Straight from Gaider's blog:
I’ve written about this before, but I’m going to create a post so that I can point to it the next time the subject comes up. If you’ve heard more about this topic than you ever wanted to, just move along.
For reference:
What is a Qunari?
Qunari literally translates to “people of the Qun”. That means it applies to anyone who follows the Qun philosophy, no matter the race. The difficult thing about the Qun when it comes to names, however, is that the Qunari are very particular about what something is called. Things are called according to their function and nothing else, and names are very exact.
What is a Kossith?
This is a name for the Qunari that predates the foundation of the Qun. It may refer to the actual name of the race, or the name of the culture from which the current-day Qunari hail, it’s really unknown as the Qunari have discarded the term completely. Almost no-one in Thedas knows it, and since the Qunari do not teach it, most Qunari themselves don’t know it and would reject it even if they did.
It’s also hardly been mentioned in-game at all outside of codex entries, so unless you’re talking to a fan who’s well-versed in the lore nobody’s likely ever going to have heard of it.
So what is the horned race called?
Qunari.
But that makes no sense!
Sure it does. There are lots of words that refer to multiple aspects like this. If you say “Bob is German”, you could be referring to his being of German heritage or his being a citizen of Germany no matter his heritage. If you say “Bob is Jewish”, you could be referring to his ethnicity, his religion, or both.
But what about all the other words…?
These are only of importance to the Qunari themselves, with their pedantic insistence on everything belonging to a category and that category defining what they are. Don’t confuse the two.
To most people, Qunari is a term for both the race and religion. Even a Qunari which has left the Qun is still Qunari. If they ever need to refer to a follower of the Qun who is of another race, they’ll specify: “elven Qunari” and so forth. It’s uncommon enough that one can assume, unless specified otherwise, “Qunari” on its own refers solely to members of the horned race.
Now, if you’re talking to a Qunari, things get more difficult. A member of their race who has left the Qun is no longer Qunari but Tal-Vashoth. A convert from another race is viddathari, though they too will ultimately become simply Qunari. They have other words which get more specific—the question really is whether you want to get tripped up in the myriad classifications the Qunari use. Some fans really like to, but it’s only ever going to be relevant in particular circumstances.
Isn’t that difficult to write about?
Nope.
As I said above, when we write “Qunari” we are referring to either the physical race or the culture as a whole—based on the context in which we’re using the word. Just the same as with “German” or “Jewish”— that doesn’t trip people up in real life because there is always context in real life. If we need to be more specific, we’ll use an adjective.
Now, if we’re involving actual Qunari in the discussion, it’s going to get more obtuse—and that’s deliberate, because the Qunari themselves are obtuse. Misunderstandings are indeed possible, and we could write to them if we wished. A party member could say “there’s a Qunari around the corner” and then you turn the corner…and an elf is standing there. “Huh?”
That could happen…if we wanted it to. The idea that it must happen that way isn’t true. That party member could as easily have said “there’s an elven Qunari around the corner” if they honestly knew better.
Aren’t there situations where the name of the race is vital?
Outside of a discussion on taxonomy, not really. Even then, the name of the race (to everyone but the Qunari themselves) is still going to be “Qunari”.
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