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 xiii
This meaning is traced to the prolific root gen , to know . Then there is to con , to swindle : they conned him out of his sweepstakes winnings . This is a shortening of confidence game , in which the confidence man , con man , seeks to ...
This meaning is traced to the prolific root gen , to know . Then there is to con , to swindle : they conned him out of his sweepstakes winnings . This is a shortening of confidence game , in which the confidence man , con man , seeks to ...
Page xiv
Greek logos ( word , talk , reason , logic ) provides many English words end- ingin ( o ) logy , meaning the study of . Gynecology is the ( medical ) study of women . An androgyne is a man with marked characteristics of a woman ...
Greek logos ( word , talk , reason , logic ) provides many English words end- ingin ( o ) logy , meaning the study of . Gynecology is the ( medical ) study of women . An androgyne is a man with marked characteristics of a woman ...
Page xv
The form anther has come unchanged into English , meaning the organ of a flower that secretes its pollen . Anth or anthem occurs at the beginning , middle , or end of numerous flower names . Polyanthus names the primrose family - but ...
The form anther has come unchanged into English , meaning the organ of a flower that secretes its pollen . Anth or anthem occurs at the beginning , middle , or end of numerous flower names . Polyanthus names the primrose family - but ...
Page xviii
Thus the root pleu ( meaning flow ) through Greek and Latin gave English pluvial and plutocracy ; from Germanic flug came flow , flee , flight . The k to kh sound shift appears in Spanish caballo , French cheval , English cavalry and ...
Thus the root pleu ( meaning flow ) through Greek and Latin gave English pluvial and plutocracy ; from Germanic flug came flow , flee , flight . The k to kh sound shift appears in Spanish caballo , French cheval , English cavalry and ...
Page xx
Contrariwise , the one sound mean , according to its meaning , has grown from three roots : medhyo ( the golden mean , median ) ; mei ( low , nasty ) ; and meino ( denote ) . Confounded Sounds Some consonantal sounds are not part of the ...
Contrariwise , the one sound mean , according to its meaning , has grown from three roots : medhyo ( the golden mean , median ) ; mei ( low , nasty ) ; and meino ( denote ) . Confounded Sounds Some consonantal sounds are not part of the ...
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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 |