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Article: From Beijing through Myanmar to Mumbai. (language change)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 17, 1995
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WHAT'S in a name? Given the world's propensity for rewriting its geography these days, quite a lot. Write Macedonia and a torrent of Greek fire will fall on you, if you mean the ex-Yugoslav republic of that name. Use Palestine as a one-word summary of the area inhabited by Palestinians, and some frothing Israeli will accuse you of inventing a country so named.
But this is politics. Argument is less heated, but no easier to resolve, when only language is involved. Fair enough when there is a simple clash of tongues: Britons know the Falklands, Argentines the Malvinas and Frenchmen the Iles Malouines. Linguistically, no problem. But what when your name is an integral ...