This
image was copied from http/cofah.utsa.edu/drinka/pie/index.htmlJonathan P. Cooke
Needham High School
7/16/99
A Self-Tutorial on Historical Linguistics Using Proto-Indo-European Websites and Related Linguistics and History of English Sites
*This
image was copied from http/cofah.utsa.edu/drinka/pie/index.html
I. Historical Language Trees
All of the world's languages are descended from more ancient languages spoken thousands of years ago. Many languages that we today find to be very different are in fact descended from the same original root language, just as many people are descendants of one common ancestor in a family tree.
English, along with many of the languages of Europe, parts of Asia, and India are descendants of the same common ancestor language spoken perhaps 7,000 to 9,000 years ago: Proto-Indo-European. The discovery of these connections among languages, and the exploration of the historical changes in languages, cultures and peoples is one of the great detective stories of the 19th and 20th Centuries. The study of languages, their changes, uses and connections, is called Linguistics, and the persons who study this area are called Linguists.
As a beginning in your study of historical linguisitics, and specifically the languages descended from the ancient ancestor language Proto-Indo-European (PIE), choose two of the language trees listed below and view and study them on the Internet. Pay close attention to how the English language fits into this family tree of languages. Also take a look at how the second language that you are learning (Latin, Spanish, German, French) fits into the language tree.
Assignment for homework: Using the Clarisworks program, or another program like Inspiration (for graphic organizers), draw or re-create, in what ever artistic format you desire, the family tree of languages that you have studied from the internet. You do not need to include the following languages on your tree, but all others should be represented: Faliscan, Osco-Umbrian (extinct languages of the ancient Italian peninsula); Arcadian, Aeolic, Ionic, Doric (extinct languages of ancient Greece); Persian, Pashto, Baluchi (extinct languages of ancient Persia); Hittite, Lydian, Palaic, Lycian and Luwian (extinct languages of the Anatolian peninsula--present day Turkey), and Marathi, Gujarti, Punjabi, and Sinhalese (some of the lesser spoken languages of India).
II. A Brief Historical Analysis of Proto-Indo-European and Its Ancient Speakers
Now that you have a beginning graphic understanding of the history and family tree of Proto-Indo-European, choose and read three of the brief Internet articles below, and outline the important points from each in writing.
Assignment for Homework: Next visit the interactive demonstration and exploration website on Indo-European at http://cofah.utsa.edu/drinka/pie/index.html. Explore this website. Using your notes and what you have learned from your exploration of Indo-European resources on the Internet, create your own slide show of at least three slides in which you explore three of the most interesting points you have discovered about the history and development of Indo-European languages and the people who spoke--and speak--them. For your slide show, use the Clarisworks program or some equivalent.
III. Methods that Linguists Use in Their Study of Languages and Their Histories
Linguistics--the study of human languages--is a complex and highly specialized area of study. Like any area of study, linguists have methods that they use to explore the issues of language in which they are interested.
The websites below describe briefly some of the methods that linguists use in general, and some of the particular methods they have used in discovering the connections between and among the many and varied Indo-European languages. Choose three of these websites to explore, and take notes in which you outline the important and most interesting aspects of the methods that linguists use in conducting their detective work.
Assignment for homework: Consult the website at http://www.wilpaterson.edu/courses/eng150/ho1.htm, which contains a collection of examples of comparitive words in different ancient and current Indo-European languages. You may also find the websites at II (1) and (2), above, and V (1), below, helpful. Using Clarisworks Spreadsheet, create your own analytical spreadsheet in which you represent at least 15 words from 3 different languages, showing the linguistic comparisons between each. For each of the 15 words, explain in one sentence why the thing described by the word in particular (i.e., "night", "hand", "mother") might have remained similar in each of these languages, and why it might have changed somewhat.
IV. Linguistics as a Tool for Studying History, Human Migration, and Culture
The above image was copied from http://www.friesian.com/upan.htm#steppe
The study of historical linguistics is interesting in and of itself, but it also is an important and useful tool that enables scholars to study many aspects of history, human migration, and human cultures. Connections between languages, and evidence of one language affecting or influencing another, can be critical clues to the migration patterns of ancient as well as more recent human groups and cultures. Connections between and among different cultures are also discoverable through the examination of linguistic connections and influences.
The above image was copied from http://www.friesian.com/upan.htm#steppe
The following websites present some very interesting information on this topic, including maps and other representations of the history and migration of humans over time:
V. Summing Up
The following are good summing up resources that you may now be ready to tackle. The first is a helpful discussion of over 20 current and extinct Indo-European languages that puts the connection between these languages in context. Some interesting material on some non-Indo-European languages is included as well. The second is a very scholoarly article from the magazine Scientific American on current issues in Indo-European linguistics studies. The third is an edition of a linguistics magazine put together by high school students.
VI. The English Language in the Context of Historical Proto-Indo- European Studies: History of English Pages
http://www.bluerider.com/english/: The above image was copied from this site.
The following websites on the history of English are helpful in terms of putting the current English language spoken today into the context of historical linguistic studies on Proto-Indo-European and its progeny. They also contain some interesting links to related areas, and some interesting material on the current dialectical aspects of the present day changing landscape of the English spoken in different parts of the world.
VII. Miscellaneous
Here are some miscellaneous sites that I did not fit into the above analysis, but which may be of some future use, and that I wanted to save, and not throw away.
