Croatian external relations as reflected by the use of exonyms

Abstract

Departing from the assumption that exonyms, in the sense of »names used in a specific language for a geographical feature situated outside the area where that language is spoken and differing in its form from the name used in an official or well-established language of the area where the geographical feature is situated« (UN Glossary definition 2007), are indicators of external historical as well as current political, cultural, and economic relations of a community, the article investigates the case of Croatian exonyms as documented by the recently published editions of Ivana Crljenko (2016, 2018). For comparison, (Austrian-)German, Hungarian and Italian exonyms are also examined in this respect. In essence, the assumption is found to also be confirmed by the Croatian case, although several linguistic factors distort the picture. The article also reveals the weaknesses of the current UN Glossary definitions of the terms »exonym« and »endonym«.