Indo-European languages: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Benjamin W. Fortson, Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (2010), is the fullest survey of the whole family in English. James Clackson, Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction (2007), emphasizes theoretical and methodological issues in Indo-European reconstruction. Michael L. Weiss, Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin (2009), focuses on Latin but gives the clearest presentation of the Indo-European grammatical system in any language. Andrew L. Sihler, New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin (1995, reissued 2008), likewise with a Classical focus, offers a different perspective on the same material. Julius Pokorny, Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2 vol. (1951–69), is now hopelessly outdated but remains the most recent etymological dictionary of the whole family; for many purposes it has been superseded by Martin Kümmel and Helmut Rix (eds.), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed. (2001). Carl Darling Buck, A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages (1949, reissued 1988), assembles a mine of information about Indo-European words for several hundred basic concepts. The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 3rd ed., rev. and ed. by Calvert Watkins (2011), focuses on the Indo-European component of English. Holger Pedersen, Linguistic Science in the Nineteenth Century (1931, reissued as The Discovery of Language, 1962; originally published in Danish, 1924), gives a dated but highly readable account of 19th-century work in the field. J.P. Mallory, In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth (1989), provides a full and balanced account of the Indo-European homeland problem. David W. Anthony, The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World (2007), makes the case for a Eurasian steppe origin. Calvert Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon (1995), is a wide-ranging study of aspects of Indo-European comparative poetics, religion, and mythology.

Jay H. Jasanoff

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • Warren Cowgill
    Professor of Indo-European Linguistics, Yale University, 1972–85. Author of several articles on Indo-European languages.
  • Jay H. Jasanoff

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Add new Web site: Livius - Indo-Europeans. Sep 10, 2024
Add new Web site: American Philosophical Society - The Indo-Europeanization of Europe: An Introduction to the Issues. Jun 18, 2024
Add new Web site: Utah State University - History and Civilization - The Indo-Europeans and Historical Linguistics. Mar 27, 2024
Add new Web site: Academia - The Origins of Indo-European Languages. Feb 13, 2024
Add new Web site: BCcampus Open Publishing - The Indo-European Family of Languages. Aug 14, 2023
Add new Web site: University of Ottawa - Compendium of Language Management in Canada - The Indo-European Family. Jul 07, 2023
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Mapping the origins and expansion of the Indo-European language family. Aug 22, 2022
Corrected display issue. Sep 21, 2018
Add new Web site: Sorosoro - Indo-European Languages. Apr 10, 2018
Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - Indo-European Languages. Apr 10, 2018
Add new Web site: The Language Gulper - Indo-European Languages. Jun 28, 2013
Add new Web site: The Language Gulper - Indo-European Languages. Jun 28, 2013
Article revised and updated to mention Turkish homeland theory. Oct 24, 2012
Bibliography updated. Oct 24, 2012
Added new Web site: The University of Texas at Austin - Indo-European Languages. Jun 02, 2009
Added new Web site: Eliznik Web Pages - Indo-European Language Tree. Apr 16, 2008
Article revised and updated. Sep 25, 2007
Article revised. Dec 14, 2000
Article revised. Jul 26, 1999
Article added to new online database. Oct 19, 1998
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