AI Snips
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Prioritize Widely Supported Reconstructions
- When studying language history, trace words across daughter languages to test reconstructions.
- Favor roots reconstructed from many language families for higher certainty.
Deep Roots Of English Vocabulary
- Many core English words trace back to a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European vocabulary of 1,300–2,000 roots.
- These ancient roots form the language's trunk and still supply a large share of everyday words.
Sound Laws Link Cognates Across Languages
- Some modern English words descend directly through Germanic lines, while others come via Latin or Greek from the same Indo-European roots.
- Cognates like 'tooth' and 'dental' illustrate Grimm's and regular sound-shift laws.