That's not entirely true that 'g' is used for ayin in Semitic languages. Arabic actually has no 'gimmel', but it does have a 'ghayin'. Hebrew also had a 'ghayin' (which looked identical to the ayin and which has since dropped out of use in most communities). The reason that we get the English words Gaza and Gomorrah is because the Greeks, when transliterating the Bible in the first century for Origen's Hexapla, heard the 'ghayin' as a 'g'. The Arabic spelling of the words is more linguistically correct than the current Hebrew pronounciation.
I agree - notice I didn't write that "gimel" is used for ayin, but "g" - meaning the sound.
What is Klein's source for the assumption for the etymology of Asia/Europe ?
I'm not sure - he doesn't usually give sources in his dictionary.
Commenting by HaloScan
