国外热议：为什么中国人称自己为“zhongguo（中国）”，而其他所有语言都称其为“China”？

Dandelion Zhang
Zhongguo literally means “the central kingdom” and it has evolved a long way to what it means today.

“中国”(Zhongguo) 的字面意思是“中央王国”，它经历了漫长的演变才成为今天的含义。

The earliest use of the word in its whole dated back to 1111 BC during the Zhou Dynasty. In 1963, archaeologists in Baoji, Shaanxi Province excavated He Zun, a bronze wine vessel of the Zhou Dynasty, on which they found an inscxtion that

该词作为一个整体的最早使用可追溯到公元前1111年的周朝。1963年，陕西省宝鸡市的考古学家发掘了周朝的青铜酒器“何尊”，在其上发现了一段铭文：
唯武王既克大邑商，则廷告于天，曰：余其宅兹中国，自兹乂民。

King Wu (the first ruler of the Zhou Dynasty) has annihilated the Shang Dynasty, after which he held a ritual to offer sacrifice to the Heaven. He claimed, “I shall centre my kingdom here to rule my people.”

周武王（周朝的第一位统治者）消灭了商朝，之后他举行仪式祭祀上天。他宣称：“我将我的王国中心定于此处，以统治我的子民。”

Thus, in the earliest time, the word 中国 Zhongguo was appointed the meaning of “the central land of the kingdom” which contemporarily means the land within the Zhou Dynasty where the royal court was situated. Namely, that part of China was called Yuzhou (豫州), which corresponds to today’s Henan Province.

因此，在最早的时候，“中国”(Zhongguo) 一词被赋予了“王国的中心地带”的含义，在当时指的是周朝王室所在地。具体来说，中国的这一部分被称为“豫州”，相当于今天的河南省。

For a long time, Henan has been the economic, cultural and political centre of Chinese dynasties. Due to this status and its geographical location, the area around Henan was also referred to 中原 Zhongyuan, the central plain. In the ancient times, this roughly corresponded to today’s Henan, and some parts of Shanxi, Hebei and Shandong. Therefore, during the ancient times the words Zhongguo and Zhongyuan could be used interchangeably as synonyms.

在很长一段时间里，河南一直是中国历代王朝的经济、文化和政治中心。由于其地位和地理位置，河南周边地区也被称为“中原”(Zhongyuan)，即中央平原。在古代，这大致相当于今天的河南省，以及山西、河北和山东的部分地区。因此，在古代，“中国”和“中原”这两个词可以作为同义词互换使用。

Gradually, since the area of Zhongguo has continually been the political centre, people started to use Zhongguo to refer to the imperial court or the country itself. Eventually that meaning continued to extend to what it means today: the nation of China.

渐渐地，由于“中国”所指的区域一直是政治中心，人们开始用“中国”来指代朝廷或国家本身。最终，这个含义不断扩展，演变成今天的意义：中国这个国家。

As for the word “China”, a popular theory of its origin is that it originated in ancient India as a transcxtion of the character 秦 Qin from the Qin Dynasty. The Sanskrit word Cīna used by ancient Indians was passed down to central Asia, the Middle East and Europe through trade routes and eventually evolved to the Latin word Sinoa, and to modern English word China. This theory is very influential among Chinese historians.

至于“China”一词，一个流行的起源理论认为它源于古印度，是秦朝“秦”(Qin)字的音译。古印度人使用的梵文词 Cīna 通过贸易路线传到中亚、中东和欧洲，最终演变成拉丁语 Sinoa，再到现代英语的 China。这一理论在中国历史学家中非常有影响力。

Also I would like to point out that it is not correct to say “in every language it is called China”. For instance, in Russian, China is referred to as Китай, or Kitai in Latin alphabets. This name comes from a major northern nomadic empire, Qidan (契丹) or the Liao Dynasty, during the Song Dynasty.

此外，我想指出，“在每种语言中它都叫China”的说法是不正确的。例如，在俄语中，中国被称为 Китай（拉丁字母转写为 Kitai）。这个名字来源于宋朝时期北方一个主要的游牧帝国——契丹（Qidan）或辽朝。

Bujjamma
well, the question is really funny. china is the english name the western world gave to the country.

嗯，这个问题真的很搞笑。“China”是西方世界给这个国家的英文名字。

i’m pretty sure you aren’t aware that every country has its own name and an english name (and different names in different languages).

我非常确定你没有意识到每个国家都有自己的名字和一个英文名字（并且在不同的语言中还有不同的名字）。

eg-
spain(english), españa(spanish)
germany(english), deutschland(german), allemand(french)
this should give you an idea

例如：
西班牙（英语），España（西班牙语）
德国（英语），Deutschland（德语），Allemagne（法语）
这应该能让你明白点。

Ishika Ishika
It’s there language that’s why..in its own language it's known as 'Zhongguo',

这是他们的语言，所以如此...在他们自己的语言里，它被称为“中国”(Zhongguo)。

Like in my country India , We called as Indian in other countries but in our own Language in country we call ourselves as “Bhartiya”.

就像在我的国家印度，在其他国家我们被称为“Indian”（印度人），但在我们自己国家内用自己的语言，我们称自己为“Bhartiya”（婆罗多之子/印度人）。

Because you live in English speaking country so In your country the other country peoples called as Indians or Koreans but in their own language which used in their own country They call it in their language…..

因为你生活在英语国家，所以在你的国家，其他国家的人被称为 Indians（印度人）或 Koreans（韩国人），但在他们自己国家使用的自己的语言里，他们用他们的语言称呼自己……

Hope you understand…..That’s all…Thank you

希望你能理解……就这些……谢谢。

Freddie Zhou
Others had already give the detailed explanations. I suppose there's no need for me to ramble on. so I will give you the short version.

其他人已经给出了详细的解释。我想我没必要再啰嗦了。所以我给你一个简短的版本。

Some time before century when China and the Roman Empire noted each other, China was in Qin(秦) Dynasty. So, the Roman Empire called China, Chin.

在很久以前（公元前后），当中国和罗马帝国互相注意到彼此时，中国正处于秦朝。所以，罗马帝国称中国为“Chin”。

With time went on, China moved forward to Han(汉) Dynasty, our ancestors connected with the West through the Silk Road, so many Chinese-made goods including silk, porcelain and many other stuff flushed into the Western Market. Porcelain was one of the most famous goods. So, they called Porcelain as china symbolically.

随着时间推移，中国进入了汉朝，我们的祖先通过丝绸之路与西方连接，许多中国制造的商品，包括丝绸、瓷器以及许多其他东西涌入西方市场。瓷器是最著名的商品之一。所以，他们象征性地称瓷器为“china”。

As for the reason why Chinese call ourselves as Zhongguo is because that Eastern Asia is a comparatively closed area in ancient times geographically. Chinese believe we are at the center of the world. Zhongguo literally means the Middle Kingdom or the Central Kingdom.

至于为什么中国人称自己为“中国”，是因为东亚在古代地理上是一个相对封闭的区域。中国人相信我们处于世界的中心。“中国”的字面意思就是“中央王国”或“中心王国”。

Takaharu Sekimoto
A2A; China is an exonym for Zhongguo, which means land in the middle. As far as history is concerned, the Chinese believed their country was the centre of world civilisation.

答问邀答：China 是 Zhongguo 的他称（外名），意思是“中央之地”。就历史而言，中国人相信他们的国家是世界文明的中心。

Zhongguo is still the common name in China because the Chinese wish to maintain their national identity, the name of which is a hallmark of their longevity as a cultural nation.

“中国”至今仍是中国的通用名称，因为中国人希望保持其民族身份，这个名字是他们作为一个文化国家悠久历史的标志。

Yan Zhu
Thank you for your invitation. Your question is too deep. With my shallow knowledge, I don't think I can answer. However, I have read a very interesting article on the Chinese website, which I can translate below. I hope his words can answer your questions

谢谢你的邀请。你的问题太深奥了。以我浅薄的知识，我认为我无法回答。不过，我在中文网站上读过一篇非常有趣的文章，我可以将其翻译如下。希望他的话能解答你的疑问。

Why is China called zhongguo?

为什么中国被称为“中国”？

Since ancient times, we have called our country "zhongguo". What is the original meaning of this title? This is a seemingly simple but actually complex problem. About nine out of ten people would say that "zhongguo" originally meant "the country of the center". This is a saying that has taken shape since the middle ages and has been widely accepted by the people. However, from the perspective of ancient Chinese history, this explanation is not tenable. Looking back three thousand years later, the assumption of "the state of the central government" actually underestimates the sacred and lofty meaning of the word "zhongguo".

自古以来，我们就称自己的国家为“中国”。这个称呼的本义是什么？这是一个看似简单实则复杂的问题。十之八九的人会说，“中国”原本的意思就是“中央之国”。这是自中世纪以来形成并广为民众接受的一种说法。然而，从中国古代史的角度看，这种解释并不成立。回望三千年前，“中央政府之国”的设定，实际上低估了“中国”一词神圣而崇高的含义。

1)Mr. Yu Shengwu, an oracle bone philologist, once wrote an article "interpretation of" zhongguo", trying to explain the origin of our country's national name. In fact, he denied the explanation of "the state of the central government". In ancient times, all ethnic groups in China had moved around, and their scattered residential areas were crisscrossed with "Rong Yi" and distributed in the Central Plains. Later, the Chinese countries eliminated the "Rong Yi" from this plain area with the most superior natural conditions, forming a pattern that China was in the middle and the four Yi people lived outside. As Mr. Yu Shengwu pointed out, this situation was gradually formed after the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It can not be used to explain the concept of "China" that existed in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. In his article, Mr. Yu analyzed the original meanings of "Zhong" and "Guo", but did not directly answer the origin of the combination of "China".

1）甲骨文学家于省吾先生曾写过一篇《释中国》，试图解释我国国名的起源。事实上，他否定了“中央之国”的解释。古代中国各族群都曾迁徙流动，其散居地与“戎夷”犬牙交错，分布于中原。后来，华夏诸国从这片自然条件最优越的平原区域驱逐了“戎夷”，形成了中国在内、四夷在外的格局。正如于省吾先生指出的，这种情况是东周以后逐渐形成的。它不能用来解释西周早期就已存在的“中国”概念。于先生在文中分析了“中”和“国”的本义，但并未直接回答“中国”组合的起源。

2） Mr. Gu Jiegang also discussed this topic in his article "xia" and "zhongguo" - the title of the ancient motherland, but he also avoided the literal logical origin of the name "zhongguo". It's just an example of "the people of Zhou used to live in zhongguo.".

2） 顾颉刚先生也在其文章《“夏”和“中国”——祖国的古称》中讨论过这个话题，但他同样回避了“中国”这一名称字面逻辑上的起源。只是举例说“周人曾自居中国”。

This highlights the complexity of the problem and reflects the cautious and realistic academic attitude of the two gentlemen.

这凸显了问题的复杂性，也反映了两位先生谨慎求实的学术态度。

3）Mr Ge Zhaoguang wrote a book named "Zhaizi zhongguo", but he discussed the change of connotation and denotation of the name "zhongguo" from the Song Dynasty. He did not say a word about its origin in the Western Zhou Dynasty or even earlier.

3） 葛兆光先生写过一本《宅兹中国》，但他讨论的是“中国”这一名称从宋代起内涵和外延的变化。对其在西周甚至更早的起源，却只字未提。

4）"zhongguo" in the book of songs also has the meaning of "capital" (in ancient times, "state" was limited to the city circle). So is the capital necessarily in the center of the territory, so it is called "zhongguo"? In fact, there is no such rule. Pan Geng moved eight times, but he did not often live there. The capital of the shang people moved indefinitely. We can take a look at the capital of Zhou people, who left the earliest examples of using the word "zhongguo".

4）《诗经》中的“中国”也有“都城”的含义（在古代，“国”限于城圈范围）。那么都城必然位于疆域的中心吗？因此才叫“中国”？事实上，并无此规则。盘庚迁都八次，并非常住一地。商人的都城迁徙不定。我们可以看看留下了最早使用“中国”一词实例的周人的都城。


This example is the famous Western Zhou bronze "he Zun" Inscxtion: "zhaici zhongguo". This is what the people of Zhou Dynasty told heaven when they built a new capital Luoyi near Luoyang. Is Luoyi, the "zhongguo" of Zhou people in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, in the center of their territory? At that time, the main body of the Zhou people was still the "Zongzhou" in Zhouyuan, Shaanxi Province. Luoyi was only a stronghold for the Zhou people to control the newly conquered Eastern tribes, far from the center of their own residence. Was it at the center of the known "world" at that time? Let's take a look at the map.

这个例子就是著名的西周青铜器“何尊”铭文：“宅兹中国”。这是周人在洛阳附近营建新都洛邑时告天所说。西周早期周人的“中国”洛邑，位于他们疆域的中心吗？当时，周人的主体仍在陕西周原的“宗周”。洛邑只是周人控制新征服东方部族的一个据点，远离他们自身居住的中心。它是当时已知“世界”的中心吗？我们来看看地图。



Luoyi (the former site is in the western suburb of Luoyang City today), and even later Luoyang, is located in a narrow basin in the mountains of western Henan. This place is called "Luoyang basin", surrounded by mountains. Geographically, Luoyi is located on the boundary between plain and mountain. To the west of Luoyang, there are basically numerous mountains, only the Yellow River Valley as the channel, which is connected with another narrow plain, Guanzhong Plain, which is closed by mountains. To the east of Luoyang was the fertile, broad, flat and boundless North China Plain, where population and culture flourished at that time. The seven capitals of the Shang Dynasty (shown by the blue dots in the picture) were all located in this area, which was the known center of the "world" at that time.

洛邑（遗址在今洛阳市西郊），乃至后来的洛阳，位于河南西部群山环抱中的一个狭窄盆地。此地称为“洛阳盆地”，四面环山。从地理上看，洛邑位于平原与山地的交界处。洛阳以西基本是群山，只有黄河河谷作为通道，连接着另一个同样被群山封闭的狭窄平原——关中平原。洛阳以东则是肥沃、广阔、平坦无垠的华北平原，当时人口和文化最为繁盛。商朝的七座都城（图中蓝点所示）都位于这一区域，那里才是当时已知“世界”的中心。

Luoyang was far from the geographical center in the pre Qin period. Luoyang can only be regarded as located in the middle of the region after the mountainous areas of Western Hubei, Sichuan, Tibet, Gansu and Qinghai are included in the territory, but that is at least after the Tang Dynasty. However, there are many ancient capitals in Luoyang basin, such as Erlitou ruins, Yanshi shopping mall, zhouluoyi King City, Luoyang City of Han, Wei, Sui and Tang Dynasties. But this reason has nothing to do with whether it is a geographical center or not, but lies in its unique mountains and rivers situation. Let's enlarge the map to see the terrain near Luoyang.

在先秦时期，洛阳远非地理中心。只有当鄂西、四川、西藏、甘肃、青海的山地纳入版图后，洛阳才勉强可视为区域中部，但这至少是唐代以后的事了。然而，洛阳盆地却有多处古都，如二里头遗址、偃师商城、周洛邑王城、汉魏洛阳城、隋唐洛阳城等。但这原因与其是否是地理中心无关，而在于其独特的山川形势。让我们放大地图看看洛阳附近的地形。


The Luoyang basin has a unique topography, so it can be said that there is no second one in China. It is surrounded by mountains, Mang Mountain in the north, Ji mountain and Waifang mountain in the south, and is sandwiched by Song Mountain and Gu mountain from east to west. The situation is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Luohe, Yihe, Ruhe, Yinghe and other six rivers converge in the basin, with sufficient water and convenient transportation. Lu Ji in the Western Jin Dynasty said in Luoyang Ji that Luoyang "has Chenggao pass in the East, yique pass in the south, Hangu pass in the West and Mengjin pass in the north", which are all built according to mountains and rivers. The mountains and rivers in Luoyang are superior to those in the world.

洛阳盆地地形独特，可以说中国找不出第二个。它北有邙山，南有箕山、外方山，东西被嵩山、崤山夹峙，形势险要，易守难攻。洛河、伊河、汝河、瀍河等六条河流在盆地汇流，水源充足，交通便利。西晋陆机在《洛阳记》中说洛阳“东有成皋关，南有伊阙关，西有函谷关，北有孟津关”，都是依山傍水而建。洛阳的山川形势优于天下。

From here, with the help of the Yellow River downstream, the eastern Great Plain is within the scope of attack. Advance can attack, retreat can defend. After conquering the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou people built a new capital Luoyi here, and moved part of the population from Zhouyuan and Haojing in the Weihe River Valley of Shaanxi Province eastward, in order to establish an armed stronghold convenient to control the East. From Luoyi to the East, there is a vast plain. There is no danger to defend, so Luoyi is the inevitable choice. In history, the dynasty moved its capital from Chang'an to Luoyang out of the same logic.

从这里出发，借助黄河下游，东面的大平原尽在攻击范围之内。进可攻，退可守。周人在征服商朝后，在此营建新都洛邑，并将部分人口从陕西渭河谷地的周原和镐京东迁，就是为了建立一个便于控制东方的武装据点。从洛邑向东，是辽阔的平原，无险可守，因此洛邑是必然的选择。历史上王朝从长安迁都洛阳，也是出于同样的逻辑。

The people of Zhou Dynasty established a new royal city in Luoyi and told heaven that they wanted to "establish Zhongguo in this place". In fact, it's not because this place is a geographical center or a population center. The meaning of "China" is related to primitive religion. There is a huge ideological gap between us and the ancients 3000 years ago. We can't use the modern meaning of Chinese character "Zhong" to interpret the meaning of the text.

周人在洛邑营建新的王城，并告天说欲“在此地建立中国”。这其实并非因为此地是地理中心或人口中心。“中国”的含义与原始宗教有关。我们与三千年前的古人存在着巨大的思想鸿沟。我们不能用现代汉字“中”的含义去解读文字的本义。

Zhou people also called the capital of the Shang Dynasty "Zhongguo", such as the book of songs Daya Dang

周人也称商朝的都城为“中国”，例如《诗经·大雅·荡》：
文王曰咨，咨女殷商。
女炰烋（咆哮）于中国，敛怨以为德。

The capital cities of the Shang Dynasty migrated many times, no matter in one place. But it doesn't matter. Wherever they move, it's Zhongguo.

商朝的都城多次迁徙，并非固定一地。但这没关系。无论他们迁到哪里，那里就是“中国”。

Pei Fei of the Southern Dynasty quoted Liu xi, a scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty, as saying in his Shi Ji Ji Jie《史记集解》

南朝裴骃在《史记集解》中引用东汉学者刘熙的话说：
“帝王所都为中，故曰中国”。
《尚书》ShangShu says：
《尚书》说：
“皇天既付中国民越（与）厥疆土于先王”,

According to the records of Zhou people sacrificing to the ancestor of Yin people Chengtang in the oracle inscxtions of Zhou Yuan and the smooth transition of cultural phenomena during the Yin and zhou Dynasty, most modern scholars believe that the Yin people and the Zhou people are not separated in culture, language and race, they are two branches of the same ancestor group. This can be seen from the way Zhou people dealt with the adherents of Shang Dynasty after conquering Shang Dynasty.

根据周原甲骨文中周人祭祀殷人祖先成汤的记录，以及殷周之际文化现象的顺利过渡，现代大多数学者认为，殷人（商人）和周人在文化、语言和种族上并非隔绝，他们是同一祖先族群的两个分支。这从周人征服商朝后处理商朝遗民的方式也可以看出。

In the eyes of the Zhou people, the merchants and the Zhou people, as a common ancestor, share the same blood and culture, and more importantly, share the same primitive religious beliefs. They are the so-called "Zhongguo people" with a specific mythological meaning, which has nothing to do with where their territory is. The place where the king, also the supreme religious leader, they all support, lives is called Zhongguo.

在周人眼中，商人和周人作为共同的祖先，拥有相同的血统和文化，更重要的是，共享相同的原始宗教信仰。他们是具有特定神话意义的所谓“中国之人”，这与其领土位置无关。他们所共同拥戴的国王——同时也是最高宗教领袖——所在的地方，就称为“中国”。

In the Shang Dynasty, the co owner was the king of the Shang Dynasty, so the capital of the Shang Dynasty was Zhongguo.

在商朝，共主是商王，所以商朝的都城就是“中国”。

After the Zhou people conquered the Shang Dynasty, the king of Zhou was the co Lord, and the place where the king of Zhou lived was "China".

周人征服商朝后，周王成为共主，周王所在的地方就是“中国”。

Some people think that the inscxtion "Zhaizi China" of he Zun refers to the capital of Ho near xi'an, Shaanxi Province, not Luoyi, which is not contradictory to our judgment. Zhou people claimed that "肇国自西土" and called themselves "the people of the west". If Haojing was called "zhongguo", it can not be explained by "the country of the center".

有人认为何尊铭文“宅兹中国”指的是陕西西安附近的镐京，而非洛邑，这与我们的判断并不矛盾。周人自称“肇国自西土”（建国于西土），并称自己为“西土之人”。如果镐京被称为“中国”，这同样无法用“中心之国”来解释。

The meaning of the Chinese character "Zhong" has been more complicated in the pre Qin ancient prose.

汉字“中”的含义在先秦古文里要复杂得多。

Scholars are still arguing about the meaning of "Zhong" in the unearthed bamboo slips Qinghua bamboo slips Baoxun. In fact, many of its meanings, including the semantics of "central", "shooting", "feasible" and so on, are derived from the oldest original meaning. However, the original meaning has now disappeared, and "central" has become the main semantic. This is the main reason why the etymology of the word "Zhongguo" is still unclear.

学者们仍在争论出土竹简清华简《保训》中“中”的含义。事实上，它的许多含义，包括“中央”、“射中”、“可行”等语义，都源自最古老的本义。然而，这个本义现已消失，“中央”成了主要的语义。这也是“中国”一词词源至今不明的主要原因。

AKella Murty
Every nation has its native style of calling itself. Also every tribe. Due to the convenience they have in either pronunciation ease,regular usage and handling ease,administrative ease out sider starts calling it by some name which is called “ exonym “. Nations normally will be popular by their exonyms.

每个民族都有其称呼自己的本土方式。每个部落也是如此。由于外来者在发音便捷性、常用性、处理便利性或行政便利性方面的原因，开始用某个名字来称呼它，这被称为“他称”（exonym）。国家通常以其“他称”而广为人知。

Zhongguo is “endonym”- the name with which they call themselves.Both are correct the endonym more justifiable and the exonym understandable and excusable.

“中国”(Zhongguo) 是“自称”（endonym）——他们用来称呼自己的名字。两者都是正确的，“自称”更名正言顺，而“他称”可以理解且情有可原。

If a Chinese person comes and tells even personally that I am Zhangguo it will take half an hour to finish that dialogue finally bringing both of them to square one.

如果一个中国人过来，甚至亲自告诉你“我是中国(Zhangguo)人”，可能需要半个小时才能结束这段对话，最终让双方都回到起点（才能理解）。

Germany is Deutschland ,the endonym .There are multiple exonyms- Germany in English speaking world,Allemagne in French speaking world while it should known by other exonyms too.

德国是 Deutschland，这是“自称”。它有许多“他称”——在英语世界是 Germany，在法语世界是 Allemagne，当然它还有其他“他称”。

Eponym is some name given after some body or in memory of some event that is significant. John Fitzgerald Kennedy Airport ( JFK airport of Newyork.) St.Louis Islands, North Carolina state ,Prakasam district, Bhagiradhi river, Bodhgaya,Alexandria, Petrograd,….too many eponyms in use.

“名祖词”(Eponym) 是指以某人名字命名或为纪念某个重大事件而起的名字。例如约翰·菲茨杰拉德·肯尼迪机场（纽约JFK机场）、圣路易斯群岛、北卡罗来纳州、普拉卡萨姆县、巴吉拉蒂河、菩提伽耶、亚历山大港、彼得格勒……使用的“名祖词”太多了。

India had the biggest problem perhaps. In their own usage,scxtures,ancient rock and copper engravings,writings on palm leaves many of them even crossing 3000 years(!) referred as BHARAT.This means the one who is interested in enlightenment.

印度的问题可能最大。在他们自己的用法、经文、古代石刻和铜刻、棕榈叶文献（其中许多甚至超过3000年！）中，都称其为 BHARAT（婆罗多）。这意为“追求觉悟/光明者”。

Arabs who were taking spices via Sindh ,Himalayan mountain passes Khaibur and Bolon were identifying with Sindh river which they pronounced as Hind. Sthan is a word used for place in generic way in Bharat itself. They mixed and started calling Bharat as Hindustan! Even that got transformed further on European tongue as India. Both Hindustan,India are exonyms.When Prime ministers address Indian masses it is more commonly called Bharatvasi- Indian residents.

通过信德（Sindh）以及兴都库什山脉的开伯尔山口（Khaibur）和博伦山口（Bolon）运送香料的阿拉伯人，认同的是信德河（Sindh river），他们将其发音为 Hind（信德）。Sthan（斯坦）在婆罗多（Bharat）本土就是一个泛指地方的通用词。他们将两者混合，开始称婆罗多为 Hindustan（印度斯坦）！甚至这个词后来在欧洲语言中进一步演变为 India（印度）。Hindustan 和 India 都是“他称”。当印度总理向印度民众发表讲话时，更常用的称呼是 Bharatvasi（婆罗多住民）——即印度居民。

Myanmar was before. It was given away though it was the biggest of Indian states to their own self administration by the colonial British when India was under their rule. Its original name was Brahma desa. Brahma became Burma.Burma became Myanmar. Exonym at very origins is Brahma. Buddhism changed it further in two steps.

缅甸（Myanmar）以前也是（印度的一部分）。尽管它是印度最大的邦之一，但在印度处于英国殖民统治下时，殖民者英国将其划分出去让其自治。它最初的名字是 Brahma desa（梵境）。Brahma 演变成了 Burma（缅甸）。Burma 又演变成了 Myanmar（缅甸）。其“他称”的最初起源是 Brahma（梵天）。佛教后来分两步进一步改变了它。

“Eponym”is some name given after some body or some significant happening, in memorium etc .,John Fitzgerald Kennedy Airport ( JFK Airport of Newyork), St. Louis Island,North and South Carolina, Petersburg,Petrograd,Bhagiradhi river, Karlstrasse, Gandhinagar, Alexandria,Asoka pillar, Himalayan mountains, Saptagiri, Amazon marketing, etc., Name based things, places,chemicals, metals ...are all eponyms.

“名祖词”(Eponym) 是指以某人名字命名、或以某个重大事件命名、为纪念某事等而起的名字。例如：约翰·菲茨杰拉德·肯尼迪机场（纽约JFK机场）、圣路易斯岛、北卡罗来纳州和南卡罗来纳州、彼得堡、彼得格勒、巴吉拉蒂河、卡尔街（Karlstrasse）、甘地讷格尔、亚历山大港、阿育王柱、喜马拉雅山脉、七山（Saptagiri）、亚马逊公司（Amazon marketing）等等。基于名字的事物、地方、化学品、金属……都是名祖词。