Indo-European

In·do-Eu·ro·pe·an

I0111600 (ĭn′dō-yo͝or′ə-pē′ən)n.1. a. A family of languages consisting of most of the languages of Europe as well as those of Iran, the Indian subcontinent, and other parts of Asia.b. Proto-Indo-European.2. A member of any of the peoples speaking an Indo-European language.

In′do-Eu′ro·pe′an adj.

Indo-European

adj 1. (Languages) denoting, belonging to, or relating to a family of languages that includes English and many other culturally and politically important languages of the world: a characteristic feature, esp of the older languages such as Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, is inflection showing gender, number, and case 2. (Languages) denoting or relating to the hypothetical parent language of this family, primitive Indo-European 3. (Peoples) denoting, belonging to, or relating to any of the peoples speaking these languages n 4. (Languages) the Indo-European family of languages 5. (Languages) Also called: primitive Indo-European or Proto-Indo-European the reconstructed hypothetical parent language of this family 6. (Peoples) a member of the prehistoric people who spoke this language 7. (Historical Terms) a member of the prehistoric people who spoke this language 8. (Peoples) a descendant of this people or a native speaker of an Indo-European language

In•do-Eu•ro•pe•an

(ˈɪn doʊˌyʊər əˈpi ən)

n. 1. a family of languages spoken or formerly spoken in Europe and SW, central, and S Asia, and carried by colonization and conquest since c1500 to many other parts of the world: major branches of Indo-European are Anatolian, Indo-Iranian, Armenian, Greek, Slavic, Baltic, Albanian, Germanic, Tocharian, Italic, and Celtic. 2. a member of any of the peoples speaking an Indo-European language. 3. a. the language ancestral to the Indo-European languages; Proto-Indo-European. Abbr.: IE b. a speaker of this language. adj. 4. of or pertaining to Indo-European or its speakers. [1814]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Indo-European - a member of the prehistoric people who spoke Proto-Indo EuropeanAryanprimitive, primitive person - a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization
	2.	Indo-European - the family of languages that by 1000 BC were spoken throughout Europe and in parts of southwestern and southern AsiaIndo-European language, Indo-Hittitenatural language, tongue - a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer languageProto-Indo European, PIE - a prehistoric unrecorded language that was the ancestor of all Indo-European languagesAlbanian - the Indo-European language spoken by the people of AlbaniaArmenian language, Armenian - the Indo-European language spoken predominantly in Armenia, but also in AzerbaijanIllyrian - a minor and almost extinct branch of the Indo-European languages; spoken along the Dalmatian coastThraco-Phrygian - an extinct branch of the Indo-European language family thought by some to be related to ArmenianBalto-Slavic, Balto-Slavic language, Balto-Slavonic - a family of Indo-European languages including the Slavic and Baltic languagesGermanic, Germanic language - a branch of the Indo-European family of languages; members that are spoken currently fall into two major groups: Scandinavian and West GermanicCeltic, Celtic language - a branch of the Indo-European languages that (judging from inscriptions and place names) was spread widely over Europe in the pre-Christian eraItalic language, Italic - a branch of the Indo-European languages of which Latin is the chief representativeTocharian - a branch of the Indo-European language family that originated in central Asia during the first millennium A.D.Indo-Iranian, Indo-Iranian language - the branch of the Indo-European family of languages including the Indic and Iranian language groupsAnatolian, Anatolian language - an extinct branch of the Indo-European family of languages known from inscriptions and important in the reconstruction of Proto-Indo EuropeanGreek, Hellenic, Hellenic language - the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages
Adj.	1.	Indo-European - of or relating to the Indo-European language familyIndo-Germanic
	2.	Indo-European - of or relating to the former Indo-European people; "Indo-European migrations"Aryan, Indo-Aryan

Translations

Indo-European

See also: Indo-European Family of Languages, The (table)The Indo-European Family of Languages
Subfamily Group Subgroup Languages and Principal Dialects
Anatolian Hieroglypic Hittite^*, Hittite (Kanesian)^*, Luwian^*, Lycian^*, Lydian^*, Palaic^*
..... Click the link for more information.

Indo-European,

family of languages having more speakers than any other language family. It is estimated that approximately half the world's population speaks an Indo-European tongue as a first language. The Indo-European family is so named because at one time its individual members were prevalent mainly in an area between and including India and Europe, although not all languages spoken in this region were Indo-European. Today, however, the Indo-European languages have spread to every continent and a number of islands. It should be stressed that the term Indo-European describes language only and is not used scientifically in an ethnic or cultural sense. The languages classified as Indo-European are sufficiently similar to form one major linguistic division.

The characteristics Indo-European languages share with respect to vocabulary and grammar have led many scholars to postulate that they are all descended from an original parent language, called Proto-Indo-European, which is believed to have been spoken some time before 4000 B.C., perhaps before 8000 B.C. or earlier. Since there are no written records of Proto-Indo-European, it apparently was in use before writing was known to its speakers. Even its existence is an assumption, although a plausible one and the only really satisfactory explanation of the common features of the modern Indo-European languages. There has been much speculation as to the region where the speakers of Proto-Indo-European first lived and the nature of their culture, but nothing definite is known. One theory of the origin of the individual Indo-European languages suggests that as the ancient speakers of Proto-Indo-European migrated or moved away from each other, losing contact, their language broke up into a number of tongues. These tongues later also split up still further, eventually giving rise to the many modern Indo-European languages. For a classification of Indo-European subfamilies, groups, subgroups, and individual languages, see the table entitled The Indo-European Family of LanguagesThe Indo-European Family of Languages
Subfamily Group Subgroup Languages and Principal Dialects
Anatolian Hieroglypic Hittite^*, Hittite (Kanesian)^*, Luwian^*, Lycian^*, Lydian^*, Palaic^*
..... Click the link for more information. . By studying the vocabulary and grammar of the various daughter languages of which there are records, scholars have tried to reconstruct Proto-Indo-European and infer some of its characteristics. It appears to have been highly inflected in a distinctive way. Apparently, it also had three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives; eight cases for the noun; agreement between adjectives and nouns; and a free accent (i.e., one that could be placed on any syllable).

The descendant languages have all tended to discard to a greater or lesser extent these features of the mother tongue and to become simplified. For example, they substitute increasingly the use of word order and prepositions for inflections to indicate the relationships of words in a sentence. There also exists among the Indo-European languages a similarity of basic words (such as words denoting kinship, numerals, and parts of the body) that points to a common origin. Different forms of writing for the various Indo-European languages used both in ancient and modern times include cuneiform, hieroglyphics, and a number of alphabets, among them the Devanagari, Greek, Roman, and Arabic scripts.

See articles on many of the Indo-European subfamilies, groups, and languages.

Bibliography

See also E. Benveniste, Indo-European Language and Society (tr. 1973); P. Baldi, An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages (1983).

Indo-European

1. denoting, belonging to, or relating to a family of languages that includes English and many other culturally and politically important languages of the world: a characteristic feature, esp of the older languages such as Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, is inflection showing gender, number, and case 2. denoting or relating to the hypothetical parent language of this family, primitive Indo-European 3. denoting, belonging to, or relating to any of the peoples speaking these languages 4. the Indo-European family of languages 5. the reconstructed hypothetical parent language of this family 6. a member of the prehistoric people who spoke this language 7. a descendant of this people or a native speaker of an Indo-European language

Indo-European

In·do-Eu·ro·pe·an

Indo-European

In•do-Eu•ro•pe•an

Indo-European

Indo-European,

Bibliography

Indo-European

Indo-European

Synonyms for Indo-European

noun a member of the prehistoric people who spoke Proto-Indo European

Synonyms

Related Words

noun the family of languages that by 1000 BC were spoken throughout Europe and in parts of southwestern and southern Asia

Synonyms

Related Words

adj of or relating to the Indo-European language family

Synonyms

adj of or relating to the former Indo-European people

Synonyms