The Meaning of Europe - Essay Example

 The Meaning of Europe The exact meaning of Europe is ambiguous and it is not possible to accurately define it." Do you agree? Among the seven continents that divide the world, Europe is one of them. Throughout the span of time, the region has experienced a diverse cultural activity and has been exposed to several forms of civilization norms. These norms and cultures have become part of Europe and even today the society can be related to many Greek and Roman theologies. Europe is also the house of the Germanic languages of which many languages that are present today are derived from Latin (Malmborg, 2002). Europe has been mainly referred to the word ‘Europa’ in reference to many important languages of the world. In Chinese, Europe is referred to as Ouzhu- which is a derivative of the word Europa. Furthermore, the continent has also been referred to as Frengistan (land of the Franks) by the Turkish civilization. Many other languages have referred to the region in similar context, but there has not been any single undisputed explanation of the meaning of the term Europe that is used for the continent (Malmborg, 2002). Studies related to history and politics have been the source of many co mbnnclusive reforms and facts for the development of thought and academia. However, in the discussions and origins of political terms and slogans, there have been many inconclusive debates due to an absence of a factual historical dictionary. Since there has been an absence of this etymological record in the form of a dictionary, any factual brief on many political terms and slogans has been hard to find. Moreover, any research that may be taken up would in turn be significantly time consuming and may never have a conclusive statement of their backgrounds (Boer, 1995). The lack in the research material and weak records of terms and their origins, has made the structured method of investigation in political expressions and education and development of ideas weak and the theories challengeable. Many revered literary works in the field relating to philological dictionaries, especially referred for the European languages, have not been of much help either in any conclusive remarks on these political terms and semantics (Boer, 1995). The main reason for this to happen is that most of the literary research ahs been the work of the esteemed scholars and critics has been entirely focused and centred on philology and literature. Hence, there has not been much concentration and attention on works related on political semantics and historical slogans. Furthermore, the links in these works present and developed internationally along with the different views and informative ideas of historical writings has not been a part of any dictionary of the English, French or German languages (Boer, 1995). These perspectives may have been imperative in any findings in the nature of political sensitivity. A good example of such a case is the origin and meaning of the name Europe. More repeatedly, the general definition of Europe has been more of a geographical nature than of any historical background, which may depict an etymological reference. This geographical definition of Europe states that it is the region in form of a peninsula, which lays at the extreme west part of the Eurasia (Boer, 1995). The political definition of Europe has been also insufficient in making a conforming note on the origin of the name and defines it as a continent that is made up of countries in the European union. In contrast, there have been many references in works and dictionaries that the name Europe has been derived form Greek mythology. One view is that Europe is the name of the heavenly entities that are described in the Greek mythology and the name Europe has been derived form the influence of the Ancient civilizations to render history into the vision of these countries (Boer, 1995). Greek derivatives form mythology have been used to explain the meaning of the name because Ancient Greece has been noted to have a valuable impression that lasted for centuries on the western civilizations. Furthermore, the cultural developments of the western societies have been attributed to ancient Greece. Even so, the current principles of democracy and individualism have been associated with the later stages of the Greek culture (Rougemont, 1965). The influence of Greek mythology has been further explained in other different meanings of the word Europe. It is also have to be said to be inferred form the Greek work Europa. Europa, in mythology, was the name of the Phoenician princess. The importance of this princess has been that Zeus abducted and later on married her to bear three children to rule different parts in the kingdom. This definition or narration of the word Europe is related to the heavenly bodies but still the difference in origin has made a significant impact in changing the way the word holds to mean (Rougemont, 1965). Another aspect in the Greek mythology is the derivation from the mythological story of the queen of Crete. This develops into the association of first name used for mainland Greece as Europa in early history of the region. However, Europa was extended to be used not only for mainland Greece in later parts of the history and was fused to refer to all the regions surrounding it- especially those to the north of Greece (Rougemont, 1965). However, the more of the scholars may have reasoned that the Greek culture having its strong heritage did influence the construction of modern day Europe. Based on these facts, the heritage of the word Europe is also narrated to be linked to an extended phrase in Greek- ‘Eur’ and ‘Op’. ‘Eur’ meaning the broad and ‘Op’ menaing eye. Hence the word in Greek ‘Eur-op’ may be translated as broad eye or wide-gaze (Rougemont, 1965). This meaning of the word Europe has been made strong in the sense of being more logical. Since earth has always been referred to as broad in many ways, it may be the best explanation of the meaning of the word Europe that we can conclude in the current times. This theory has been dominant in the sense that the word Eur has been reflected many times in the Proto-Indo-European religion (Rougemont, 1965). However, it is not only the Greek culture that has inspired the building of the continent. The vast Roman empire ahs been noted to have a great influence on the structures of philosophy, sciences and languages. The conflicts between nations of Greece, Romans, Germanic, Pictish and Scottish has certainly influenced many other theories to narrate the name Europe to many other origins and mythologies that span across the region of Europe (Malmborg, 2002). Apart from the meaning of Europe earlier, there are many other derivatives of the same word. It has been also linked to the Phoenician word ‘Erob.’ Erob in modern English refers to the side of the region where the sun sets. This is another logical explanation of the word and the scientific reason related to the position of the sun may prove to be reasonable as well. the same has also been referred to as the Phoenician word Eref which means the same thing as Erob (Malmborg, 2002). Yet the explanations of the meaning of the word Europe do not end here. The roots of the Europe are debated to be derived from the Colkhian roots. In this theory, the word Europe is form Europa which is rendered in Colkhian to mean affection. Explained elaborately, the word Europe would then have the meaning as being the love of the motherland. Although this point of view may not be favoured by a lot of scholars but the value of this explanation is used as much as any other reason (Malmborg, 2002). On the contrary, apart from the mythological explanations of the word Europe, the oxford English dictionary defines Europe as a proper name. Therefore, when it comes to the explanation of the term, there is no reference to its heritage and is treated just similar to the name John or Mary. This treatment of the word in the Oxford English dictionary and other literary researches has overlooked the important aspect of the heritage that the region relates too. Furthermore, it also fails to state the important circumstances that have been the reason for Europe being a symbol of political interest in History and even presently (Boer, 1995). The exact meaning of the term Europe has tried to be defined by scholars and historians in many literary works. Although many may have strong logical explanations of the term but the lack of documentation and emphasis on the political terms in history has made the term to have many conflicting meanings and heritage. Europe may never have an exact meaning but it may reflect upon the mythological, linguistic and historical meanings of all the references as to where it stands today. It may be wide spread or wide viewed, or in context to beauty and stature- Europe has been the centre of politics and rich history for many centuries. The region has evolved to infuse many civilizations and though there may not be a specific meaning to it, many explanations make sense. Works Cited Boer, P. D. et al. 1995. The History of the Idea of Europe. Routledge. Malmborg, M. 2002. The Meaning of Europe. Berg Publishers Rougemont, D. 1965. The Meaning of Europe. Stein and Day Read More