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From: deb5@ellis.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: Pronouncing your name in another language
Message-ID: <1995Jan17.071722.29769@midway.uchicago.edu>
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References: <3fcha9$t3s@ixnews3.ix.netcom.com> <1995Jan16.061945.4767@midway.uchicago.edu> <Pine.OSF.3.91a.950115232359.8174B-100000@saul3.u.washington.edu>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 07:17:22 GMT
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In article <Pine.OSF.3.91a.950115232359.8174B-100000@saul3.u.washington.edu> Halldor Arnason <harnason@u.washington.edu> writes:
>On Mon, 16 Jan 1995, Daniel von Brighoff wrote:
>> 
>> Europe (excluding the USSR and Turkey): 1.9 million sq. miles
>> USA					3.6 million sq. miles
>> Source:  Funk and Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary (1977 ed.)
>
>Why on earth exclude the USSR?  

Because my source did.  I've since found a more authoritative one
(_Webster's New Georgraphical Dictionary_), though the figures are
unfortunately still only in sq. miles:

Europe:	3.997 million sq. miles
USA:	3.613	"	"

So I exaggerated a tad in making a rhetorical point.  Furthermore,
keep in mind that the larger figure is for the maximal definition
of 'Europe' ("Eurasia west of the Urals"); I've seen the term applied
to only the European Union (LC cataloging guidelines) or the Council 
of Europe (_The Baltic States and Europe_, a recently-published mono-
graph). 
> 
>> As for cultural diversity, there are first generation immigrants
>> in the US from *every country in the world*.  They have all brought
>> their native cultures with them.  Can Europe match that?  
>
>Can you name some country, that noone has emigrated from to Europe?

Probably not, but I can name a slew of Amerind cultures that are 
not represented outside the Americas.  Lest one think this unfair,
I point out that I'm not aware of a single cultural group in all
of Europe without representatives in the United States.  There are
even descendants of the Irish Travellers who still speak Shelta
(and not just one or two families, but several hundred individuals).
I don't think any other place outside of the British Isles can boast
this.  There are Sami (Lapps) and Sinti (Eastern Gypsies) in the
states, but are there Inuit or Miskito in Europe.  Or Hmong (of any
subgroup) and Tibetans?  These cultures are represented by several
thousand people living in a variety of locations in the States.

Enough boasting.  Please recall that the original reason for
uttering these remarks was to argue that, if Poland embraced an
area as large and diverse as the United States, the Poles would have
just as much trouble coping with all the foreign names as the
Americans do.  Since this is a rhetorical argument which cannot be
proven, the above factoids serve only to garnish it.

We Americans may be more susceptible to hubris than other peoples,
but we're not morally inferior to the Poles for saying ['ainstain]
instead of ['ainshtain].
-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
