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Line 1: {{attention}} There have been a number of attempts to [[neologism\|coin]] an alternative to "[[American]]" as an adjective (a [[demonym]]) for [[United States]] nationals. Some people would prefer to use "American" to indicate any inhabitant of [[the Americas]] rather than a citizen of the United States. In other cases, the motivation is to avoid ambiguity. For instance, in legal circles a citizen of the United States is usually referred to as a 'U.S. citizen', not an 'American citizen', which would technically include the citizens of all of the countries of the Americas. {{expand}} Traditionally, '''Chinese [[marriage]]''' in Chinese societies (‘’hūn yīn’’,婚姻) has been an arrangement between families. Originally, Chinese culture allowed for romantic love and [[monogamy]] was the norm. Most countries have a demonym that derives obviously from the name of the nation itself, as "Mexican" from "Mexico", "Greek" from "Greece" or "Japanese" from "Japan", but there is no such term derived from "United States of America" other than "American" itself. Attempts to create a more specific name have failed to gain widespread use. Alternatives which have been proposed include, :Appalacian, Colonican, Columbard, [[Columbia]]n, Frede, Fredonian, [[Nacirema]], Pindosian (or just Pindos), Stateside(r), Uesican, Uessian, Unisan, Unisian, United States (as an [[attributive]] noun), United States American, United Stater, United Stateser, United Statesian, United Statesman, [[United Statian]], USAian, U.S. American, Usan, USAn, Usanian, Usian (pronounced "YOU-zhuhn"), U-S-ian, [[Usonia]]n (pronounced "you-SOH-nee-un"), and Washingtonian. ==Introduction== References to these words have been around since the early days of the republic, but they are virtually unused and ''American'' remains by far the most common term. ''[[Usonia]]n'' is used in architectural circles, and ''Washingtonian'' remains as the adjective for the state of [[Washington]] and the city of [[Washington, D.C.]]. Ideographically, ‘’hūn’’ (婚) is identical to ‘’hūn’’ (昏, literally means evening or dusk). In more ancient writings, though the former has the [[radical (Chinese character)]] ‘’nǔ’’ (女, literally means a female). This implies that courting couples meet in the evening. Similarly, ‘’yīn’’ (姻) is the same as ‘’yīn’’ (因). According to [[Zhang Yi]]’s (張揖) ‘’Guangya Shigu’’ (廣雅•釋詁), a [[dictionary]] for ancient Chinese characters, ‘’yīn’’ (因) means friendliness, love and harmony, indicating that correct way of living for a married couple. In [[Confucians]] thought, marriage is of grave significance both to families and to society. Traditionally [[incest]] has been defined as marriage between people with the same surname. From the perspective of a Confucian family, marriage brings together families of different [[surnames]], or rather [[clans]], and so continues the family line of the paternal [[clan]]. Therefore, the benefits and demerits of any marriage are important to the entire family, not just the individual couples. Socially, the married couple is thought to be the basic unit of society. In Chinese history there have been made times when marriages have affected the country’s political stablity and international relations. From the [[Han dynasty]] the rulers of certain powerful foreign tribes such as the [[Mongolians]], the [[Manchus]], the [[Xiongnu]], and the [[Turks]] demanded concubines from the Imperial family. Many periods of Chinese history were dominated by the families of the wife of the ruling Emperor. Thus marriage can be related to politics. ==Prehistoric Chinese marriages== In other languages, such as [[Spanish language\|Spanish]], ''American'' is more ambiguous. In the [[Iberoamerica]]n countries, the use of "American" to refer only to U.S. citizens could be considered factually incorrect and culturally aggressive. ===Marriages in primitive societies=== In traditional Chinese thinking, when people in primitive societies, they did not marry but had sexual relationships with one and other indiscriminately. Such people were thought to live like other animals, and they did not have the precise concept of motherhood, fatherhood, sibling, husband and wife, and gender, not to mention match-making and marriage ceremony. Part of the Confucian "civilizing mission" was to teach people to respect the proper relationship between family members and regulate sexual behavior. ===Sibling marriages=== ~~Several of these terms have direct parallels in languages other than [[English language\|English]]. Many languages have already created their own distinct word for a citizen of the United States:~~ Sibling marriage, although forbidden in Chinese culture, was reported to a minor extent in very early Chinese mythology. There was a story about the marriage of [[Nüwa]] and [[Fu Xi]], who were once sister and brother respectively. At that time the world was unpopulated. The siblings wanted to get married but, at the same time, they felt ashamed. So they went up to [[Kunlun Shan]] and prayed to Heaven. They asked for Heaven's permission for their marriage and said, “if You allow us to marry, please make the mist surround us.” Heaven gave permission to the couple, and promptly the peak was covered in mist. It is said that in order to hide her shyness, [[Nüwa]] covered her blushing face with a fan. Nowadays in some villages in China, the brides still follow the custom and use a fan to shield their faces. ''United Statesian'' directly parallels the [[Spanish language\|Spanish]] term ''estadounidense''. ''Estadounidense'' is also but little used in the [[Portuguese language]]. Its usage traditionally rises during times of tension with the USA. ''Norteamericano'' (North American) is common in [[Latin America]] and [[Portugal]], but suffers from the same kind of ambiguity as ''American'', since Canadians and Mexicans among others are also North Americans. ''Usonian'', from [[Usonia]], a term [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] used to describe his vision for American [[architecture]], homes, and cities, and used by [[John Dos Passos]] in his [[U.S.A. trilogy]]. * The [[Esperanto]] term for the [[United States\|United States of America]] is ''Usono''. This is generally thought to come from "[[Usonia]]". In Esperanto, one forms the word for a citizen of a given country using the suffix "-an" which means "member of". Therefore a citizen of the United States is ''usonano''. (Such derived words are not capitalized.) Esperanto terms for the American geographic regions and people living of them are ''Ameriko/amerikano'', ''Norda Ameriko/nordamerikano'', ''Meza Ameriko/mezamerikano'', and ''Suda Ameriko/sudamerikano''. ''Usanian'' is derived from the [[Ido]] word ''Usana''. In [[French language\|French]], the term ''Étatsunien'' has also been coined, but enjoys little more currency than ''United Statesian'' in English. * In [[Italian language\|Italian]] the term ''Statunitense'' (from Stati Uniti = United States) is quite widespread, especially referring to sporting events. ''Pindos'' (or Pindosian) was born during [[UN]] operation in [[Kosovo]]. The initiators of this were Russian troops at Kosovo airport in [[Pristina]]. In some Southern Russian dialects ''pindos'' is a derogatory term for [[Ethnic Greek\|Greeks]]. Some reports indicate that its use has spread beyond Russian troops and that its meaning has likewise spread, to refer not only to soldiers. <!-- I'm not sure how valid this word is. --> ===Inter-clan marriage and antithetic marriage=== In other parts of the world, there are also [[pejorative]] synonyms of the standard word for ''American''. In Latin America, there is ''[[gringo]]'' (although that can also apply to the [[England\|English]], and sometimes any foreigner, especially if [[whites\|white]]), and, in several languages, local adaptations of [[Yankee]]. Notably in England, where the term 'Yank' actually appeared before the term 'Yankee' did in the United States itself. [[Merkin]], an obvious contraction but also a word for either a wig worn on the pubic region or a sex toy, has seen considerable use, particularly in England and various [[Internet]] communities. In [[Germany]], ''Ami''; in [[Hungary]], ''Amcsi'' is widely used, sometimes pejoratively. In France, ''Ricain'' and ''Amerloque'' are often used. In Chinese society males should not marry females of the same surname. This is seen as [[incest]] and there is thought to be a threat that abnormal births might result. Marriage of a son to close relatives of his mother is not seen as incest. Different clan might have more than one different surname. Historically, there were numerous clans living alongside the [[Yellow River]] in the ancient China, like the tribe of [[Huang Di]] with the common surname Ji and that of [[Yan Di]] with the surname Jiang. Because marriage to one's maternal relatives was not thought of as incest these families sometimes intermarried from one generation to another. Over time Chinese people became more geographically mobile. Couples were married in what is called an extra-clan marriage, or better known as antithetic marriage. This occurred in the midst of the [[New Stone Age]], i.e. around 5000 BC. According to modern Chinese scholars of a Marxist persuasion [[Matriarchy]] prevailed in society at that time, therefore husbands needed to move to, and live with, their wives’ families. Yet individuals remained members of their biological families. When a couple died, the husband and the wife were buried separately in the respective clan’s graveyard. Offspring would be buried with their mother. Antithetic marriage still happens in today’s China: In [[Yunnan]], males and females in the minority group known as [[Nakhi]] form temporary couples, and they call each other “Ahchu” rather than “husband and wife”. The male “Ahchu”s live and work in the home of the female “Ahchu”s. [[Cockney rhyming slang]] for ''Yank'' has produced the name ''[[septic tank]]'' or ''septic''; this is used in [[Australia]], and is often modified to ''seppo''. This is to refer to the derogatory belief, by some, that Americans are 'full of shit'. ===Maternal marriage and monogamy=== ==See also==▼ In a maternal marriage, a male would become a son-in-law who lived in the wife’s home. The husband would also need to change his surname into his wife’s one. This happed in the transformation of antithetic marriage into monogamy, which signifying that the decline of [[matriarchy]] and the growing dominance of [[patriarchy]] in the ancient China. [[Alternative words for British]] [[Culture of the United States#Names\|Culture of the United States]] ~~==External link==~~ Electric Editors, "''[http://www.electriceditors.net/edline/vol4/4-9.txt EDline]''". Editorial mailing list. Vol. 4, no. 9; March 7, 1999. ▲==See also== ~~[[ru:Пиндос]]~~ [[Marriage]] [[Chinese culture]] [[Confucian view of marriage]] [[Chinese wedding album]] [[Category:~~Lists of words~~Family]]▼ [[Category:~~American~~Chinese culture]]▼ [[Category:Marriage]] ==Reference== ▲[[Category:American culture]] *"Amazing Facts of The Chinese Ancient Culture" by Ma Ching-kei and Chow Lei-ying, [http://www.pilotpublishing.com Pilot Publish Company Limited]. ISBN 962-397-717-4 ▲[[Category:Lists of words]]

Alternative words for American and Traditional Chinese marriage: Difference between pages