The (im)morality of disease names

This article offers a literature review of studies on disease names carried out by dialectologists and onomasticians. The analytical part focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses the names used for the pathogen (SARS-CoV-2) and the related disease (COVID-19). It homes in on a variety of names...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Elwys De Stefani
Format: Article
Language:Danish
Published: Royal Swedish Academy of Swedish Folk Culture 2021-06-01
Series:Nordisk Tidskrift för Socioonomastik
Subjects:
Online Access:https://publicera.kb.se/noso/article/view/14725
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850176674419703808
author Elwys De Stefani
author_facet Elwys De Stefani
author_sort Elwys De Stefani
collection DOAJ
description This article offers a literature review of studies on disease names carried out by dialectologists and onomasticians. The analytical part focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses the names used for the pathogen (SARS-CoV-2) and the related disease (COVID-19). It homes in on a variety of names used in English for the virus (e.g. Novel Coronavirus, Wuhan virus, 2019-nCoV) and for the disease (e.g. China flu, Chinese flu). It shows that toponymic names reflect a common pattern of naming pathogens and diseases. By analysing two excerpts in which Donald J. Trump uses such names, the article shows how these can be used in divisive and derogatory ways, for political purposes.
format Article
id doaj-art-7c565d6a60f4459498210ceff807ac93
institution OA Journals
issn 2004-0296
2004-0881
language Danish
publishDate 2021-06-01
publisher Royal Swedish Academy of Swedish Folk Culture
record_format Article
series Nordisk Tidskrift för Socioonomastik
spelling doaj-art-7c565d6a60f4459498210ceff807ac932025-08-20T02:19:12ZdanRoyal Swedish Academy of Swedish Folk CultureNordisk Tidskrift för Socioonomastik2004-02962004-08812021-06-01110.59589/noso.12021.14725The (im)morality of disease namesElwys De Stefani0KU Leuven This article offers a literature review of studies on disease names carried out by dialectologists and onomasticians. The analytical part focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses the names used for the pathogen (SARS-CoV-2) and the related disease (COVID-19). It homes in on a variety of names used in English for the virus (e.g. Novel Coronavirus, Wuhan virus, 2019-nCoV) and for the disease (e.g. China flu, Chinese flu). It shows that toponymic names reflect a common pattern of naming pathogens and diseases. By analysing two excerpts in which Donald J. Trump uses such names, the article shows how these can be used in divisive and derogatory ways, for political purposes. https://publicera.kb.se/noso/article/view/14725nosonymspathogonymsideologypoliticsinteractional onomastics
spellingShingle Elwys De Stefani
The (im)morality of disease names
Nordisk Tidskrift för Socioonomastik
nosonyms
pathogonyms
ideology
politics
interactional onomastics
title The (im)morality of disease names
title_full The (im)morality of disease names
title_fullStr The (im)morality of disease names
title_full_unstemmed The (im)morality of disease names
title_short The (im)morality of disease names
title_sort im morality of disease names
topic nosonyms
pathogonyms
ideology
politics
interactional onomastics
url https://publicera.kb.se/noso/article/view/14725
work_keys_str_mv AT elwysdestefani theimmoralityofdiseasenames
AT elwysdestefani immoralityofdiseasenames