Why is 土著人 used for Aboriginal people in Australia? In Australia it is quite common to talk about Aboriginal people as they feature quite often when talking about sports, Olympics or politics.

The word that is used to describe Aboriginal people by native Chinese speakers is 土著人. I have had someone tell me (and I can't remember if it was a native Chinese person or not) that the word wasn't very flattering.

What does 土著 mean, why was it chosen to mean an Aboriginal person and does it have negative connotations?
Here are some definitions for &quot;土著&quot;:

&lt;现代汉语词典&gt;(商务印书馆,1992年):&quot;世代居住本地的人.&quot;
&lt;辞源&gt;(商务印书馆,2004年):(1)&quot;世代定居于一地&quot;;(2)&quot;后也称世代居住在本地的人为土著&quot;.
&lt;辞海&gt;(上海古籍出版社,1999年):(1)&quot;古代游牧民族定居某地后,不再迁徙的称为‘土著&quot;;(2)&quot;后指世居本地的人&quot;.

In classical Chinese, &quot;土&quot;, when used as an adjective, means &quot;local&quot; or &quot;original&quot; (source):

&lt;形&gt;本地的；当地的。《柳敬亭传》：“且五方～音，乡俗好尚习见习闻。”

&quot;著&quot; has the meaning of &quot;resident&quot; or &quot;stay&quot; (source):

&lt;动&gt;居于；处在。

So basically, &quot;土著&quot; means the original residents of some area. It does not have negative connotations. We use this word in daily conversations when referring to aboriginal people. However, in written articles, people may sometimes use &quot;原住民&quot; alternatively.