Re: Afrasian?

Tim May wrote:
>Jan van Steenbergen writes:
>  >  --- Andreas wrote:
>  >
>  > > If _Eurasica_ is eurocentric, is _Eurasia_ then asiatocentric?
>  >
>  > No. In "Eurasia" the two components are more or less equally
>  > represented.
>
>Let's not forget, also, that Europe is a lot smaller.  If we were only
>now to name the continents for the first time, no-one would create
>Asia and Europe.
For the very good reason that Asia and Europe aren't continents.

>You might give Europe a name, as a cultural
>grouping, but only if you divided Asia up into several spheres of
>influence, and you probably wouldn't consider them to be
>continents. I'm not denying Europe deserves a mention: it's
>historically important; these terms are basically for use in European
>languages; and the alternative term for Eurasia would be "Asia", which
>would clearly invite confusion.  But giving it one less letter than
>Asia and the initial position is hardly unfair on Europe.
See my other mail for why don't think "Eurasia" don't equally represent Asia
and Europe. I note again that I don't think this kind of "fairness" is very
important.

Speaking of use in European languages, I'd guess that Western behaviour the
last few centries has instilled a concept of "Europe" in most non-European
minds. To what extent has Asiatic cultures acquired a concept of "Asia"?

                                                      Andreas

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