The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European RootsJHU Press, 2001 - 672 pages There are no direct records of the original Indo-European speech. By comparing the vocabularies of its various descendants, however, it is possible to reconstruct the basic Indo-European roots with considerable confidence. In The Origins of English Words, Shipley catalogues these proposed roots and follows the often devious, always fascinating, process by which some of their offshoots have grown. Anecdotal, eclectic, and always enthusiastic, The Origins of English Words is a diverting expedition beyond linguistics into literature, history, folklore, anthropology, philosophy, and science. |
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Page xvi
... bird named in Arabic al qadus ( al is Arabic for the : the famous caliph Harun al Rashid , of the Arabian Nights , is Aaron the Upright ) became Portuguese alcatraz , which we re- tain as the name of an island prison ; but the color of ...
... bird named in Arabic al qadus ( al is Arabic for the : the famous caliph Harun al Rashid , of the Arabian Nights , is Aaron the Upright ) became Portuguese alcatraz , which we re- tain as the name of an island prison ; but the color of ...
Page xxi
... bird . Thrill was earlier thyrl . In cur- rent use are the cardinal number three and the ordinal third ( not thrid , although Gower in 1393 said that air " is eke the thridde element " : earth , water , air , fire ) . Cardinal is a good ...
... bird . Thrill was earlier thyrl . In cur- rent use are the cardinal number three and the ordinal third ( not thrid , although Gower in 1393 said that air " is eke the thridde element " : earth , water , air , fire ) . Cardinal is a good ...
Page xxii
... bird , ( 3 ) a flower , ( 4 ) a fish - which seems oceans away from a door hinge . Germanic flug became fugl , whence our fowl . Vogel is German for bird . Latin scintilla came directly into English , giving us scintillate as well ; by ...
... bird , ( 3 ) a flower , ( 4 ) a fish - which seems oceans away from a door hinge . Germanic flug became fugl , whence our fowl . Vogel is German for bird . Latin scintilla came directly into English , giving us scintillate as well ; by ...
Page xxv
... bird's call ) . Others have been modified along the way from Indo - European to bring them nearer the speaker's idea of the sound . The root pneu : breath , gives us , via Greek , pneumatic , pneumonia , etc .; but the Germanic form ...
... bird's call ) . Others have been modified along the way from Indo - European to bring them nearer the speaker's idea of the sound . The root pneu : breath , gives us , via Greek , pneumatic , pneumonia , etc .; but the Germanic form ...
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The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots Joseph Twadell Shipley No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
ambhi bhag bhel bher bhes bheu bhili bhreg called caput coined columns compounds deik dekm dheigh N dheigh N 13 dhel dheu eghs element ending English folk etymology folkchanged French genus gerbh ghdhem gher goddess Greek guei guel hence ieug imitative jing kapr kel VIII King kleu ksei ksun kuei kuetuer labh Latin leguh leuk literally Love's Labor's Lost meaning medhi morui nebh nekut neuos oino onomen pilo plek pleu prefix relevant words beginning Roman root sek II seku Shakespeare skeu slang smer sner song sound spek sphei ster steu suer suffix tag II tereq teue tragh uegh ueid ueik ueks uelu uer II uerg uiro W. S. Gilbert whence
References to this book
Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing Michael Winkelman No preview available - 2000 |
The Mystery to a Solution: Poe, Borges, and the Analytic Detective Story John T. Irwin Limited preview - 1994 |