(continued from the previous post) . . . Then Mr. Kumar goes on to talk extensively about root words, offering the following example as one "brick" in the edifice he's building for his case:
Sometimes scores of Indo-European words may have been derived from a single root-word. For instance, the Indo-European root-word pele (JS-299-300) has been ascribed by the scholars a number of words which occur in Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, German, English, Russian, etc., such as:
pur, Cawnpore, Singapore, Jodhpur (and all the other place-names with pur in them), pletho, plethoria, plethoric, pleos, pleonasm, pleonastic, Pleiades, poly-, pleois, pleistos, Pliocene, Pleistocene, hoi polloi, polemos,polemics, polis, -polis, Tripoly, Naples, necropolis, acropolis, cosmopolitan, metropolitan, metropolis, Minneapolis, police, polity, policy, politics,politico, Politburo, plenus, plenary, plenum, pleni-, plenitude, plenty, replenish, plein air, pleo, implement, complement, supplement, compliment, pletus, replete, complete, deplete, impletion, repletion, expletive, supply, comply, manipulum, maniple, plus, plural, plurality, pluri-, pluperfect, piu, publicus, public, publican, publicist, publicity, publish, publisher, republic,,republican, pueblo, plebs, plebe, plebeian, palpo, palpate, palpitate, impalpable, palpebral, papillon, pavillon, palma, palm, palmer, palmistry, palmetto, llan, Llan-, lawn, full, fulfil, fyllan, fulsome, fill, filler, felan, feel, feeler, feeling, folc, folk, folklore, folkways, folksy, Herrenvolk, Volkswagen, Volkslied, plus a number of other words.
I'm fascinated that all those words listed above could share a common root. Isn't it curious and odd-feeling to find Greek and Latin words that also may be derived from pele? As students of Western culture, Greek and Latin have always been at the end (or rather, beginning) of the line, so to speak.
"I think I want to read more about the origins of languages. And -- whah-duh-ya-know? -- Amazon has just the book for me: The Origin of Language : Tracing the Evolution of the Mother Tongue by Merritt Ruhlen. Maybe I'll ask Santa for it???
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