33. The concept of Centum and Satem languages.

The first division into an Eastern Group and a Western Group is important. The groups are marked by a number of differences in phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, which suggests that there was an early division of the Indo-Europeans into two main areas, perhaps representing migrations in different directions. One of the distinctive differences in phonology between the two groups is the treatment of the PIE palatal k, which appears as a velar [k] in the western languages, but as some kind of palatal fricative, [s] or (sh)in the Eastern languages. Thus the word for hundred is Greek he-katon, Latin centum, Tocharian känt, Old Irish cet, and Welsh cant (the c in each case representing [k]), but in Sanskrit it is satam, in Old Slavonic seto (modern Ukrainian cто).

For this reason, the two groups are often referred to as the Kentum languages and the Satem languages. On the whole, the Kentum languages are in the West and the Satem languages in the East, but an apparent anomaly is Tocharian, right across in western China, which is a Kentum language. The division into Kentum and Satem languages took place around 1500 BC.

CENTUM (Western branch): Celtic, Italic, Germanic, Greek, Anatolian, Tocharian

SATEM (Eastern branch): Baltic, Slavonic, Albanian, Armenian, Indian, Iranian

34. Old Germanic of the Indo-European languages. Basic division. The concept of Proto-Germanic.

The branch of Indo-European that English belongs to is called Germanic. Germanic languages are descended from one parent language, a dialect of Indo-European, called Proto-Germanic (PG)

Around 5 thousand languages are spoken in the world today. They can be grouped in different language families on the basis of genealogical principle. It is assumed that the Indo-European family of languages , has developed out of some single language, which must have been spoken thousands of years ago by some comparatively small body of people in a relatively restricted geographical area. This original language is called Proto-Indo-European (PIE). The people, who spoke it or who spoke languages evolved from it, are called Indo-Europeans.

The comparative method was developed over the 19th century.

Founders: F.Bopp, R.Rask, J,Grimm

Main method: comparison

P. 20 SABO

There is one technical factor, which played a role in the expansion of Indo-Europeans. This was the use of horse-drawn vehicles, which was characteristic of Indo-European society. It is possible that Indo-Europeans were ahead of time, and it was their use of wheeled vehicles, especially the fast horse-drawn chariot, that enabled them to overrun such a large part of the Eurasian continent.

The branches of Germanic

The PG is a dialect of PIE , a linguistic ancestor of Germanic group

To North Germanic belong the modern Scandinavian languages – Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese (West), Swedish, Danish, and Gutnish (East). The earliest recorded form of North Germanic (Old Norse) is found in runic inscriptions from about AD 300.

The East Germanic dialects were spoken by the tribes that expanded East of the Oder around the shores of the Baltic. They included the Goths, and Gothic is the only East Germanic language of which we have any record (a translation of the Bible into Visigothic, made by the Bishop Wulfila in 4 c.) The Goths were later overrun by the Huns, but a form of Gothic was being spoken in the Crimea as late as the 17^th century. It has since died out + Vandal ; Burgundian

To West Germanic belong the OHG, OLowGerm, Old Low Franconian (Netherlandish), Dutch, Frisian, and English. The language most closely related to English is Frisian.