The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European RootsJHU Press, 2001 M07 1 - 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. |
From inside the book
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... root. The various additions to our Indo-European heritage from later or alien sources, however, have not basically ... root. This volume lists the most productive of these roots, and notes the various and frequently diverse English words ...
... root. The various additions to our Indo-European heritage from later or alien sources, however, have not basically ... root. This volume lists the most productive of these roots, and notes the various and frequently diverse English words ...
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... 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 chivalry. (The two ...
... 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 chivalry. (The two ...
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... Roots beginning with s before a consonant may lose the s. The root stern: stiff, comes directly into English. But the Germanic form, without the s, applied to prickly plants, became English thorn (originally sounded torn, as a skirt may ...
... Roots beginning with s before a consonant may lose the s. The root stern: stiff, comes directly into English. But the Germanic form, without the s, applied to prickly plants, became English thorn (originally sounded torn, as a skirt may ...
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... root-bulb). Phlebotomy is bloodletting, cutting a vein. Physicians and scientists today are seldom expert in the classical languages, and may blunder in their creation of words. In their Dictionary of Psychological and Psychoanalytical ...
... root-bulb). Phlebotomy is bloodletting, cutting a vein. Physicians and scientists today are seldom expert in the classical languages, and may blunder in their creation of words. In their Dictionary of Psychological and Psychoanalytical ...
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... root may have been transformed during the journey across continents and centuries into English. The body of this book lists the most important and fertile Indo-European roots with the English words they have become and with relevant ...
... root may have been transformed during the journey across continents and centuries into English. The body of this book lists the most important and fertile Indo-European roots with the English words they have become and with relevant ...
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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 associated beauty became bird body called coined color columns comes common compounds Dictionary earlier early earth element ending England English especially figuratively folkchanged four French frequent genus gives Greek hand head hence hold horse human imitative Italy John King known land language later Latin leaves letters light lists literally live Lord mark meaning meant mind nature never Note one’s originally perhaps person pictured plant play Possibly prefix probably referred Roman root says sense Shakespeare shape short shortened song sound speaks stand star suggested term things translation tree turn usually whence woman words beginning wrote young