Examination and comparision of the different languages that are spoken in the various countries of Europe and Asia have led scholars to postulate the existence of several languages in this part of the globe in ancient times. The most important of these language groups are Indo-European, Hamito-Semitic, Sino-Tibetan and Dravidian. These are the languages of Africa, Australia and America all of which belong to different families.
The genealogical table is given below:-
The Indo-European language is the original parent of modern English. A comparison of words from a number of living languages and a few dead languages suggest the existence of a common language from which all these languages were descended. This common ancestor is Indo-Eurpoean. It is so called because the languages of many countries extending from India to the east of England on the west are descended from it. It is also called Indo-Germanic because German scholars first made an elaborate comparative study of those languages. English, German, Dutch, Norse and other languages have been grouped together as close connections by birth, so have various other tongues been similarly grouped. Thus there are the Celtic, the Italic and the Slavonic groups or families. In comparatively modem times French, Italian and Spanish have been developed out of one primitive Teutonic tongue. lrish, Gaelic and the language of the Bretons come from a primitive Celtic tongue Further, the investigation of philologists show that the primitive Italic, Teutonic and many other tongues were evolved in the remote past from Indo-European or Aryan.
English language belongs to the great Indo-European family, and it is therefore related to most other languages of Eurpoe and Western Asia from India to lceland on the East, North and South America on the West, and parts of Africa on the South. These languages, nearly or distantly related, all derive and descend from the parent language called Indo-European, Indo-Germanic or Aryan which was spoken five thousand years ago by Nomads living in the plains of what is now Southern Russia. From Indo-European to modern English by way of Common Germanic, West Germanic, Anglo-Trisian Old English and Middle English, the English language has shown a gradual process of simplification.
The Indo-European family had eight branches of which Greek and Germanic were two, the other six being Indo-Iranian, Armenian, Albanian, Latin, Celtic and Dalto-Slavonic. Germanic (also called Teutonic) showed three geographical divisions. East Germanic, North Germanic and West Germanic (German, Dutch, Flemish, Trisian and English).
Of all the languages descended from Indo-Eurpoean, English has had most contacts with its kindreds near and far. English is descended from Indo-European and is related to other languages of the family. Primitive Germanic is a hypothetical language of which we have no record. The West Germanic is a collective name for group of allied languages. The other two groups are East Germanic and Scandinavian.
As these languages are descended from a common stock, it is but natural to expect that there should be some words common in them. Thus where English has bread, book arnd wife, German has brod, brotch and Weib. English Son is Dutch zoon, German Sohn and Danish Son. Such similar pairs or groups of words in related languages coming down trom a common mother-speech are known as cognates. Cognates are found among more distantly related languages too. Thus English mother is cognate with Latin mater and Sanskrit matre, English brother is cognate with Latin frater and Sanskrit bhratar. English fish and Latin piscis are cognates.
The first four branches of Indo-European are known as the Eastern group and the last four as Western. The main points of distinction between Germanic and other branches of the Indo-European tongue are:
The genealogical table is given below:-
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| Genealogical chart |
The Indo-European language is the original parent of modern English. A comparison of words from a number of living languages and a few dead languages suggest the existence of a common language from which all these languages were descended. This common ancestor is Indo-Eurpoean. It is so called because the languages of many countries extending from India to the east of England on the west are descended from it. It is also called Indo-Germanic because German scholars first made an elaborate comparative study of those languages. English, German, Dutch, Norse and other languages have been grouped together as close connections by birth, so have various other tongues been similarly grouped. Thus there are the Celtic, the Italic and the Slavonic groups or families. In comparatively modem times French, Italian and Spanish have been developed out of one primitive Teutonic tongue. lrish, Gaelic and the language of the Bretons come from a primitive Celtic tongue Further, the investigation of philologists show that the primitive Italic, Teutonic and many other tongues were evolved in the remote past from Indo-European or Aryan.
English language belongs to the great Indo-European family, and it is therefore related to most other languages of Eurpoe and Western Asia from India to lceland on the East, North and South America on the West, and parts of Africa on the South. These languages, nearly or distantly related, all derive and descend from the parent language called Indo-European, Indo-Germanic or Aryan which was spoken five thousand years ago by Nomads living in the plains of what is now Southern Russia. From Indo-European to modern English by way of Common Germanic, West Germanic, Anglo-Trisian Old English and Middle English, the English language has shown a gradual process of simplification.
The Indo-European family had eight branches of which Greek and Germanic were two, the other six being Indo-Iranian, Armenian, Albanian, Latin, Celtic and Dalto-Slavonic. Germanic (also called Teutonic) showed three geographical divisions. East Germanic, North Germanic and West Germanic (German, Dutch, Flemish, Trisian and English).
Of all the languages descended from Indo-Eurpoean, English has had most contacts with its kindreds near and far. English is descended from Indo-European and is related to other languages of the family. Primitive Germanic is a hypothetical language of which we have no record. The West Germanic is a collective name for group of allied languages. The other two groups are East Germanic and Scandinavian.
As these languages are descended from a common stock, it is but natural to expect that there should be some words common in them. Thus where English has bread, book arnd wife, German has brod, brotch and Weib. English Son is Dutch zoon, German Sohn and Danish Son. Such similar pairs or groups of words in related languages coming down trom a common mother-speech are known as cognates. Cognates are found among more distantly related languages too. Thus English mother is cognate with Latin mater and Sanskrit matre, English brother is cognate with Latin frater and Sanskrit bhratar. English fish and Latin piscis are cognates.
The first four branches of Indo-European are known as the Eastern group and the last four as Western. The main points of distinction between Germanic and other branches of the Indo-European tongue are:
- In Germanic the stress in a word tended to fall on the root syllable ;
- Germanic evolved a two-tense system in verbs;
- The Germanic had strong and weak verbs and had weak declension of adjectives.
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