The names of the continents...?

Question

Has anybody ever noticed that in most Western languages the names of the continents all begin with a vowel? Any possible explanation?

North America and South America belong to the same continent: America.

Dear Luis M, since I'm Italian, don't even try to teach me who Amerigo Vespucci was. Deal?

Answer 1

Just a coincidence:
America comes from the name Americus Vespucius that 'discovered' that this was a new world and not China. By that time America was not separated in South and North. So, yes, the name started with a vowel.
Australia comes from the Latin word 'australis' which means Southern.
Europe comes from the name of a mythological Greek princess.
Africa comes from the Latin word Aprika which means 'sunny'
Asia is said to have received its name because of the Akkadian word 'aṣû' which means which means "to go out" or "to ascend", referring to the direction of the sun at sunrise.
And finally, Antarctica just means 'opposed to Arctic'.

Answer 2

But remember that North America and South America are considered two continents, not one. You have North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. I dare to say that they all start with a vowel by chance. For example, the name America comes from Americo Vespucio, a Spanish conquistador (he was probably Italian). Since his first name was Americo and the word for land in Spanish is tierra (a femenine word), he just made his first name a female name by changing the o for an a. That's how we have America. And therefore, he called this new world America. This happened way after Europe was Europe. This is why I don't think there is a relation or possible explanation as to why they all start with a vowel but coincidence.

Answer 3

Almost all the continents do except for North and South America (and if you discount the N and S they ALL do). I'm not sure what explanation you're looking for but I think the coincidence you think you found has no real significance.

From wikipedia the list of recognized continents are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent

Answer 4

English is a mixture of german, french, british and a few other languages, making it somewhat unique, backwards in some ways, and complex in others.

Answer 5

K orea, G ermany, J apan, R ussia, C hina, S weden, G ranada, S pain, F rance, S witzerland, T iawan, P oland, G reenland, M exico, Viet Nam....Just running them off which have consonants doesn't compute with your question. N orth and S outh America are both A merica, Then A frica, A ustralia, I celand, I ndia, I ndonesia. If I missed any it is because I am getting tired.

Could you be a bit more descriptive by writing which continents you have been lead to believe outnumber the ones that have consonants as the first letter in their structure?

Answer 6

North America and South America do not start with vowels .

Answer 7

your right about the a,
north America
south America
Europe
Asia
Australia
antarctic

Answer 8

i agree with the one above, but America does start with an "A"

Answer 9

ummm in what language?