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Indo-European Roots

Indo-European Roots. Amanda Fogarty. EN 307. A Brief History. 18 th century mercantilism and colonialism = introduction of Sanskrit to European scholars Similarities between Sanskrit and European languages proved the existence of a common language

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Indo-European Roots

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  1. Indo-European Roots Amanda Fogarty EN 307

  2. A Brief History... • 18th century mercantilism and colonialism = introduction of Sanskrit to European • scholars • Similarities between Sanskrit and European languages proved the existence of a • common language • Early 19th century scholars analyzed the languages’ similarities in attempts to • reconstruct the prehistoric language, now called Indo-European N -- Scandinavia Iceland, Ireland -- W E – India S – Greece, Italy

  3. Dialects/Branches of Indo-European still represented today:

  4. A Closer Look at English... • Most prevalent member of Indo-European family • Extensive borrowing from German and Romance neighbors, Latin, Greek, and • others • Loss of much of original Old English vocabulary • Due to borrowing from other Indo-European languages, English still contains over • 50% Indo-European roots • First 100 most frequent words in the English language are native Indo-European, • and 83 of the second 100

  5. How Does Reconstruction Work? • Comparative method -- look at words in various related languages and find recurring • patterns to assist in finding the root word • Example: “daughter-in-law” • What is the Indo-European root?

  6. snusos (f.) • Sn- • Sanskrit, Germanic, and Slavic show the common Indo-European sn- beginning • In other Latin, Greek, and Armenian words, initial Indo-European s was lost before -n; • we can assume this word follows suit • Regularity of sound correspondences • -u- • Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, and Armenian agree in using -u- • In other words, Slavic -u- corresponds to Sanskrit -u- and Old English -o- has undergone • a change from earlier -u- • -s- • Sanskrit -s- changes to -s- when preceded by -u- • Slavic -s- changes to -kh- after -u- • In Latin always and in some Germanic cases, intervocalic -s- changes to -r- • In Greek and Armenian, intervocalic -s- disappears • Ending • Sanskrit, Old English, and Slavic endings suggest feminine ending • Latin, Greek, and Armenian have irregular (and therefore inherited) feminine endings

  7. Useful Terminology • Apocope: the deletion of a vowel at the end of a word • Ex: nama name • Grimm’s Law: Great Vowel Shift:

  8. My Own Version of Reconstruction... Indo-European Present-Day English RootWord Albh  Alp  Alf ælf (OE) Elf apocope Grimm’s Law Great Vowel Shift deupaz (Germ.)  deop (OE) Deep Grimm’s Law finthan (Germ.)  findan (OE) Find Grimm’s Law, Great Vowel Shift Albho (“white”)  Dheubh (“deep”)  Pent (“to tread, go) 

  9. THE END

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