Mer or Elf?
Notes on Naming the Mortal Races

The peoples of Tamriel are often known by one of two names: an Aldmeris or other native-language name (e.g., "Cyrodiils," "Dunmer"), and a name in the Common Tongue (e.g., "Imperials," "Dark Elves"). The use of one or the other depends largely on context, so there is no hard and fast universal rule on usage. For example, in common parlance humans usually prefer to use the Common Tongue words for elves; whereas the native term is generally preferred when writing about cultural matters, or from that race's perspective. Naturally, some individuals might use both in their prose or speech in order to avoid repetition!

The following entries are general suggestions for usage for several of the main races featured in Skywind.

Elves/Mer with foundations in Aldmeris

The Altmer, Bosmer, and Dunmer are often collectively viewed as the "pure" modern races of elves commonly found on the continent of Tamriel, and generally prefer terms originating in Aldmeris for themselves and their kin. Likewise, the Dwemer are a long-departed race usually only discussed by academics, who both prefer Aldmeris to the Common Tongue as an elevated prestige language and often discard the term "Dwarves" (never "Dwarfs") as a misnomer: "Dwemer" is therefore the most common term.

There are therefore several important things to note regarding Aldmeris grammar: 

• "-mer" is the noun form but is sometimes used as adjective

• "-meri" is the formal adjective form, as in "Aldmeri Dominion" (and should generally not be used to refer to languages)

• "-meris" refers to the language or the land (like the mythical land of Aldmeris or the languages Aldmeris, Dwemeris, Ald Chimeris, Dunmeris, etc.)

• "-meric" can be used both for the language and as an adjective

Orcs/Orsimer 

The Orcs are often viewed as a "corrupted" and "impure" species of elf by other elves, both in terms of physiology and culture. Indeed, while the Orcish language did evolve from Aldmeris, it has diverged so significantly from its precursor that the two share few similarities and are mutually unintelligible. Furthermore, as worshipers of Malacath, the Daedric Prince of Outcasts, Orcs are generally thick-skinned and care little about how they are termed ("Orsimer" may even be an exonym applied by academics concerned with typology). "Orsimer" is acceptable, particularly in those instances when other mer are discussed in similar terms, but "Orcs" is the most typical term in popular usage among the people of Tamriel, including Orcs themselves.

Imperials/Cyrodiils

Unusually, "Imperials" is generally preferred by the humans native to Tamriel's central province, perhaps because they view themselves as a cosmopolitan people who are found across the length and breadth of the continent; for some members of that race, "Cyrodiils" sounds too provincial, and may not be considered accurate for an Imperial who was born in another territory. "Imperials" should therefore be most common, and "Cyrodiils" generally reserved for when discussing the culture of the province of Cyrodiil, or the Nibenese and Colovian subcultures that constitute it.

Argonians/Saxhleel

Argonians are a particularly insular culture, and the native Jel word for their species, "Saxhleel" (which is both singular and plural) is unfamiliar even to the most enlightened societies outside of Black Marsh. "Argonian" is to be preferred in all instances with the exception of those texts written from an intensely Argonian point of view.