necoandjeff wrote:

> "Kevin Gowen" <kgowenNOSPAM@myfastmail.com> wrote in message
> news:2qmuh1Fvt0tkU26@uni-berlin.de...
> 
>>necoandjeff wrote:
>>
>>
>>>"Musashi" <Miyamoto@Hosokawa.co.jp> wrote in message
>>>news:_Wn1d.1487$Qv5.235@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com...
>>>
>>>
>>>>"necoandjeff" <spam@schrepfer.com> wrote in message
>>>>news:dJn1d.19116$0j7.2718@newssvr27.news.prodigy.com...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>"Musashi" <Miyamoto@Hosokawa.co.jp> wrote in message
>>>>>news:Ewi1d.15968$ZC7.3364@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com...
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>Jeff, would you mind asking your wife what the difference is between
>>>>>>a 東洋人　and an アジア人？
>>>>>>
>>>>>>ムサシ
>>>>>
>>>>>I asked her and she said she considers them to be the same. And I don't
>>>>>think she's terribly far from the mark here either. I note the
> 
> following
> 
>>>>>from 大辞林:
>>>>
>>>>>とうよう　―やう 1 【東洋】ユーラシア大陸の東部の地域。アジアの地方。特
>>>
>>>に
>>>
>>>
>>>>ア
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>ジアの東部および南部、すなわち中国・朝鮮・日本・インド・ミャンマー[sic]
>>>
>>>・
>>>
>>>
>>>>タ
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>イ・インドネシアなどの地域をいう。
>>>>>
>>>>>Jeff
>>>>
>>>>Thanks very much Jeff. It's interesting that your wife and I define 東洋
> 
> 人
> 
>>>　
>>>
>>>
>>>>differently.
>>>>The definition above supports your wife's definition to the extent that
> 
> it
> 
>>>>has a wider range for
>>>>東洋 than I would have guessed. On the other hand, clearly the "eastern"
>>>>part of
>>>>the Eurasian continent is mentioned, which certainly would exclude
> 
> places
> 
>>>>such
>>>>as Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. These areas in English would be
> 
> considered
> 
>>>>"Asia" and
>>>>people from there, "Asians".
>>>
>>>
>>>In American English, I don't think people from Afghanistan would be
>>>considered ethnically Asian by that many people.
>>
>>This is why I have a problem with geographic terms such as Asian or
>>African being used as ethnic descriptors. Nelson Mandela is African, but
>>so was Mr. Sadat. Hamid Karzai is just as Asian as Hu Jintao.
> 
> 
> But yet you have no trouble using the word Oriental, even though at one time
> it referred to a geographic region that encompassed something quite
> different from just China, Korea and Japan?

Yes, I don't.

> Anyway, I agree. But it isn't just geographic terms that create problems.
> Any attempt at classifying people by ethnicity is bound to run into trouble
> sooner or later, whether it is by geography, nationality, religion or
> whatever. And it is getting increasingly difficult. My best friend is half
> Danish and half Burmese and a U.S. citizen who speaks native English, native
> Dutch and damn good Japanese, and his wife is Japanese American who speaks
> native English and native Japanese. I don't know how you would even begin to
> classify my friend, let alone their son.

I don't feel a particular need to classify them. Do you? Then again, I
am more oriented towards the individual than the group.

- Kevin