Indo-European

languages
 The birthplace of Indo-European

• David Reich (2018), noting the presence of some Indo-European

languages (such as Hittite) in parts of ancient Anatolia, argues that

"the most likely location of the population that first spoke an Indo-

European language was south of the Caucasus Mountains, perhaps

in present-day Iran or Armenia,

 Indo-European languages
• The Indo-European language family - The Indo-European languages all
originated from a common language called proto-Indo-European. It was spoken in
the area north of the Black Sea sometime around 4500-2500 BC. Speakers of this
language migrated to many different parts of Europe and Asia. As time progressed,
the languages spoken by these different groups slowly mutated. Eventually, people
from these different groups were no longer able to understand each other's
languages. This is how the various branches of the Indo-European language family
formed. here are about 147 languages families in the world.
• Family of languages with the greatest number of speakers,

spoken in most of Europe and areas of European settlement and

in much of southwestern and southern Asia. They are originated
from a single unrecorded language believed to have been
spoken more than 5,000 years ago in the steppe regions north of
the Black Sea and to have split into a number of dialects by
3000 bc. Carried by migrating tribes to Europe and Asia, these
developed over time into separate languages.
• The main branches are Anatolian, Indo-Iranian (including Indo-Aryan and
Iranian), Greek, Italic, Germanic, Armenian, Celtic, Albanian, the
inexistent Tocharian languages, Baltic, and Slavic. The study of Indo-European
began in 1786 with Sir William Jones’s proposal that Greek, Latin, Sanskrit,
Germanic, and Celtic were all derived from a “common source.” In the 19th
century linguists added other languages to the Indo-European family, and
scholars such as Rasmus Rask established a system of sound correspondences.
Proto-Indo-European has since been partially reconstructed via identification
of roots common to its issues and analysis of shared grammatical patterns.
• The Indo-European Languages are a family of related languages that today are widely spoken in
the Americas, Europe, and also Western and Southern Asia.

• The hypothesis that this was so was first proposed by Sir William Jones, who noticed similarities
between four of the oldest languages known in his time: Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, and Persian.

• The common ancestral (reconstructed) language is called Proto-Indo-European (PIE), which is

no longer spoken.

• The Indo-European family of languages is the second-oldest in the world, only behind the
Afroasiatic family (which includes the languages of ancient Egypt and early Semitic languages).

• It has the largest number of speakers of all language families as well as the widest spreading
around the world.
• The family of Indo-European languages is a collection of several
hundred languages, including the majority of languages spoken in
Europe, the plateau of Iran and the subcontinent of India, that share a
considerable common vocabulary and linguistic features. These shared
traits have led many scholars to believe that these languages derive from
a common ancestor, usually designated Indo-European or Proto-Indo-
European (or PIE). Among the most famous languages that belong to
this group are English, French, German, Greek, Hindi-Urdu, Italian,
Latin, Persian (Farsi), Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit and Spanish.
• The various subgroups of the Indo-European family include:
• Indo-Iranian languages (includes Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, Persian etc.)
• Italic languages (including Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages)
• Germanic languages
• Celtic languages
• Baltic languages
• Slavic languages
• Illyrian languages (extinct)
• Albanian language (and extinct cousins)
• Anatolian languages (extinct, most notable was the language of the Hittites)
• Tocharian languages (extinct tongues of Tocharians)
• Greek language
• Armenian language

• Some of the most commonly spoken Indo-European Languages in the modern world are Spanish,

English, Hindustani, Portuguese, Russian, Punjabi, and Bengali.

• Anatolian

• Now extinct, Anatolian languages were spoken during the 1st and 2nd
millennia bce in what is presently Asian Turkey and northern Syria. By far the
best-known Anatolian language is Hittite, the official language of the Hittite
empire, which flourished in the 2nd millennium. Very few Hittite texts were
known before 1906, and their interpretation as Indo-European was not
generally accepted until after 1915; the combination of Hittite data into Indo-
European comparative grammar was, therefore, one of the principal
developments of Indo-European studies in the 20th century. The oldest Hittite
texts date from the 17th century bce, the latest from approximately 1200 bce.
• Indo-Iranian

• Indo-Iranian comprises two main subbranches, Indo-Aryan (Indic) and Iranian. Indo-Aryan languages have

been spoken in what is now northern and central India and Pakistan since before 1000 bce. Aside from a very

poorly known dialect spoken in or near northern Iraq during the 2nd millennium bce, the oldest record of an

Indo-Aryan language is the Vedic Sanskrit of the Rigveda, the oldest of the holy scriptures of India, dating

roughly from 1000 bce. Examples of modern Indo-Aryan languages are Hindi, Bengali, Sinhalese (spoken in

Sri Lanka), and the many dialects of Romany, the language of the Roma.

• Iranian languages were spoken in the 1st millennium bce in present-day Iran and Afghanistan and also in the

steppes to the north, from modern Hungary to East (Chinese) Turkistan (now Xinjiang). The only well-known

ancient varieties of Iranian languages are Avestan, the holy language of the Zoroastrians (Parsis), and Old

Persian, the official language of Darius I (ruled 522–486 bce) and Xerxes I (486–465 bce) and their

successors. Among the modern Iranian languages are Persian (Fārsī), Pashto (Afghan), Kurdish, and Ossetic.
• Greek, despite its numerous dialects, has been a single language throughout its history.
It has been spoken in Greece since at least 1600 bce and, in all probability, since the
end of the 3rd millennium bce. The earliest texts are the Linear B tablets, some of
which may date from as far back as 1400 bce (the date is disputed) and some of which
certainly date to 1200 bce. This material, very sparse and difficult to interpret, was not
identified as Greek until 1952. The Homeric epics—the Iliad and the Odyssey,
probably dating from the 8th century bce—are the oldest texts of any bulk.

• Armenian, like Greek, is a single language. Speakers of Armenian are recorded as

being in what now constitutes eastern Turkey and Armenia as early as the 6th century
bce, but the oldest Armenian texts date from the 5th century ce.
• Italic

• The principal language of the Italic group is Latin, originally the

speech of the city of Rome and the ancestor of the modern Romance
languages: Italian, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and so
on. The earliest Latin words apparently date from the 6th century bce,
with literature beginning in the 3rd century. Scholars are not in
agreement as to how many other ancient languages of Italy and Sicily
belong in the same branch as Latin.
• Germanic

• In the middle of the 1st millennium bce, Germanic tribes lived

in southern Scandinavia and northern Germany. Their
expansions and migrations from the 2nd century bce onward are
largely recorded in history. The oldest Germanic language of
which much is known is the Gothic of the 4th century ce. Other
languages include English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish,
Norwegian, and Icelandic.
• Tocharian

• The Tocharian languages, now extinct, were spoken in the Tarim Basin (in present-day
northwestern China) during the 1st millennium ce. Two separate languages are known,
labeled A (East Tocharian, or Turfanian) and B (West Tocharian, or Kuchean). One
group of travel permits for caravans can be dated to the early 7th century, and it appears
that other texts date from the same or from neighbouring centuries. These languages
became known to scholars only in the first decade of the 20th century. They have been less
important for Indo-European studies than Hittite has been, partly because their testimony
about the Indo-European parent language is obscured by 2,000 more years of change and
partly because Tocharian testimony fits fairly well with that of the previously known non-
Anatolian languages.
• Celtic languages were spoken in the last centuries before the
Common Era (also called the Christian Era) over a wide area of
Europe, from Spain and Britain to the Balkans, with one group
(the Galatians) even in Asia Minor. Very little of the Celtic of
that time and the ensuing centuries has survived, and this branch
is known almost entirely from the Insular Celtic languages—
Irish, Welsh, and others—spoken in and near the British Isles,
as recorded from the 8th century ce onward.
• Balto-Slavic

• The grouping of Baltic and Slavic into a single branch is somewhat controversial, but the exclusively
shared features offset the separations. At the beginning of the Common Era, Baltic and Slavic tribes
occupied a large area of eastern Europe, east of the Germanic tribes and north of the Iranians, including
much of present-day Poland and the states of Belarus, Ukraine, and westernmost Russia. The Slavic
area was in all likelihood relatively small, perhaps centred in what is now southern Poland. But in the 5th
century ce the Slavs began expanding in all directions. By the end of the 20th century Slavic languages
were spoken throughout much of eastern Europe and northern Asia. The Baltic-speaking area,
however, contracted, and by the end of the 20th century Baltic languages were confined to Lithuania and
Latvia.

• The earliest Slavic texts, written in a dialect called Old Church Slavonic, date from the 9th century ce,
the oldest substantial material in Baltic dates to the end of the 14th century, and the oldest connected texts
to the 16th century.
• Albanian, the language of the present-day republic of Albania, is
known from the 15th century ce. It presumably continues one of the very
poorly attested ancient Indo-European languages of the Balkan
Peninsula, but which one is not clear.

• In addition to the principal branches just listed, there are several poorly
documented extinct languages of which enough is known to be sure that
they were Indo-European and that they did not belong in any of the
groups enumerated above (e.g., Phrygian, Macedonian). Of a few, too
little is known to be sure whether they were Indo-European or not.
• The result today, some 5,000 years later, is what we call the INDO-
EUROPEAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES, consisting of two main divisions
(Western and Eastern), each language including a number of major
subfamilies or branches (Germanic, Italic, Indo-Iranian, etc.). The terminology
and system of classification may vary somewhat from one authority to the
next, but there is general agreement on all the essential features. For our
present purposes, it is not important to know the details of this complex
system, provided we grasp the basic principles and understand the relative
positions of Greek, Latin, and English within the vast language family.
• EASTERN DIVISION of Indo-European, whose branches
include Balto-Slavic (Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbo-
Croatian, etc.); Indo-Iranian (ancient Sanskrit, modern
Hindi, Bengali, Persian, Afghan, etc.); Armenian and
Albanian. Suffice it to say that English is at least distantly
related to all these languages.
• WESTERN DIVISION of Indo-European, which comprises four parallel branches:
1. Hellenic: Ancient Greek; Modern Greek

Latin; Romance languages: Italian, Spanish, French,

2. Italic:
Portuguese, Romanian, Provençal, etc.

English, German, Dutch, Flemish, Swedish, Danish,

3. Germanic:
Norwegian, Icelandic
4. Celtic: Irish, Gaelic, Manx; Welsh, Cornish, Breton

• These four branches or subfamilies developed, over many centuries, from four
prehistoric proto-languages, which themselves had evolved from the common Indo-
European tongue. There has often been contact among the subfamilies, and none of
them has been protected to external influence. Still, this does not change the fact that
English is a Germanic language, whereas Latin and French are Italic.
 Origins of the Germanic Language Group

• The Germanic group of languages belongs to the larger Indo-European language family, which
includes an collection of languages spoken from India to Europe. Scholars believe that the ancient
tribes of northern Europe, who lived around 3,000 years ago, spoke a common ancestral language
referred to as Proto-Indo-European (PIE). As these tribes migrated and interacted with various
cultures, the Proto-Indo-European language changed and eventually split into different language
branches, one of which was the Germanic branch.

• The Germanic branch further divided into three main groups: East Germanic languages, which
included languages like Gothic (now extinct); North Germanic languages, comprising Old Norse
(spoken by the Vikings) and its modern descendants like Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian; and West
Germanic languages, which gave rise to languages such as Old High German, High, Low-Old English,
and Old Low Franconian.
Group of Germanic languages
• West Germanic Languages

• The West Germanic branch is the largest and most widely spoken among the Germanic

languages. It includes several languages, some of which are major world languages today:

• German (Deutsch) - As the official language of Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein, and one

of the official languages of Switzerland, German boasts over 90 million native speakers. It is a

significant global language and is widely studied for its cultural and economic importance.

• English - With over 360 million native speakers and millions more as a second language,

English is arguably one of the most influential languages worldwide. It serves as the primary

language of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and

numerous other countries and territories.

• Dutch (Nederlands) - Spoken in the Netherlands, Belgium (Flemish), and Suriname,

Dutch is the native language of over 24 million people. It shares similarities with German

and English, making it relatively accessible for speakers of these languages.

• Afrikaans - Derived from Dutch, Afrikaans is primarily spoken in South Africa and

Namibia. It is the third-most-spoken language in South Africa and serves as a symbol of the

nation's diverse cultural heritage.

• Yiddish - Historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews, Yiddish blends elements of German,

Hebrew, and Slavic languages. While its use has declined, it still holds cultural significance

for Jewish communities around the world.

• North Germanic Languages

• The North Germanic branch consists of languages spoken predominantly in the Nordic countries:

• Danish (Dansk) - As the official language of Denmark, Danish is spoken by over 6 million people. It shares

linguistic similarities with Swedish and Norwegian, enabling communication among speakers of these languages.

• Swedish (Svenska) - The official language of Sweden and spoken by over 10 million people, Swedish also serves

as one of the official languages of Finland.

• Norwegian (Norsk) - With over 5 million speakers, Norwegian is the official language of Norway. Interestingly,

there are two written forms of Norwegian: Bokmål and Nynorsk, each representing different historical dialects.

• Icelandic (Íslenska) - Icelandic is known for its remarkably well-preserved Old Norse heritage, making it

somewhat mutually intelligible with Old Norse texts. It is the official language of Iceland.

• Faroese (Føroyskt) - Spoken by around 80,000 people in the Faroe Islands, Faroese also traces its roots back to

Old Norse.
• East Germanic Languages

• The East Germanic branch, unlike the other branches, includes languages that are now extinct. It historically comprised several

languages spoken in areas now encompassed by Eastern Europe:

• Gothic - Gothic, spoken by the Goths in the early medieval period, is the earliest attested Germanic language. Although it is no

longer spoken, its written records remain valuable for understanding the early development of the Germanic languages.

• The Germanic language group stands as a testament to the interconnectedness of human history and the complexity of language

development. From the ancient roots of Proto-Indo-European to the emergence of Old High German and the lasting influence of

Old Norse, the journey of the group of Germanic languages has been both captivating and influential.

• The formation of modern High German, with its rich literary heritage and widespread usage, showcases the resilience and

adaptability of languages to the changing waves of time.

• In our days the Germanic language group is a fascinating collection of languages that share common roots and historical

connections. From the widely spoken English and German to the lesser-known Yiddish and Faroese, these languages have

contributed to the rich linguistic tapestry of Europe and beyond. Each language within the Germanic branch continues to shape

and evolve, reflecting the ongoing interplay between cultural heritage and contemporary global interactions.