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1. Word Family - Singh

   January theme: Lions 🦁

   Teaser

   Singh, Sinhala, Singapore, shih tzu

   Full Text

   • Central Asian substrate *sVrng-??

     • Late Indo-European dialect *sinǵʰos

       • Armenian ինձ inj panther

         • Armenian ընձառյուծ ənjaṙyuc leopard
       • Indo-Aryan *sinȷ́ʰás ^[1]

         • Indo-Aryan

           • Sanskrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀳 sĩhá lion, hero ^[2]

             • Maharashtri 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀖 sĩgha

               • Tamil சிங்கம் ciṅkam lion, Leo
             • Sauraseni

               • Madhya

                 • Hindi स …

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2. Word Family - Flower

   May theme: Plants 🌱

   Teaser

   bloom, flower, flourish, belladonna, blade, chlorophyll

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- flower

     • Proto-Indo-European *bʰléh₃e-ti

       • Germanic *blōaną to bloom, to flower

         • West Germanic

           • Old English blōwan

             • English blow ^[1]

               • English full-blown ^[1]
           • Frankish

             • Dutch bloeien to blossom, to develop, to flourish
           • Old High German bluoen

             • German blühen to …

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3. Word Family - Tree

   May theme: Plants 🌱

   Introduction

   In which "dryad" and "druid" are basically the same word, "trust" and "tryst", "trees" and "truce". Plus horse racing history.

   Teaser

   true, endure, tree, derby, larch, druid, dryad, tray

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *drew- hard, firm, strong, wood, tree ^[1]

     • Proto-Indo-European *droweh₂yéti

       • Germanic *trūwijaną

         • North Germanic

           • Old …

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4. Word Family - Ankylosaurus

   April theme: Dinosaurs and Friends🦕

   Introduction

   Ankylosaurus! And as an unexpected bonus, I found Azhdarchid pterosaurs deep in the family, too. Pterosaurs are probably my very favorite Mesozoic animals (stay tuned for next week!). Also in this family: various spiders and snakes and fears and sins in various languages.

   I … read more

5. Word Family - Arbiter

   December theme: Pre-Classical Mediterranean 🏝

   Teaser

   Europe, Maghreb, Arabia, Erebus

   Full Text

   • Semitic *[ʕ/ġ]rb to depart, to set ^[1]

     • Central Semitic

       • Arabic ġaraba
       • Northwest Semitic

         • Aramaic ערובה ʿrōbā sunset, evening, (Sabbath) eve
         • Canaanite

           • Phoenician *'irōb

             • Homeric Greek Εὐρώπη Eurṓpē Western shore of the Aegean,\nmainland Greece\n(as opposed …

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6. Word Family - Downtown

   September theme: Community 🏘️

   Teaser

   down-town Donegal

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *dʰewH-?

     • Proto-Indo-European *dʰuHnom enclosure

       • Celtic *dūnom stronghold, rampart

         • Brythonic *din hill fort, hill

           • Welsh din fort
         • Old Irish dún fort, fortress

           • Irish dún fort, fortress, refuge, haven

             • Irish Dún na nGall Fort of Foreigners, Donegal

               • English Donegal
         • Gaulish dunum hill …

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7. Word Family - Sister

   May theme: Kinship terms 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧

   To be uploaded

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8. Word Family - Bee

   March theme: Bees

   Teaser

   La bohème, bee, antisphexish

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *bʰewh₂- to hit, to strike

     • Proto-Indo-European *bʰewh₂ti primary verb

       • Proto-Albanian *bajā

         • Albanian bahe sling
       • Balto-Slavic

         • Lithuanian bausti to chastise, to punish
       • Celtic

         • Old Irish fo-botha threaten lit. "under-*beat"
       • Italic

         • Latin *fūtō

           • Latin confūtō

             • Western Romance

               • French

                 • English confute …

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9. Word Family - Rex

   December theme: Religion 📿

   Introduction

   This is the #WordFamilyFriday 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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10. Word Family - Aidan

    September theme: Fire 🔥

    Teaser

    ether, Aidan, edifice, anneal estivation

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ- ignite, fire

      • Proto-Indo-European *h₂éydʰe-ti burning, igniting primary verb

        • Indo-Iranian *Háydʰati

          • Indo-Aryan

            • Sanskrit एधते édhate to spread, to grow, to increase, to prosper
        • Hellenic

          • Ancient Greek αἴθω aíthō To kindle, to light, to burn

            • Ancient Greek Αἰθίοψ Aithíops …

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11. Word Family - Aqua

    August theme: Elements So Slow 🌎🌊

    Teaser

    Avon, Punjab, island, Scandinavia, aquarium, sewer, sober

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- water, body of water

      • Anatolian *h₂epo river

        • Hittite *hapa river

          • Hittite 𒄩𒉺𒀀 ḫa-pa-a toward the river
      • Balto-Slavic

        • Lithuanian ùpė river
      • Celtic *abonā river

        • Brythonic *aβon

          • Cumbric *avon

            • Cumbric *Ir Avon Fresh-Water or Green-River …

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12. Word Family - Fiona

    Teaser

    Fiona, Jennifer, Guinevere, penguin, Vienna, wiener

    Full Text

    • Celtic *windos white

      • Brythonic *gwɨnn white

        • Welsh gwyn white, fair, shining, blessed

          • Welsh Gwendolen White-Ring personal name
          • Welsh -wen

            • Welsh Anwen Very-Fair personal name
            • Welsh Blodwen Flower-Fair personal name
            • Welsh Branwen Raven-Fair personal name
            • Welsh
        • Cornish gwen white
        • Breton gwenn white …

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