17. the role of the un

UN policy towards exonyms

• UN recommendation to reduce the use of exonyms (1972, 1977)

• UN recommendation to produce lists of current exonyms

 

Arguments used within the UN

• Nationalistic approach: maintain all exonyms to preserve national cultural heritage (including history)

• Idealistic approach: use only endonyms for better international communication

• Intermediary approach: as each language’s vocabulary is changing anyway, exonyms are also subject to change, and are due to disappear after a certain lifecycle

 

(Safety aspects, revanchism, pronunciation difficulties, ever increasing multitude of names mainly in Eastern Europe)