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Why people and even officials are confusing the terms nationality with citizenship?
An example here:
British nationality (is incorrect)
American nationality (incorrect as well)
Etc…
British citizenship (correct)
USA citizenship (correct)
Why incorrect?
Nationality is about NATION (from Latin NATIONIS = race, people, breed )
“British” is not a nation, Only English, Scottish, Welsh , Irish are nations – British is irrelevant – you could be anything, English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh or a foreigner.
Same goes for American “nationality” – What American nation? Immigrants from all over the world are now a Nation?
"Nationality" is an old fashion term still in use today, from the times when a French people was mostly a French national , but today a French resident could be black or yellow, pertaining to a different nation, hence only a French citizen. Nationality should be totally replaced with citizenship. Because the etymology of “Nation” (from Latin NATIONIS = race, people, breed ) is irrelevant in today’s use of “Nationality” inaccurately expressing something else…
When the ancient Romans conquered other Nations, the conquered nations become ROMAN CITIZENS from Latin ( civis = citizen, townsman, bourgeois, burgess ) not Roman Nationals. Some others where granted Roman citizenship and not Roman Nationality.
Nationis and Civis are totally different terms.
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1.€€€,
Re: "Nationality" and "Citizenship":
Technically I think that you are correct. Of course, the world has gotten a lot smaller in the last 50 years to the point where nationalities and national boundaries have been somewhat disappearing. Some people say we have already become one world. All of this is changing what is traditionally meant by a "nationality".
Growing up in the 1950's & 60's, I never thought I would ever hear someone on a Seattle bus talking in Russian and even talking about Star Trek! Back then, Russians were rarely allowed by their government to immigrate. Cell phones hadn't been invented yet and probably only priveleged members of communist party elites and their families were allowed to watch Star Trek in Russia and Eastern Europe.
How long this trend will continue in the future is hard to tell because technology makes a smaller world possible (think of jet travel) and technology can always break down. It did for about 700 years after the fall of Rome and then only very slowly, did it advance again. Technology also depends heavily on resources and we are running out of these as the world's population expands beyond the 6 billion mark.
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1.€€€,
En France, c'est très différent. Pour signifier l'appartenance à un pays on utilise le terme <nationalité> : « Pablo est de nationalité espagnole ». Si maintenant tu évoques le cas d'un ex-Marocain devenu citoyen espagnol, tu diras : « Hassan est de nationalité espagnole ».
La nationalité n'a ***ABSOLUMENT AUCUNE*** connotation ethnique : c'est surtout un concept juridique.
Il existe toutefois une exception (en français), c'est le glissement de sens qui s'opère pour désigner les peuples ou ethnies de l'ex-URSS. Ce glissement de sens est calqué sur la terminologie de l'administration soviétique alors en vigueur : nationalité abkhaze, nationalité allemande (Volga) etc.
Le mot <citoyenneté> est également utilisé mais il est d'un usage moins fréquent même si c'est un synonyme de <nationalité>.
Si tu vois des Français utiliser le terme <nationality> en anglais, c'est très souvent à <nationalité> qu'ils pensent, pas à <nationality> : <nationalité> et <nationality> sont deux faux-amis partiels.
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There is no confusion. Nationality and citizenship ARE synonymous. Your passport has nothing to do with your ethnicity.
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no they are not synonyms.
• citizenship = n. condition of being a member of a country
• nationality = quality of being part of a particular nation; patriotism; national ownership (of property)
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That's just a definition out of a dictionary but one infers the other anyway.
So if you're of Italian nationality, then you have Italian citizenship, and vice-versa.
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Brennus, I have no clue what you are talking about. In modern English today, nationality is synonymous with citizenship.
This is the definition of nationality:
n : the status of belonging to a particular nation by birth or naturalization
This means you are a CITIZEN of the country. For example, a person of Italian descent living in America cannot claim to have Italian nationality if this person does not possess Italian citizenship. He or she is simply of Italian DESCENT. This is the same for every other race, ethnicity, etc.
The entire premise of 1.€€€'s argument is that in LATIN, the roots of the English words mean something different. This is fine for LATIN, but this is ENGLISH. You can't argue because it meant one thing long ago in another language, it has to mean the same thing today in a different language. It doesn't. Languages evolve.
<<Same goes for American “nationality” – What American nation? Immigrants from all over the world are now a Nation? >>
Actually, yes, especially in regards to the US. Maybe you need to definition of the English word "nation" to jog your memory.
nation: n 1: a politically organized body of people under a single government;
Remember, we're under that idiot, Bush and his administration.
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Tiffany,
Re: In modern English today, nationality is synonymous with citizenship." --- Tiffany
Possibly but I think it is still a little more complicated than that. Let me explain: Historically, citizenship and nationality have been largely viewed as two separate things. For example, Napoleon Bonaparte had French citizenship but his nationality was Corsican; Hitler had German citizenship by the time of World War I when he served as a corporal in the German Army. Yet, he still more often gets called an Austrian rather than a German in history books and films. Stalin had Russian (Soviet) citizenship but he was born in the Russian ruled country of Georgia to a Georgian mother and an *Ossetian father. I've read that to some people in Georgia today he is still "the greatest Georgian who ever lived" despite his brutality there in the 1920's. Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens in 1917 under The Jones Act but they complain continually about being largely excluded from Anglo-American society when they immigrate to the United States.
This what 1.€€€ is talking about. However these distinctions are melting in today's shrinking world and that is what I am saying and I think we are on the same page here. Can Muslims in England with British citizenship be called Englishmen? Well, 100 years ago almost everyone would have said no. Such a person would always be an "Indian Muslim" regardless. But the political climate has changed since 1906 and the news media now regularly calls British Islamic mullahs "Englishmen." 1.€€€, on the other hand, seems to think that this is wrong and longs for times past. He is not alone. Oftentimes, governments think one way about certain issues while the people think another way. There are double standards too. Some journalists and historians who are quick to call Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Masri and Salmin Rushdie "Englishmen" might still refer to Napoleon as the "little Corsican" or to Hitler as the "Austrian corporal."
*Ossetian - An Iranian speaking minority in Russia and Georgia - descendents of the ancient Scythians.
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You will hear "English nationals" in the press meaning English citizens travelling abroad with an English passport. They could be Muslims, of Indian decent, Black, White, etc, etc. Religion and race do not come into this. To think an "English national" means a White Christian is invalid.
The same can be said for German nationals, Chinese nationals, people of XYZ nationality, etc.
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It probably depends on where you're from. In the US, and to me as an American, nationality and citizenship are the same thing, interchangeable synonyms. (As they are for Tiffany -- I know exactly where you're coming from.) But in Europe, they seem to mean two different things. I get the feeling from discussions with British people elsewhere that they have separate meanings in the UK as well, so it might not be accurate to say that they mean the same thing IN ENGLISH as a whole.
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I'm doing a high school report and my subject is "A brief history of Italian Nationality. I'm confused on what to write about, seeing how I cannot find any information on it. Any help out there?
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Jeanette,
A good place to start for this topic is with Giuseppe Garibaldi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi
Italians are, of course, a much older people than the 19th century but Garibaldi, (a native of Nice, now in France) unified them into a single country. He was much the same thing to Italy that George Washington was to the United States and Otto Von Bismark to Germany. Before that time, Italians were known primarily by their provinces or city states. They were called variously Sicilians, Calabrians, Neopolitans, Romans, Florentinians, Lombards, Paduans, Friulians, Venetians, Genoese etc. but seldom "Italians."
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