Glottonym

A glottonym (from Attic Greek γλῶττα glôtta ‘language’, and the suffix -onym, from Aeolic and Doric Greek ὄνυμα ónuma ‘name’), also called a glossonym (using Ionic Greek γλῶσσα glôssa ‘language’) or less commonly a linguonym (using Latin lingua ‘language’), is a proper name designating an individual language or a language family. The study of language names is known as glottonymy (glossonymy, linguonymy) or glottonymics (glossonymics, linguonymics). As a distinctive linguistic discipline, glottonymic studies are closely related to some other onomastic disciplines, particularly those that are focused on the study of ethnonyms (names of ethnic groups) and choronyms (names of regions and countries). In that context, the field is related to ethnolinguistic and sociolinguistic studies. Various questions related to the study of formation and use of language names are also relevant for several other disciplines within social sciences and humanities. The field of glottonymic studies is still considered to be in its formative stages.