Synopses & Reviews
Fully revised and updated, THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF INDO-EUROPEAN ROOTS remains an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the history of English and its place in the Indo-European language family. More than 13,000 words are traced to their origins in Proto-Indo-European, the prehistoric ancestor of English that was spoken before the advent of writing. In Calvert Watkinss skilled hands, Proto-Indo-European language and society are rendered as alive and compelling as they must have been six thousand years ago. His introductory essay shows how words in an unrecorded ancient language can be reconstructed and offers a wealth of fascinating information about Proto-Indo-European culture. The dictionary that follows contains nearly 1,350 reconstructed roots, plus two dozen new Language and Culture” notes that explore interesting sidelights to the etymologies presented in many entries.
Synopsis
The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, Third Edition traces over 13,000 words representing nearly 1,350 basic roots to their origins in Proto-Indo-European, the prehistoric ancestor of English. It is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the history of English and its place within the Indo-European language family.
Synopsis
Fully revised and updated based on the latest linguistic research, the American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, Third Edition by distinguished professor Calvert Watkins traces over 13,000 words representing nearly 1,350 basic roots to their origins in Proto-Indo-European, the prehistoric ancestor of English. The dictionary includes an introductory essay by Dr. Watkins, explaining how it is possible to reconstruct the words of an ancient and unwritten language and describing what scholars have discovered about Proto-Indo-European culture. Interspersed throughout the body of the dictionary are Language and Culture notes that provide more detailed information on particularly interesting roots and the vocabulary derived from them. The Dictionary of Indo-European Roots is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the history of English and its place within the Indo-European language family.
About the Author
Calvert Watkins is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Linguistics and the Classics, Emeritus, at Harvard University, and Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Classics and the Program in Indo-European Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He specializes in Indo-European comparative linguistics, especially Latin, Greek, Celtic, Hittite, and comparative morphology and poetics. He wrote the “Appendix of Indo-European Roots” for the first edition of The American Heritage Dictionary and has revised it for the third, fourth, and fifth editions.