ISBN The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World book English Hardcover

This book introduces Proto-Indo-European and explores what the language reveals about the people who spoke it. The Proto-Indo-Europeans lived somewhere in Europe or Asia between 5500 and 8000 years ago and no text of their language survives. J. P. Mallory and Douglas Adams show how over the last two centuries scholars have reconstructed it from its descendant languages the surviving examples of which comprise the world's largest language family. After a concise account of Proto-Indo-European grammar and a consideration of its discovery they use the reconstructed language and related evidence from archaeology and natural history to examine the lives thoughts passions culture society economy history and environment of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. Our distant ancestors had used the wheel were settled arable farmers kept sheep and cattle brewed beer got married made weapons and had 27 verbs for the expression of strife. The subjects to which the authors devote chapters include fauna flora family and kinship clothing and textiles food and drink space and time emotions mythology religion and the continuing quest to discover the Proto-Indo-European homeland. Proto-Indo-European-English and English-Proto-Indo-European vocabularies and full indexes conclude the book. Written in a clear readable style and illustrated with maps figures and tables this book is on a subject of great and enduring fascination. It will appeal to students of languages classics and the ancient world as well as to general readers interested in the history of language and of early human societies.