ''American'' Controversy has arisen over whether this divergent usage is appropriate, or whether the term should only be used as an adjective covering the whole of North America and South America . English language atlases display two continents—"North America" (which includes Central America and the Caribbean ) and "South America"—while Spanish language atlases display one continent, "América", divided on the north, center and south. Opponents of the usage of ''American'' referring to the United States argue that that usage is inaccurate, historically incorrect, and redolent of perceived Imperialism of the United States. Proponents of the usage of ''American'' to refer to the United States argue that this usage represents the standard and most common usage of this word in the English language and therefore see no reason to stop using a salient, idiomatic sense of a word. Linguistic and philosophical views Those opposed to attempts to change the language say that Essentialism regarding words is an error, and as there is no academy that regulates English, attempts to control the language are futile, because language change, like biological evolution, is a natural process that is not always subject to laws of logic and reason. Descriptivist s argue that the meanings of words are not under the control of any one person or group, there is no one who can issue edicts that ''America'' can only refer to geographical continents rather than a country, and thus arguments about what words ''should'' mean are debates that can never have any practical effect on English usage. Every major English dictionary makes clear that ''American'' applied to residents of the United States is standard usage. Politico-cultural views At present, the United States of America is the only sovereign nation in the world with the word ''America'' in its official name. Additionally, other nations, including Mexico presently, as well as Brazil and Colombia in the past, have or have had the term ''United States'' in their official names. Thus, to many, referring to United States citizens as ''Americans'' is convenient and legitimate, while using ''U.S.'' could perhaps be ambiguous. In Canada , the term ''American'' is widely understood to refer exclusively to citizens of the United States, and Canadians do not refer to themselves as Americans. On the other hand, in Spain , people who have lived in the Western Hemisphere but now live in Spain may be called, in Spanish, ''americanos'', thus demonstrating that while the English word ''American'' and the Spanish word ''americano'' have the same origin, the meanings of the words in their respective languages have diverged. However, the ''Diccionario de la Lengua Española'' (Dictionary of the Spanish Language) published by the Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy), gives ''estadounidense'' as one of the definitions of ''americano'', meaning "someone from the United States or relating to the United States". Canadians in particular have devoted a great deal of attention to proclaiming that they are not-Americans—meaning United States citizens—both in their own cultural products and when they travel outside the region and are frequently mistaken as coming from the United States of America. Many people use the word ''American'' to indicate any inhabitant of the Americas rather than specifically a citizen of the United States; and perceive the latter usage of ''American'' to be potentially ambiguous, and perhaps aggressive in tone or imperialistic, a rather widespread view in Latin America. In response, some have asserted that the word ''America'' in ''United States of America'' denotes the country's proper name, and is not a geographical indicator. They argue that the interpretation of ''United States of America'' to mean a country named ''United States'' located in the continent of ''America'' is mistaken. Instead, they argue that the preposition ''of'' is equivalent to the ''of'' in ''Federative Republic of Brazil'', ''Commonwealth of Australia'', or ''Federal Republic of Germany''. That is, the ''of'' indicates the name of the state. In addition, other countries use "United" or "States" in their names as well. Indeed, the formal name of Mexico , ''Estados Unidos Mexicanos'', which is currently officially translated as "United Mexican States", had in the past been translated as "United States of Mexico." Regardless, many question a nation's right to formally appropriate the name of a continent for itself, citing the fact that America existed long before the United States ''of'' America. Indeed, Amerigo Vespucci , who travelled extensively throughout the Caribbean basin, never set foot on present United States territory. Geographical views In discussions of geography, one might specify North America, Central America, or South America when the reference is to a continent or region. Residents of the Western Hemisphere rarely call themselves "North American" or "South American"; the term "Central American" is more common. Alternative Neologism s to ''American'' have been proposed to refer exclusively to the United States of America, but they have failed to garner widespread acceptance. The use of the word ''American'' in the U.S.A. has given rise to terms like '' Mexican-American '' or ''Canadian-American'' to refer to people of Mexican or Canadian origin living in the United States—either as first-generation immigrants or their descendants. These terms are never used to refer to natives of Mexico or Canada. Geo-politically speaking, such terms are redundant. Uncommon consensus Some U.S. citizens and Latin Americans alike have no problem with the simultaneous usage of ''American'' as an adjective for all inhabitants of the Americas, and make the distinction between the demonym for a country and the demonym for a continent (or continents). They argue that there is no reason the two cannot share the term if it is used in distinct but equally legitimate contexts. In other cases, the motivation is not so much political as it is academic, to avoid a perceived ambiguity. For instance, in legal circles a citizen of the United States is usually referred to as a ''U.S. citizen'', not an ''American citizen'', which could arguably apply to citizens of other American nation states as well. American in the US Census In the United States census, millions of people describe their (main) Ethnic Origin as ''American'', particularly those belonging in southern states. This region has a high percentage of people who trace their descent to the colonial origins of the United States and often lack records of the particular, but generally, British countries of their ancestor's origins. ''American'' in other contexts ''American'' in cultural usages American, culturally, generally refers to things which originated within the United States of America. Some foods, such as hamburgers, are seen as American Cuisine . Some sports, such as Baseball or American Football , are seen as American, even though they may be played in other countries. Some music genres, such as Jazz , Hip Hop , Country Music , Barbershop , or American Folk Music are seen as American, even though they may be popular in other countries. In Latin America American has cultural connotations of a pan-American sense of identity as popularly documented by old songs like "Si somos americanos", we are Americans by Chilean songwriter, Rolando Alarcón, and more recent ones like "América" by José Luis Perales. ''American'' in scientific usages American, in taxonomy, usually refers to organisms which originated or were discovered within the American Continent/s . The American Black Bear , or Ursus americanus, is found throughout northern Alaska, essentially all of Canada to Newfoundland , most of the United States, and through to central Mexico, namely the states of Nayarit and Tamaulipas . The American Bison is another animal whose range reaches from Canada to Mexico. ''American'' in other languages English speakers commonly use ''American'' to refer to the United States only. In the United Kingdom , the use of 'US' as an adjective is preferred where it can be comfortably used, and is prevalent in media and government house-styles. In Spanish and Portuguese , ''americano'' tends to refer to any resident of the Americas and not necessarily from the United States; English spoken in Latin America often makes this distinction as well. ''US-American'' is another option, and is a common demonym in German (''US-Amerikaner''). Latin Americans also have the Euphemism ''norteamericano'' (''North American'', which itself conflates the USA and Canada and possibly Mexico). ''United Statian'' is awkward in English, but it exists in Spanish (''estadounidense'' or "estadinense"), French (''étatsuniens''), Italian (''statunitense''), Portuguese , where the term ''estadunidense'' is growing and it is considered more appropriate than the more common term ''norte-americano'', and occasionally in German (''Vereinigten Staatler''). The word Gringo is widely used in all of Latin America , particularly in Mexico, to make a reference to U.S. residents, not necessarily in a pejorative way. ''Yanqui'' ('' Yankee '') is also very common in some regions (in contrast to "gringo", "yanqui" tends to have a pejorative undertone.) With the 1994 passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement , the following words were used to label the ''United States Section'' of that organization: in French, ''étatsunien''; in Spanish, ''estadounidense''. Alternative Demonyms for U.S. Citizens There have been a number of attempts to Coin an alternative to " American " as an adjective (a Demonym ) for a citizen of the United States , that would not simultaneously mean an inhabitant of the Americas. However, with the exception of the term U.S. or United States citizens, no serious alternative to American is currently widely used among English speakers or in English-language media. Common foreign alternatives Many languages have already created their own distinct word for a citizen of the United States:
Unusual alternatives
References to these words have been around since the early days of the republic, but ''American'' has become by far the most common term. '' Usonia n'' is used in architectural circles, and ''Washingtonian'' remains as the adjective for the state of Washington and the city of Washington, D.C. . Alternatives with semantic overtones
Less serious alternatives Less serious terms that have been popular on the Internet at various times include
See also Scholarly sources
External links
|