Book contents
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume I
- General Preface
- Abbreviations
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Context of English
- 1 The Indo-European Framework
- 2 English in Its Germanic Surrounding
- 3 Language Development in the Old English Period
- 4 The Geography of English in England
- 5 Philology and the History of English
- Part II Contact and External Influences
- Part III The Long View by Levels and Areas
- Appendix: Recommended Reading
- Index
- References
1 - The Indo-European Framework
from Part I - The Context of English
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2025
By
Book contents
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume I
- General Preface
- Abbreviations
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Context of English
- 1 The Indo-European Framework
- 2 English in Its Germanic Surrounding
- 3 Language Development in the Old English Period
- 4 The Geography of English in England
- 5 Philology and the History of English
- Part II Contact and External Influences
- Part III The Long View by Levels and Areas
- Appendix: Recommended Reading
- Index
- References
Summary
After an outline of the basis of scientific historical linguistics, this chapter discusses what can be learned about Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the earliest recoverable ancestor of English, from archaeology and the study of ancient DNA. It then discusses some characteristics of PIE, outlines how its daughter languages diversified and sketches how Proto-Germanic developed. The chapter closes with a survey of words of PIE and its immediate daughter languages that survive in Modern English (ModE). A special theme is the first- and second-person pronouns, whose development is sketched very briefly from PIE to ModE.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The New Cambridge History of the English LanguageContext, Contact and Development, pp. 27 - 51Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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