How did we found out how the various languages are all descendant from proto-indo European and how did we develop so many different languages?

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How did we found out how the various languages are all descendant from proto-indo European and how did we develop so many different languages?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

language naturally shifts. language is shifting constantly, e.g. in the middle ages a word like “nation” was pronounced with a hard T instead of SH, or in modern times in the great lakes the pronunciation of long-a (e.g. trap) has been lengthening (tray-ap) over the last hundred years or so. when various people spread out and separate, their languages evolve separately, but if you look carefully there are still connections.

in hindu there are divine beings called ‘asuras,’ in norse religion the chief gods are called ‘aesir.’ these are related.

or if you want to get real fancy:

* greek: zeus
* latin: deus
* germanic: tyr (descended from tiwaz. tiwaz is also the name of an anatolian sun-god, in case it wasn’t obvious enough that these languages are all related)
* baltic: dievas
* hindu: deva
* hittite: sius

all from proto-indo-european dyeus, the god of the daylight sky (also called father, e.g. zeus pater, jupiter)

there are many examples of sounds preserved over the millennia tying languages all over europe and central asia to a single original language

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