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1. Word Family - Emerald

   Introduction

   Both Classical Sanskrit 𑀫𑀭𑀓𑀢 marakata: "emerald" and Classical Greek μᾰ́ραγδος máragdos: "emerald" appear to be borrowed from a source like *maraktV.

   This is presumably a form closely related to the Phoenician brqt and Hebrew baréket: "emerald", from *b-r-ḳ: "shining, sparkling". Akkadian cognate baraqu: "shine" instead might have had …

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2. Word Family - Egypt

   December theme: Pre-Classical Mediterranean 🏝

   Teaser

   Ptah, Egypt, Hephaestus

   Full Text

   • Afro-Asiatic *ptḥ to create?, to begin?

     • Egyptian ptḥ Ptah, self-created divinity of craft and creation

       • English Ptah
       • Egyptian ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ Temple of the Soul of Ptah, Memphis

         • Mycenaean Greek *ai-ku-pi-to

           • Ancient Greek Αἴγυπτος Aíguptos Egypt, the Nile

             • Latin Aegyptus Egypt

               • Western …

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3. Word Family - Mummy

   October theme: Ancient Borrowings 𒅴

   Teaser

   mu, mummy

   Full Text

   • Proto-Afro-Asiatic *maʾ-

     • Berber

       • Tashelhit aman water
       • Tuareg ⵎⵏ aman water
     • Chadic

       • West Chadic

         • Tangale am water
     • Egyptian 𓈖 mw water, rain, sea, lake

       • Demotic Egyptian mw

         • Coptic ⲙⲟⲟⲩ moou water
         • Egyptian Arabic امبو ʾumbū water, drink childish
         • Ancient Greek μῦ …

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4. Word Family - Lily

   October theme: Ancient Borrowings 𒅴

   Introduction

   tulips and lilies from Egyptian

   Teaser

   Full Text

   • Afro-Asiatic *ḥrr

     • Egyptian 𓁷:𓂋-𓂋:𓏏-𓆰 ḥrrt flower, blossom

       • Egyptian 𓁹-𓁷:𓂋-𓂋:𓏏-𓆰 jrj-ḥrrt to blossom lit. "make-flower" or "do-flower"
       • Demotic Egyptian ḥrrj flower

         • Coptic ϩⲣⲏⲣⲉ hrēre flower
         • Fayyumic Coptic ϩⲗⲏⲣⲓ hlēri flower

           • Classical Greek λείριον …

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5. Word Family - Mort

   October theme: Mes de Muertos 💀

   Introduction

   I'm not seriously proposing that words for "death" all across the Northern Hemisphere are related, but I'm not entirely not proposing that, or at least that there may be an ancient wander-word (possibly driven by taboo replacement?) that made its way across much Eurasia …

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6. Word Family - Elephant

   October theme: Ancient Borrowings 𒅴

   Teaser

   ivory, elephant

   Full Text

   • Proto-Afro-Asiatic *leb-

     • Chadic

       • West Chadic

         • Tangale labata elephant
     • Egyptian 𓍋𓃀𓅱 ābu elephant, ivory usually with determiner suffix 𓃰 or 𓌟 to distinguish between "elephant" and "ivory"

       • Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ yēb elephant

         • Latin ebur ivory

           • French ivoire ivory

             • English ivory
           • Italian avorio …

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7. Word Family - Earth

   August theme: Earth and Water 🌎🌊

   Introduction

   Semtic *ʾartɬʼ-: "earth" and Proto-Indo-European *h₁erTeH: "earth". I connect these for several reasons (beyond the obvious). First, there are several indicators that *h₁ was pronounced as a glottal stop, including a number of other words that are apparent correspondences between PIE *h₁ and Semitic …

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