The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European RootsThere 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 xiv
Radar ( radio detecting and ranging ) and scuba ( self - contained underwater breathing apparatus ) are acrostics , words fashioned from the first letters of the words they represent . Chortle ( by Lewis Carroll ) is a fusion of chuckle ...
Radar ( radio detecting and ranging ) and scuba ( self - contained underwater breathing apparatus ) are acrostics , words fashioned from the first letters of the words they represent . Chortle ( by Lewis Carroll ) is a fusion of chuckle ...
Page xv
Ideas and experiences are infinite ; to express them , we have 26 letters and some 45 sounds . Some words , though long , are easy to trace . An electroencephalogram is the writing ( gram , graph ) of the electric movements of the brain ...
Ideas and experiences are infinite ; to express them , we have 26 letters and some 45 sounds . Some words , though long , are easy to trace . An electroencephalogram is the writing ( gram , graph ) of the electric movements of the brain ...
Page xviii
German Theater and French théâtre begin with the same two letters as English theater , but their sound is t , as opposed to our th . In earlier English , such words as author and Catholic were spoken with a t sound , as we still say ...
German Theater and French théâtre begin with the same two letters as English theater , but their sound is t , as opposed to our th . In earlier English , such words as author and Catholic were spoken with a t sound , as we still say ...
Page xix
Within a word , the two letters may be sounded : agnostic , recognize ; one is silent at the end , as in benign , but note malignant . German Knabe : boy , with the k sounded , became English knave , with silent k .
Within a word , the two letters may be sounded : agnostic , recognize ; one is silent at the end , as in benign , but note malignant . German Knabe : boy , with the k sounded , became English knave , with silent k .
Page xxii
And some letters retained in today's spelling may no longer be sounded , though their reten- tion helps us to trace their story . ... Indeed , every letter of the alphabet is silent in some word : a , instead ; b , debt ;.
And some letters retained in today's spelling may no longer be sounded , though their reten- tion helps us to trace their story . ... Indeed , every letter of the alphabet is silent in some word : a , instead ; b , debt ;.
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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
ancient animal applied bhel bird called caput coined columns comes compounds dheigh dheigh N dheu earlier early earth element ending England English especially figuratively four French frequent genus gher gives Greek hand head hence horse human imitative Italy John King kleu known Latin letters lists literally live Lord meaning meant nebh Note one's onomen originally perhaps person plant play plek Possibly prefix probably Roman root says sense Shakespeare shape song sound speaks stand ster suer term things tree turn ueid usually whence woman words beginning
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots |
| Author | Joseph Twadell Shipley |
| Edition | reprint |
| Publisher | JHU Press, 2001 |
| ISBN | 0801867843, 9780801867842 |
| Length | 672 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |