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1. Word Family - Check

   Introduction

   All English meanings of "check" derive from the chess term:

   checklist, checkup, checks and balances, checkers, checking account, checkered past, …

   All of them.

   Teaser

   check, chess, checkers, shah, Xerxes

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *tek- to reach for, to take, to obtain, to receive

     • Proto-Indo-European *téketi primary imperfective

       • Balto-Slavic *tektei

         • Lithuanian …

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2. Word Family - Duke

   January theme: Aristocratic Titles 👑

   Introduction

   Germanic really went to town with this root, creating a bunch of morphological forms that aren't attested in any other branches, and in a few cases I can't even relate them to any standard derivational forms I know in either PIE or Proto-Germanic.

   Teaser

   wanton …

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3. Word Family - King

   January theme: Aristocratic Titles 👑

   Teaser

   engineer, cognate, pregnant, nature, genre, Scheherazade, puny, king, genie, kindergarten

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- to produce, to beget, to give birth

     • Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁ti produce, beget, give birth present

       • Celtic *gniyeti

         • Old Irish gníid to do, to work

           • Old Irish do-gní to do, to make

             • Irish …

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4. Word Family - Lord

   January theme: Royal and Noble Titles 👑

   Teaser

   lord, ward, guard, warn, garnish, garage, revere, wary, Arthur

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *wer- to heed, to notice ^[1]

     • Proto-Indo-European *weryeti

       • Germanic *warjanã to ward off, to defend against, to twart, to stop

         • East Germanic

           • Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 warjan to forbid
         • North Germanic

           • Old Norse …

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5. Word Family - Count

   January theme: Royal and Noble Titles 👑

   Teaser

   isthmus, sudden, transition, count, Mahayana, January

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- to go (imperfective) possibly suppletive

     • Indo-Iranian *hai

       • Iranian

         • Western Iranian

           • Kurdish -ê- comes
           • Persian آی ây comes, arrives suppletive present of âmadan
     • Tocharian *jä-

       • Arshian i- to go
       • Kushean i- to go

         • Kushean …

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6. Word Family - Rex

   December theme: Religion 📿

   Introduction

   This is the family that no matter how long I work on it, it's never done. That's what I get for trying to explore the possibility that two extremely important and productive roots may be connected: *h₂er-, related to cosmic order, and *h₃reǵ-, related to societal …

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