Re: OT: Renaming the continents

Padraic Brown writes:
 > --- Tim May <butsuri@...> wrote:
 >
 > > Well, I'm not trying to be antiEuropean.  I
 > > think plenty of Europeans
 > > would consider "America", at least, to be ill
 > > chosen, if in full
 > > posession of the facts.
 >
 > What facts would change their minds? To me, it's
 > just a name. Like Vinland or Hy Brasil.
 >
Well, of course, it's just a name, and it's as well not to get caught
up on it.  But America's named that because Waldseemüller put it on
his map, having read Amerigo Vespucci's account of his travels to the
new world, but not Columbus's.  Waldseemüller thought better of it
himself, and removed the name in later editions, but by that time it
had become popular.

It seems to me that Vespucci was a fairly minor figure, and if you're
going to name the continent after a European explorer at all, it
should have been Columbus.  (And it probably would have been, if he
hadn't insisted it was Asia.)  Ideally, I'd prefer a native
derivation*, or some kind of neutral description.

 > Ah, I see. In that case, I as an American would
 > opt to keep the names as are. Now, were I Asian
 > and of the right mindset, I might choose
 > different names - at least for domestic use.

I can't see any inherent reason to favour the name America.  Of
course, you don't want to change it in real life.  The costs would be
enormous, for no tangible benefit at all!  But I'm not proposing
changes to be actually adopted, just thinking about ideals divorced
from practical concerns associated with making a change.

As for the rest, the only serious problem is Eurasia.  Europe just
isn't a continent in the same way that the others are, so "continent"
has to be awkwardly defined in such a way as to include it (in
English, at least).  Europe is a region which can be defined
physically or culturally, and it's a useful term, but I don't see any
good reason to include it in a set with Africa, Antarctica etc.  And
Asia doesn't seem to have any defining characteristics apart from
being the land that's east of Europe.  So I'd rather have a name for
Eurasia, and subdivide it into a number of sections, including Europe,
and probably the Indian subcontinent, China, etc.


*  Which natives to take it from, of course, is a difficult problem in
   itself.  But first I want to find out if _any_ natives had an
   applicable term, before I start deciding which to use, if any.

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