Historically, endonymic (native) variants ("Suryaya/Suryoyo") were commonly used as designations for linguistic (Syriac language), denominational (Syriac Christianity) and liturgical (Syriac rite) self-identification, thus referring to Syriac-speaking Christians of the Near East in general. In medieval times, those designations ("Suryaya/Suryoyo") were often used as common terms of collective self-identification, but later emergence of modern Syria (after 1918) created some new challenges, in the fields of both regional and international terminology. In modern English terminology, term "Syrians" is most commonly used as a demonym for general population of the modern state of Syria. In order to distinguish themselves, modern Syriac Christians have thus accepted a more specific term "Syriacs", that is particularly favored among adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Syriac Catholic Church. In 2000, the Holy Synod of the Syriac Orthodox Church officially recommended that in English language this church should be called "Syriac" after its official liturgical Syriac language.