ethnonymlike

Ethnonym-like refers to terms that resemble ethnonyms—the names used to designate a people or their language—in form or function, but do not meet the criteria of a conventional ethnonym. In scholarly discourse, ethnonym-like labels may be encountered in descriptive linguistics, anthropology, or discourse analysis when researchers discuss how groups are labeled, rather than when they express a group's own self-name.

Ethnonym is a normative term for official or widely accepted names; ethnonym-like labels include exonyms, endonyms, demonyms, nicknames, or labels used by outsiders, or informal, contested, or historically contingent terms. They may be used in corpus data, media, or field notes to describe how a group is referred to in different texts, not as the group's own preferred name.

Usage and cautions: Because such labels can reflect power dynamics, stereotypes, or misidentification, researchers emphasize accuracy, self-designation, and cultural sensitivity. When possible, researchers should cite the group's preferred name, provide alternatives with caution, and discuss the label's status (endonym, exonym, colloquial).

Relation to related terms: Ethnonym-like is related to ethnonym, demonym, exonym, endonym, and autonym. It is not an official category, but a descriptive descriptor used in research to categorize labels that function like ethnonyms without being established as such by the group or discipline.