Ethnonymics as a Historical Source for Studying Group Identities in Northeast Asia

Abstract

The article is the guest editor’s introduction to the special theme on the “Issues in Ethnonymics in Northeast Asia”, featuring contributions by A.M. Pevnov, J. Janhunen, M.V. Osipova, E.Y. Gruzdeva and M.G. Temina, and S.A. Arutyunov, based on longterm explorations and years of field research. The contributions discuss the latest developments in the study of the complex situation with ethnonyms encountered in the region and examine particularly the connections and interrelations between insular and continental ethnonyms. The authors argue that these ethnonyms reflect various levels and aspects of group identities which could be comparatively studied from both the linguistic/etymological and ethnic/anthropological points of view. What makes the present situation ever more complicated and worthy of attention is the fact that ethnonyms themselves come to exert influence on ethnic or cultural identities of various groups in the region.