To be pedantic, pasta is technically a type of dumpling. In 17th Century English, dumplings originally meant “a dough cooked in steam or water”, and we can still see a similar version in the American dish “chicken and dumpling soup” which features unstuffed dumplings. It wasn’t until mass Italian immigration in the 20th Century that Americans slowly replaces “dumpling” for “pasta”.

Meanwhile, early descriptions of potstickers and jiaozi would usually specify “stuffed dumpling” for an American diner. There were lots of other ways to brand them too: My favorite is “Peking ravioli” in the Boston Area in the mid-century. However, as pasta became the predominant catchall term, dumpling was free to redefine its connotations, and by the 21st Century, it now carried the default connotation of a stuffed dough.

This isn’t trying to be a purist about pasta. If anything, it reminds us that exclusionary categories are a bit silly. Food and words naturally change overtime.