5

I'm pretty sure I got them all sorted out right but I'm having a little trouble figuring out how loĝantaro, etno, and popolo are different.

Raso-race, concerned with your genetics and physical features.

Gento-tribe is probably the closest word. People of different families with a common ancestor usually having their own stories about their origin and have a common ruler.

Etno-ethnicity, your traditions, beliefs, language that identify you with a group of people.

Loĝantaro-population, the whole of people who live in a certain defined area (city, state, country).

Popolo-group of people living together who are different than other groups around them. (I know popolo has other meanings to but I'm concerned with this one)

Where I live there's lots of hispanics and Latinos and I'm white, so we are part of the same population but different groups. But isn't that your ethnicity?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

There's a saying, the kind of things you see on t-shirts and pins : ĉiuj unu popolo - all (the world is) one people. You certainly couldn't say that the whole world is one etno, and it wouldn't be very impressive to assert that the word is one loĝantaro.

Loĝantaro simply refers to the people living in a certain area. Popolo has a few meaning. Basically it's the subjects of a single government, or a group of people living in an area distinct from neighboring groups. Etno is similar, but the divide seems to run deeper. A clarifying example may be that you can have an etna lingvo but not a popola lingvo.

Improve this answer
5
  • Would a good example be people from different states? like Texas where I live and New York. We're similar enough to be of the same etno and many of us are the same raso, but we're still different. If I visited NYC I'd be able to tell that the people are different there than here.
    – Airvian
    Apr 19, 2017 at 2:39
  • A good example of which one? We can talk about the American people as loĝantaro if we mean the collection of people who live here. We can say popolo if we mean the populace in contrast to government. It's seems a little bit of a stretch to imagine an American and a Canadian talking about mia popolo kaj via popolo - but that's not quite a crazy notion. I could imagine speaking of the certain Indian groups as a popolo and even an etno. As for New York, I would hope that someone from TX would notice a difference between Rochester and NYC. There's no clearly defined line, though.
    – Tomaso Alexander
    Apr 19, 2017 at 11:00
  • I think I understand it better now but is this use of popolo that common? It seems like when I see it it means the subjects of the government in contrast to the government itself. I was thinking maybe this definition isn't something to fuss about.
    – Airvian
    Apr 20, 2017 at 14:48
  • 1
    The definition of "popolo" as "a people", that is, a group usually living in one country and distinct from its neighbors, is indeed very common - especially when used as a plural. He's a more famous example. la unuan fojon en la homa historio ni, membroj de la plej malsamaj popoloj staras unu apud alia ne kiel fremduloj,
    – Tomaso Alexander
    Apr 20, 2017 at 16:43
  • That one makes a lot of sense. :)
    – Airvian
    Apr 20, 2017 at 17:07

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.