I imagine the questions are more suitable for linguistics than for mathematics. At the core of them is the ability (or lack thereof) to express "things" to an appropriate degree of subtlety or granularity. If I were an Eskimo or one who studied dynamics of materials, I might want 57 different words for snow. Also, I might not understand algebraic geometry as well as one raised in France, but that's not the main reason I am not an algebraic geometer.

I suggest your question would be better approached from such a standpoint. If there are mathematicians out there who also know some linguistics, they may be able to explain why some concepts were developed earlier in certain cultures than in others. My guess is that a particular problem or subarea of research develops because someone is interested in it, and that the culture of the developer(s) sometimes plays a role in how that development is expressed. In other words, if I really wanted to be an algebraic geometer, being Texan shouldn't also be a hindrance, and might bring some (more) flavor to the subject.

Something that might be revealing and helpful is the following: what languages are easier (or preferred or more natural) to use to motivate, teach, enlighten people about calculus? Or the (Skolem?) paradox that in set theory there is a countable model of the reals? Or algebraic geometry?

Gerhard "Ask Me About System Design" Paseman, 2010.04.11