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What's in a name? On pronouncing difficult country names
When I traveled through Southeast Asia some years ago, I was amazed by the number of fellow backpackers who ridiculed me whenever I pronounced the "s" in Laos. Apparently, I was supposed to pronounce it "Lao," just like locals do.
The thing is, those same "s"-dropping travelers never insisted on calling Bangkok by its proper name ("Krung Thep Maha Nakhon") when they were in Thailand -- and when they recalled journeys to East Asia, they mentioned Japan and Korea, not "Nihon-koku" and "Daehan Minguk". But Laos was "Lao," and anyone with the temerity to pronounce the "s" ran the risk of being branded a travel-greenhorn in the backpacker haunts of Vang Vieng and Muang Sing.
Oddly enough, Laos seems to be the only place where backpackers are rigid fundamentalists when it comes to nation-state pronunciation. Rarely do you find such tenacious commitment to cultural-linguistic accuracy in the travel cliques of Misr (Egypt), Shqipërisë (Albania), or Suomi (Finland). (One possible exception might be Latin America, where otherwise normal patter among English-speaking travelers is frequently offset with trilled r's and h-sounding g's when mentioning places like Honduras and Argentina.)
What makes Laos an exception? Since the Westernized pronunciation is just one consonant away from the local pronunciation, my guess is lazy opportunism among backpackers hoping to showcase their cultural knowledge. Whereas referring to Morocco as "al-Maghrebia" or Greenland as "Kalaallit Nunaat" would make you seem like a jackass show-off to fellow travelers, calling Laos "Lao" allows you to avoid confusing your compatriots while still insinuating that you've been in-country long enough to pronounce the place as locals do. Hence, in the goofy realm of backpacker pecking order (where displays of cultural expertise reign supreme, yet all pretensions must be subtle), Laos-pronunciation is the perfect shorthand for distinguishing salty wanderers from newbies.
Interestingly, Laos provides a good example for how complicated things can get when dissecting the names of nation-states. The "s" in Laos, for example, dates back to the late 1800's, when a number of largely autonomous, mainly Lao-speaking kingdoms (including Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak) were united under French colonial rule. The "s" was silent in French pronunciation, and only came into spoken use when Anglophones intoned it according to their own rules (much as we do when pronouncing "Paris"). Perhaps the most famous mispronunciation of "Laos" came in 1962, when President Kennedy called the nation "Lay-oss" -- reportedly out of apprehension that the American people would resist sending military aid to a country that sounded like the singular of "lice."
Though it could be easy to write off the "s" in Laos as an insidious remnant of Western imperialism, place-names in Europe are similarly indicative of bygone intrusions. When a Cardiff-born traveler refers to himself as "Welsh," he is actually using a Germanic word that means "foreigner" (as opposed to the Celtic word for Welsh, "Cymry," which means "compatriot"). Similarly, the official Laotian name for Laos -- "Meuang Lao" -- probably sounds a tad strange to the 31% of native-born citizens (including the Hmong, Dao, and Khmu) who are not ethnically Lao.
British historian Norman Davies has noted that place-names aren't necessarily a fixed concept. "They change over time," he wrote in his 1996 book Europe: A History. "And they vary according to the language and the perspective of the people who use them. They are the intellectual property of their users, and as such have caused endless conflicts. They can be the object of propaganda, of tendentious wrangling, of rigid censorship, even of wars. In reality, where several variants exist, one cannot speak of correct or incorrect forms."
This in mind, I've decided I won't worry too much about the "correct" way to pronounce Laos. Outside of backpacker circles, I've found that native Laotians don't mind when I pronounce the "s" in Laos -- just like citizens of " Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía" understand when I make reference to "Greece," and residents of "Al Mamlaka al Urduniya al Hashemiyah" don't scold me for calling their country "Jordan." Were I conversing in Lao or Greek or Arabic this might be a different matter -- but host cultures tend to understand that non-fluent outsiders have their own names for things. When I'm asked by local people to use local pronunciations (or when it makes communication easier) I'm happy to drop my Westernized vocabulary for something more culturally correct. This is, in fact, a normal part of the travel-education process.
I suppose it's also part of the travel process to foist that linguistic correctness on other travelers, but this can sometimes get obnoxious. Just as rose by any other name would smell as sweet, Laos will remain of terrific place to travel, regardless of whether or not you pronounce the "s" in the company of your fellow backpackers.
[flickr image via Ian @ The Paperboy]
Though it could be easy to write off the "s" in Laos as an insidious remnant of Western imperialism, place-names in Europe are similarly indicative of bygone intrusions. When a Cardiff-born traveler refers to himself as "Welsh," he is actually using a Germanic word that means "foreigner" (as opposed to the Celtic word for Welsh, "Cymry," which means "compatriot"). Similarly, the official Laotian name for Laos -- "Meuang Lao" -- probably sounds a tad strange to the 31% of native-born citizens (including the Hmong, Dao, and Khmu) who are not ethnically Lao.
British historian Norman Davies has noted that place-names aren't necessarily a fixed concept. "They change over time," he wrote in his 1996 book Europe: A History. "And they vary according to the language and the perspective of the people who use them. They are the intellectual property of their users, and as such have caused endless conflicts. They can be the object of propaganda, of tendentious wrangling, of rigid censorship, even of wars. In reality, where several variants exist, one cannot speak of correct or incorrect forms."
This in mind, I've decided I won't worry too much about the "correct" way to pronounce Laos. Outside of backpacker circles, I've found that native Laotians don't mind when I pronounce the "s" in Laos -- just like citizens of " Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía" understand when I make reference to "Greece," and residents of "Al Mamlaka al Urduniya al Hashemiyah" don't scold me for calling their country "Jordan." Were I conversing in Lao or Greek or Arabic this might be a different matter -- but host cultures tend to understand that non-fluent outsiders have their own names for things. When I'm asked by local people to use local pronunciations (or when it makes communication easier) I'm happy to drop my Westernized vocabulary for something more culturally correct. This is, in fact, a normal part of the travel-education process.
I suppose it's also part of the travel process to foist that linguistic correctness on other travelers, but this can sometimes get obnoxious. Just as rose by any other name would smell as sweet, Laos will remain of terrific place to travel, regardless of whether or not you pronounce the "s" in the company of your fellow backpackers.
[flickr image via Ian @ The Paperboy]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John H Kester Sep 7th 2011 3:57PM
You're making a bit of a false comparison here because you're comparing the shortened English names with the complete formal native names of each country. Yes, Japan is colloqially "Japan," but it's formally "The State of Japan" which is exactly what "Nihon [Japan] koku (country)" means. And in common Japanese parlance, the locals would say, "Nihon" or "Nippon" in the same way we commonly use "Japan." This is not to say that your average English-speaking backpacker will refer to "Japan" as "Nihon," but the Japan/Nihon-koku parallel is unfair.
Similarly, Jordan isn't really "Jordan," it's the "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" -- again, a translation of the full formal Arabic name that you mention, "Al-Mamlakah al-Urduniyyah al Hāšimiyyah." A trip to Google Translate reveals the short-form name, "Al-Urdun." I would wager that Jordanians prefer an economy of words in their daily speech just as we do and that they employ "Al-Urdun" in casual conversation. Again, I'm not saying an American backpacker in Jordan would call it "Al-Urdun," but even a Jordanian wouldn't commonly speak about "Al-Mamlakah al-Urduniyyah al Hāšimiyyah" so your comparison doesn't work.
Importantly, even the subject of your post, "Laos," is formally called the "Lao People's Democratic Republic" in English and "Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao" in Laotian. People in Laos naturally use a short form name, "Muang Lao" (as you mention), or "Pathet Lao," so you've mixed a short form Laotian name with long-form names of the other countries that you use to support your case. It might be unique to backpackers in Laos to make use of the local state-naming lingo (although I doubt it), but you've confused the issue by comparing informal Laotian state-naming with the formal nomenclature of other states.
Khampoua naovarangsy Sep 7th 2011 3:36PM
Thanks John. No one could understand like you, even Laotian people (inside or outside) do not know who are they. Thanks again.
Shelley Sep 7th 2011 4:05PM
Funny, and very astute, post Rolf. It's very true - these same people don't pronounce Paris as "Paree" do they - unless, of course, they are actually French?
Kyle Ellison Sep 7th 2011 8:20PM
I absolutely love this, Rolf. You could not be more spot on. If you pronounce the "s" to a group of backpackers beneath the red tents of the Luang Prabang night market or the banks of the Vang Vieng tubing chaos, you may as well have just told them that you're on you're first trip out of the country as part of a graduation gift your parents paid for.
Their response is sure to be met with an instant scoff or eye roll and an unnecessary rerouting of the conversation that includes some variant of how long they've been traveling, how low their daily budget is, how many countries they've visited on this trip alone, and how they actually poop nuggets of gold (which they of course then sell to stay on the road longer and further climb the pecking order). Oh yeah, and by the way, it's pronounced Lao...
Well told.
hereami Sep 7th 2011 9:37PM
Thanks for the post, and the background. I've never been a backpacker in Laos and was amused by the experience you related. I suspect you are right in your assessment that the desire to subtly show off cultural knowledge is the reason behind it. Ironically, those of us expats who actually live in the country use "Laos" and "Lao" quite interchangeably (sometimes in the same conversation) without attributing any subtle meaning to it. "Laos" is the normal English way and "Lao" is the common Lao way (yes the official name is much longer as was noted earlier, but in actual Lao conversation the country is almost invariably referred to simply as "Lao" and context makes clear that it's the country being referred to rather than the food or the people); since they are so close in sound both get used quite a bit and I don't think most of us give it a second thought. (However, only newcomers from the US seem to say "Laotion".) But I shall be careful if I happen to be around backpackers in the future to try and keep the "s" off the country's name to avoid a lecture from some 2-week expert on Lao.
Sebastian Strangio Sep 8th 2011 5:14AM
Interesting piece.
The best comparison of this I can think of is 'Cambodia' vs. 'Kampuchea'. The latter is the formal Khmer name for the country, but is nearly never used by foreigners (unless they are speaking Khmer). This, after all, was the name used in English by the Khmer Rouge and then by the communist regime of the 1980s, and so carries rather unsavoury associations if used in an English sentence. The name 'Lao', however, doesn't carry any similarly lnegative connotations, so has become a common sign of backpacker savoir-faire. (You would never see this with 'Kampuchea').
It's also worth noting that many Hmong, an oft-repressed minority in Laos, pronounce the 's' in English, perhaps a rejection of the dominant -- and alien -- Lao-language pronunciation.
Another example of just how historically and culturally contingent place names can be.
Mo Nov 23rd 2011 4:23PM
I grew up in Laos--I lived there in the 60's and 70's. I never once heard the country refered to as "Lao". Isn't until my good friend moved to Phuket and was talking to me about "Lao". that I heard it called this. I think this is a 21st name or post communist name for a beautiful country. It sounds very weird to hear it called "Lao".
Barry Sep 16th 2011 12:35AM
The reason for the pronunciation of Laos being so well known among the backpacker circuit is obvious - knowledge is a function of how many bottles of Beer Lao have been consumed.