Synopses & Reviews
Comprehensive and easy to use, this resource offers numerous cross-references that allow readers to trace English words back to their Indo-European roots. By exhibiting the relationship between English and cognate tongues, it reveals the language's basis in Latin and Greek as well as prior derivations from Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic sources.
Each entry begins with a brief definition and an exact statement of the term's actual (or probable) language of origin. An account of its transition to English usage follows, along with either a few quotations that indicate the period at which the word was adapted, or else the usual Middle-English forms. A helpful Appendix contains a glossary of prefixes, a general accounting of suffixes, a table of Indo-European roots, and vocabularies of homonyms and doublets, in addition to lists showing the distribution of the sources of English.
A standard reference for many years, this volume will prove a practical resource not only to students of comparative philology and of early English, but to everyone with an interest in the origin, history, and development of the English language.
Synopsis
Practical and reliable, this well-known reference traces English words back to their Indo-European roots. Each entry features a brief definition, identifies the actual or probable language of origin, and employs a few quotations that indicate usage and the period at which the word entered into English parlance. Numerous cross-references enable readers to collect all the forms of any given term, and extensive editorial apparatus includes lists of prefixes, suffixes, Indo-European roots, homonyms and doublets, and the distribution of English-language sources. Useful not only to students of comparative philogy and early English, this volume will intrigue everyone with an interest in the origin, history, and development of the English language.
Synopsis
Practical and reliable, this reference traces English words back to their Indo-European roots. Each entry features a brief definition, identifies the language of origin, and employs a few illustrative quotations. An extensive appendix includes lists of prefixes, suffixes, Indo-European roots, homonyms and doublets, and the distribution of English-language sources.