Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word in dinner invitations sent to guests attending this week’s Group of 20 summit, in a move that reflects his Hindu nationalist party’s efforts to eliminate what it sees as colonial-era names.
  • @[email protected]
    25•1 year ago

    Sure, I don’t mind calling Germany Deutschland when I’m over there to be respectful, and if a German gave me an invitation written ‘Deutschland’ I wouldn’t think much of it, except as a bit of native speak.

    Sanskrit is not quite the national language though, like Latin to Europe.

    • Tarte
      32•1 year ago

      This is a good opportunity to mention a pet-peeve of mine:

      • The various term variations “Germany” derive from the name Germanic tribes.
      • The various term variations “Alemania” derive from the name Alemanic tribes.
      • The various term variations “Deutsch” or “Teutsch” do not derrive from the name Teutonic tribes.

      This last one is an etymological false friend. “Deutsch” derives from thiutisk (þeudisk) and in the Western Franconian and Germanic tongues it meant “our people”. It’s derived from the Indo-European term thiuda (Þiuda).

      • @glimse
        7•1 year ago

        You know, comments like this are why I loved reddit in its prime. It hasn’t really been like that for years so I’m thrilled to see it here on Lemmy.

        More random tidbits on niche topics in the comments of somewhat related posts, please!