Indo-European family

2. Presented By
SREELAKSHMI E S
ST: MARY’S COLLEGE MANARCAD
MA ENGLISH

3. INTRODUCTION
The most widely studied language family in
the world is the Indo-European. There are
a number of reasons for this:
Many of the most important languages of
the world are Indo-European. These
languages are official or co-official in many
countries and are important in academic,
technical and world organisations.

4. Languages that are essential in multinational contexts
or with large numbers of speakers.
Examples: Portuguese, Hindi, German, Bengali.
Some of the great classical languages of religion,
culture and philosophy were Indo-European.
Examples: Latin, Greek, Persian, Sanskrit, Pali.

5. Languages that are scattered around the world as their
speakers are part of diasporas.
Examples: Greek, Yiddish, Polish, Armenian,
Romany, Kurdish, Italian, Punjabi, Gujarati.

7. The various subgroups of the Indo-
European language family include
ten major branches
 Anatolian (Asia Minor), the earliest attested branch.
Emerged around 4200 BC Isolated terms in
Luwian/Hittite mentioned in Semitic Old Assyrian
texts from the 20th and 19th centuries BC, Hittite texts
from about 1650 BC extinct by Late Antiquity.
 Tocharian, emerged around 3700 BC,extant in two
dialects (Turfanian and Kuchean, or Tocharian A and
B), attested from roughly the 6th to the 9th century
AD. Marginalized by the Old Turkic Uyghur
Khaganate and probably extinct by the 10th century.

8.  Germanic (from Proto-Germanic), emerged around
3300 BC,earliest testimonies in runic inscriptions from
around the 2nd century AD, earliest coherent texts in
Gothic, 4th century AD. Old English manuscript
tradition from about the 8th century AD.
 Italic, including Latin and its descendants (the
Romance languages), emerged around 3000
BC,attested from the 7th century BC.

9.  Celtic, descended from Proto-Celtic, emerged around
3000 BC.Lepontic inscriptions date as early as the 6th
century BC; Celtiberian from the 2nd century BC;
Primitive Irish Ogham inscriptions from the 5th
century AD, earliest inscriptions in Old Welsh from
the 8th century AD.
 Armenian, emerged around 2800 BC.Alphabet
writings known from the beginning of the 5th century
AD.

10.  Balto-Slavic, emerged around 2800 BC,believed by
most Indo-Europeanists to form a phylogenetic
unit, while a minority ascribes similarities to
prolonged language contact.
 Slavic (from Proto-Slavic), attested from the 9th century
AD (possibly earlier; see Slavic runes), earliest texts in
Old Church Slavonic.
 Baltic, attested from the 14th century AD; for languages
attested that late, they retain unusually many archaic
features attributed to Proto-Indo-European (PIE).

11.  Hellenic, emerged around 2500 BC.Fragmentary
records in Mycenaean Greek from between 1450 and
1350 BC have been found.Homeric texts date to the 8th
century BC.

12.  Indo-Iranian, emerged around 2200 BC,attested circa
1400 BC, descended from Proto-Indo-Iranian (dated to
the late 3rd millennium BC).
 Indo-Aryan (including Dardic), attested from around 1400 BC
in Hittite texts from Asia Minor, showing traces of Indo-
Aryan words.Epigraphically from the 3rd century BC in the
form of Prakrit (Edicts of Ashoka). The Rigveda is assumed to
preserve intact records via oral tradition dating from about
the mid-2nd millennium BC in the form of Vedic Sanskrit.
 Iranian or Iranic, attested from roughly 1000 BC in the form of
Avestan. Epigraphically from 520 BC in the form of Old
Persian (Behistun inscription).
Nuristani

13.  Albanian, attested from the 14th century AD; Proto-
Albanian language likely evolved from Paleo-Balkan
predecessors.

14. In addition to the classical ten branches listed above,
several extinct and little-known languages have
existed:
 Illyrian
 Venetic
 Liburnian
 Messapian
 Phrygian
 Paionian
 Thracian

15.  Dacian
 Ancient Macedonian
 Ligurian
 Sicel
 Lusitanian
 Cimmerian

18. Albanian language
Anatolian languages
Armenian language
Baltic languages
Celtic languages

19. Tocharian languages
Slavic languages

20. The western "Centum" (blue) and
the eastern "Satem" (coral) Indo-
European language groups