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  1. Word Family - Vet

    Introduction

    I've included (possibly) two families again in this one, Proto-Indo-European *wet-: "year, year-old" and Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥: "spring (season)". There's no formal connection, but it's not hard to imagine on either the phonetic or the semantic level.

    Acrostatic *ó-r̥ nouns like *wósr̥ are from very early PIE. You could imagine …

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  2. Word Family - Hibernate

    Teaser

    Himalaya(s), chimera, hibernate, Zima

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey- winter
      • Proto-Indo-European ǵʰéyōm winter, snow, frost, a year
        • Anatolian
          • Hittite 𒄀𒈠𒀭 giman winter
        • Old Armenian ձիւն jiwn snow
          • Armenian ձյուն jyun snow
        • Germanic *gōį̄
          • North Germanic
            • Old Norse gói late winter
              • Icelandic góa month name in traditional calendar (Feb/Mar …
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  3. Word Family - Fee

    Teaser

    fee, feudal, cyclops, peculiar, fight, Shadowfax

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- wool, livestock, wealth
      • Proto-Indo-European *péḱu
        • Old Armenian ասու asu fleece, wool
          • Armenian ասր asr fine fleece
        • Balto-Slavic *péku
          • East Baltic
            • Lithuanian pẽkus
          • West Baltic
            • Old Prussian pecku cattle
        • Germanic *fehu wealth, cattle, the rune ᚠ
          • East Germanic
            • Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿 …
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  4. Word Family - Camel

    June theme: Domestic Animals 🐕

    Teaser

    camel, gamma

    Full Text

    • Semitic *gamal- camel
      • Central Semitic
        • Arabic جمل jámal camel
          • Maltese ġemel camel
        • Northwest Semitic
          • Aramaic
            • Classical Syriac ܓܡܠܐ gamlā’ camel
          • Canaanite
            • Hebrew גמל gamal camel
            • Phoenician
              • Ancient Greek κάμηλος kámēlos camel
                • Greek καμήλα kamíla camel
                • Latin camēlus camel
                  • Old French
                    • English …
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  5. Word Family - Cow

    June theme: Domestic Animals 🐕

    Introduction

    Proto-Indo-European has *gʷṓws: "cow, cattle" and *woḱéh₂: "(female) cow". The expected feminine of the *gʷṓws would be something like **gʷow(s)éh₂. *woḱéh₂ looks similar, but not quite there.

    Sino-Tibetan *ŋwa: "cattle, ox" is also highly reminiscent of *gʷṓws. If there was a Central Asian …

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  6. Word Family - Swine

    June theme: Domestic Animals 🐕

    Introduction

    I present two families for "pig" here, partly because Armenian խոզ xoz is derivable from either family (see footnote [1])

    Family 1, Indo-European *suH- pig, sow?", possibly related to Akkadian 𒊺𒄷𒌑 še-hu-u₂ and Sumerian 𒋚 šah; and family 2, Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰóryos: "pig", probably central PIE …

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  7. Word Family - Canine

    June theme: Domestic Animals 🐕

    Introduction

    I get a little speculative here, if not downright provocative. There are words for dog all over Eurasia that recall each other. These could be onomatopoeic, but they do not much resemble the common forms you find in words that actually used as dog sound …

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  8. Word Family - Moa

    Teaser

    moa

    Full Text

    • Sino-Austronesian
      • Austronesian *manuk bird
        • Malayo-Polynesian
          • Bajau memanuk bird
          • Javanese manuk bird
          • Malayic *manuk
            • Malay manuk bird, chicken
          • Philippine
            • Tagalog manók chicken
          • Oceanic
            • Micronesian
              • Chuukese machang bird
              • Kiribati man bird
            • Polynesian *manu bird
              • Tongan manupuna bird
              • Nuclear Polynesian
                • Samoan manu bird
                • Eastern Polynesian
                  • Rapa Nui manu bird …
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  9. Word Family - Avian

    Introduction

    Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwis: "bird" and Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis: "sheep" appear to be umlaut variants, presumably through the more sparsely attested root *h₂ew-: "to put on clothes, to cover". *h₂éwis: "bird" would be from a passive participle, "a clothed (in feathers)". *h₂ówis: "sheep" from an active participle, "a clother (in wool)".

    Teaser …

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  10. Word Family - Cavalry

    March theme: Horses

    Teaser

    capercaillie, chivalry, cavalier, cavalry

    Full Text

    • ??
      • Turkic
        • Old Turkish käväl horse? [1]
        • Persian ?
        • Proto-Slavic *kobyla mare (female horse)
          • Russian кобы́ла kobýla mare
          • Polish kobyła mare
      • Saka kabä
      • Ancient Greek καβάλλης kabállēs nag, pony
      • Proto-Celtic *capallos
        • Brythonic *kappilos horse
          • Welsh ceffyl horse
            • English Cavall [2]
            • English …
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  11. Word Family - Equus

    March theme: March of Horses 🐎

    Teaser

    hippopotamus, equestrian, zebra

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₁eḱ- swift, fast [1]
      • Proto-Indo-European *h₁oh₁ḱus a *o-∅-us reduplicative adjective form
        • Hellenic
          • Ancient Greek ὠκῠ́ς ōkús fast, swift
            • Ancient Greek ποδώκης podṓkēs swift-footed
            • Ancient Greek ὠκῠ́ροος ōkúroos swift-flowing
              • Ancient Greek Ὠκυρόη Ōkuróē Swift-Flowing (personal name …
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