1. How words diverge from a common root
Indo-European Roots
How words diverge from a common root

2. Similarities Between Languages
Chance/Accidental
Universal Features of Human Language
-ex. Cuckoo and ruff
Borrowings
-ex. Tortilla
-ex. Latin ad nauseum
-ex. Greek agora

3. Comparative Method “One fact and one hypothesis”
- Fact: Similarities between certain languages are so numerous that there must be another explanation.
- Hypothesis: These languages must derive from a common ancestor.
“Genetically related”

4. “Daughter-in-law” Sanskrit: snusaa* Old English: snoru
Old Church Slavonic: snǔkha
Russian: snokhá
Latin: nurus
Greek: nuós
Armenian: nu

5. The First Consonant(s)

6. First Vowel

7. Consonant following Vowel

8. Ending

9. Accent

10. *snusos = ‘daughter-in-law’
Comparative method explains differences in forms through reconstruction of a prototype
No single language in the Indo-European family preserves word intact from the Proto-Indo-European
Cultural significance

11. Steps of the Comparative Method
1) Assemble cognate lists
2) Establish correspondence sets
3) Discover complements
4) Reconstruct proto-phonemes
5) Examine the reconstructed system

12. Proto-Indo-European PIE roots don’t always resemble modern English
2,000+ IE root words

13. Root: ar- Meaning: to fit together Derivatives: Army Hatred Harmony
Inert
Aristocracy
Adorn
Hatred
Rite
Arithmetic
Rhyme

14. Guess the PIE root Tory Pursuit Rodeo Rotary Rotate Roulette Control
Prune

15. Ret -
To run, roll
1) rota – Latin, wheel
2) rotundus – Latin, round

16. Can You Guess the Modern Words?
THE ROOT
PERD-

17. To Fart Old English: feortan Germanic: fertan Sanskrit: pard
Lithuanian: perdzu
Russian: perdet
To break wind
To fool around;
To fritter away

18. Partridge Middle English: partrich Old French: perdriz Greek: perdix
Portuguese: perdiz
Italian: perdice
“They include primarily the 40 to 45 species of the genera Perdix, Alectoris, and Francolinus” (
Perdix=Genera
The taxonomical ranking
OED: perh
the noise made by the bird as it flies away