United Stater
United Stater (/yoo-nahy-tid stey-ter /) is a word used to refer to a citizen of the United States of America.
This term aims to position itself as an alternative to American[1], the current common way English-speakers refer to citizens of the United States.
The term United Stater offers a geographical precision which the term American or North American lack of. It emerged as a reaction to the linguistic ambiguity over this use due a risk of exclusion to the Americas in the Northern, Central and Southern hemisphere of the Continent, as American, may also refer to people from the Americas in general.[2]
Development of the term[edit]
Over time, there has been several arguments towards claiming a variation for the term American when describing the inhabitants of the United States of America. The appropriation of the word American to describe only the citizens of the United States affects the collective imaginary of the continent America. Especially in countries outside of the continent, it covers and outsources the importance of the existence of the rest of the countries in the Continent. It has been a recurrent concern for people from other countries in America, specially from Latin America. Though, some times it hasn't been an acknowledged preoccupation in other continents, there are many arguments that insist in the need of a variation to the term American. From a linguistic point of view, “United States of America means that the United States belongs to America and not that America belongs to the United States.”[3] Other claims point out that the repetitive use of American for a United States citizen, extends and approves a colonial relationship between this country and its neighbors. Forgetting to recognize that America does not just mean the United States would be a reminder to anyone of the repression the rest of the Americas has experienced under their northern neighbor and beyond.”[4] The linguistic domain over America by the citizens of the United States to refer to their country, still reflects the colonialist dynamics of their country towards the rest of the continent.[5] Moreover, the U.S. disregard for Latin America, epitomized by the blithe presumption of continental identification, is pervasive in daily life and shows how easily and casually that’s come to pass. All around Time Square in NYC there are signs for Bank of America, American Apparel, and American Eagle.[6] Others argue that "in a world where identity is constantly changing and individualism has become an obsession with everyone’s own profile, the generalization of nations would seem to be doing some damage to the inhabitants of the continent.” [7] The term United Stater is used specially in decolonial texts as in the book Race and Epistemologies of Ignorance[8] and it is an important effort to decolonial thinking.
Other alternative terms to American[edit]
Several single-word English alternatives for American have been suggested over time, including Usonian (popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright)[9] and the nonce term United-Statesian. Writer H. L. Mencken collected a number of proposals from between 1789 and 1939, finding terms including Columbian, Columbard, Fredonian, Frede, Unisian, United Statesian, Colonican, Appalacian, Usian, Washingtonian, Usonian, Uessian, U-S-ian, Uesican and United Stater. Names for broader categories include terms such as Western Hemispherian, New Worlder and North Atlantican.[10][11][12]
Related initiatives[edit]
The term is related the art piece “A Logo for America”[13] of Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar and responds to the many negative reactions that the inhabitants of the Americas have had towards the vagueness of the term in relation to only the citizens of the United States of America. “A Logo for America” is upbraiding us: when we say “America” and mean the U.S., we’re claiming a geography that isn’t our own. “It would be like the French calling themselves ‘Europe,’ ” Jaar said.[14]
See also[edit]
Other articles of the topic Language : Latin, Simplified Chinese characters, Google Translate, Traditional Chinese characters
Other articles of the topic United States : Public figure, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, New York's congressional districts, Zoot (Software), MTV, Hazbin Hotel
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References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Ávila, Sonia (23 February 2017). "Americano no es sólo EU" (PDF). Excelsior. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
- ↑ Schmid, Rudolf; Hopkins, D. J.; Merriam-Webster (1998–2005). "Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary". Taxon. 47 (2): 535. doi:10.2307/1223820. ISSN 0040-0262.CS1 maint: Date format (link)
- ↑ "Home - USA is Not America - The Americas is America!". USA is not America. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
- ↑ nickbaxter (2019-01-30). "Are you American or a United Stater?". Dweller on a slope. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
- ↑ Arcadia, Revista. "Alfredo Jaar en la Torre Colpatria". Alfredo Jaar en la Torre Colpatria (in spanish). Retrieved 2019-02-04.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ Blitzer, Jonathan (2014-08-27). ""A Logo for America"". ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
- ↑ nickbaxter (2019-01-30). "Are you American or a United Stater?". Dweller on a slope. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
- ↑ Sullivan, Shannon; Tuana, Nancy (2012-02-01). Race and Epistemologies of Ignorance. SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791480038. Search this book on
- ↑ The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1999:1580) gives the first meaning of the noun Usonian as "a native or inhabitant of the United States"
- ↑ Matthews, Allan (2006). Sovereigns Peacefully Take Charge. Search this book on
- ↑ Bartow, Arthur (1988). The director's voice. p. 50. Search this book on
- ↑ Carlson, Elwood (2008). The lucky few. p. 15. Search this book on
- ↑ "A Logo for America". Guggenheim. 1987-01-01. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
- ↑ Blitzer, Jonathan (2014-08-27). ""A Logo for America"". ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
Bibliography[edit]
- Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. Merriam-Webster, Inc. 1994. ISBN 978-0-87779-132-4. Search this book on
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