The Indo European Language Family

A large group of languages spoken over most of Europe and also in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Northern India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. They developed from a parent language probably spoken somewhere in eastern Europe or Western Asia around 5000 years ago.

An Example of the Evidence: Words for `is’

• German: • Russian • Latin (ancient European language) • Ancient Greek

ist yest est esti

• • Sanskrit (ancient Indian language)

probably was?

asti Can you guess what the original word

An Example of the Evidence: Words for `is’

• German: • Russian • Latin (ancient European language) • Ancient Greek

ist yest est esti

• • Sanskrit (ancient Indian language)

probably was? *esti asti Can you guess what the original word

What the original language might have been like

`Ner owiom r wihnam sebhi gwhermom Man sheep ‘s wool to-himself warm westrom kwerneuti neghi owiom wihna esti.’ clothing makes nor to-sheep wool is Tod kekluwos owis agrom ebhuget.

That having-heard sheep to-plain fled

Branches of Indo-European in Asia

• • •

HITTITE

Turkey) (ancient language once spoken in

TOCHARIAN

(ancient language once spoken in Sinkiang ( 新疆 ))

INDO-IRANIAN

– PERSIAN and similar languages – INDO-ARYAN (languages of northern India and nearby countries)

Uriah the

HITTITE

( 赫人 烏利亞 ) was sent to die in battle by King David so that David could take his wife - Samuel II, 11 ( 撒母耳記下 )

Hittite Writing Method

Chinese Oracle Bone

Mummified body of a

Tocharian

speaker? 1500 B.C.?

A hymn to the god Ganesh from the Rigveda, written in

Sanskrit

, an ancient

INDO-IRANIAN

language

INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES

• • • • • • •

[SANSKRIT] HINDI/URDU NEPALI Bengali Gujarati Marathi Sinhala

What’s your name (in Indo Aryan)

• Sanskrit: Tava nama kim asti?

• Hindi/Urdu: Tumhara nam kya hai?

• Nepali: • Gujarati: Timro nam ke ho?

Tamarun nam shun che ?

European Language Groups

• CELTIC: spoken in small areas of North-Western Europe • SLAVIC: spoken in Eastern Europe • GERMANIC: spoken in Northern Europe • ROMANCE: spoken in Southern Europe

• WELSH • [Cornish] • Breton • IRISH • Gaelic • [Manx] CELTIC

SLAVIC • Russian • Ukranian • Polish • Czech • Bulgarian • SERBO-CROATIAN

• GERMAN • Dutch •

ENGLISH

• Danish • Swedish • Norwegian GERMANIC

COMPARING GERMANIC LANGUAGES • English: The king slept in my house for two nights • Dutch: De koning sliep in mijn huis voor twee nachten.

• German: Der König schlief in meinem Haus für zwei Nächte

• [LATIN] • SPANISH • Portuguese • ITALIAN • FRENCH • Romanian ROMANCE

We love our mother (in Romance) • Latin: nostram matrem amamus • Spanish: Amamos a nuestra madre • Italian: Amiamo la nostra madre • French: Nous aimons notre mère

How Latin may have sounded 2000 years ago

( http://www.rhapsodes.fll.vt.edu/audiofiles/aeneis1.mp3

)

• Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris arms man also sing-I Troy’s who first from shores • Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit Italy-to fate-by refugee Lavinian-also came • litora multum ille et terris iactatus et alto coasts-to much he both land-on harassed and sea-at • vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram.

force-by gods’ cruel memorable Juno’s from anger