Indo-European
Sanskrit's broader family
Indo-European describes a vast family of languages spanning from Iceland to India, including English, Spanish, Russian, Hindi, and Persian, among hundreds of others.
Linguists reconstructed a hypothetical common ancestor, Proto-Indo-European, spoken perhaps six thousand years ago.
The term also refers to the peoples who spoke these languages: Indo-European migrations spread across Eurasia.
As a modifier, it appears in scholarly discussions of comparative linguistics and ancient history: Indo-European roots, Indo-European grammar.
Reconstructed common ancestor tongue
- cognatesWords from common origin
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- comparativeInvolving measured contrast
- etymologyWord origin study
Sanskrit · Greek · Latin · Germanic · Celtic · Slavic · Baltic · Iranian
Treeless Eurasian grassland
- migrationMovement to new territory
- dispersalSpreading in many directions
- CaucasusMountain range, Black to Caspian
- AnatoliaWestern Asian peninsula
archaeology · domestication · horse · wheel · pastoralism · expansion · diffusion · settlement
Siblings born simultaneously
- tripartiteConsisting of three parts
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- afterlifeExistence beyond mortality
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
warrior · fertility · Indo-Iranian · Vedic · Norse · Roman · ritual · priest
proto-language
Reconstructed common ancestor tongue
- cognatesWords from common origin
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- comparativeInvolving measured contrast
etymology · Sanskrit · Greek · Latin · Germanic · Celtic · Slavic · Baltic · Iranian · Armenian
steppe
Treeless Eurasian grassland
- migrationMovement to new territory
- dispersalSpreading in many directions
- CaucasusMountain range, Black to Caspian
Anatolia · archaeology · domestication · horse · wheel · pastoralism · expansion · diffusion · settlement · chariot
twins
Siblings born simultaneously
- tripartiteConsisting of three parts
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- afterlifeExistence beyond mortality
sovereignty · warrior · fertility · Indo-Iranian · Vedic · Norse · Roman · ritual · priest · oath
haplogroup
Genetic ancestry classification
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
- DNAHereditary code molecule
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
descent · lineage · ethnicity · population · admixture · origin · kinship · tribes · peoples · Aryans
- languagesEnglish, Arabic, Chinese, German, French
- etymologyword origins, word history, word origin, etymon, root words
- SanskritPanini, Sanskrit, om, Vedas, root words
- historical linguisticslanguage families, cognates, proto-languages, proto-language, Grimm's Law
- Indo- WordsIndo-Pacific, Indo-Aryan, Indo-Iranian, Indochina, Indo-China
- Language familiesAfro-Asiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian, Dravidian, Turkic
Indo-EuropeanSino-Tibetan
Major Asian language family
Niger-Congo · Austronesian · Dravidian · Turkic · Bantu