LINGUIST List 21.2604 Tue Jun 15 2010 Disc: Latin Etymology Editor for this issue: Elyssa Winzeler <elyssalinguistlist.org> To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.    Lynn Guindon, Latin Etymology Message 1: Latin Etymology Date: 15-Jun-2010 From: Lynn Guindon <lguindonwindstream.net> Subject: Latin Etymology E-mail this message to a friend It is basic to comparative Indo-European linguistics that one use the oldest attested forms from any language family to establish relatedness between languages and units from those languages, such as words. Therefore, the evidence one wants when discussing Latin derivatives of Indo-European is written evidence from the oldest states of languages related to Latin. Rather than using Modern English words, for instance, Gothic is preferred to demonstrate the relationship between Latin (or rather the Italic branch of IE) and the Germanic family. The reasons one uses the oldest attested forms are various, but one reason is that it is best to compare languages of similar antiquity, and another is that using the oldest forms available avoids needless complications to comparisons created by analogical and sociological changes, so that one can focus as much as possible on what are clearly purely phonological changes. Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics Subject Language(s): Latin (lat) Language Family(ies): Indo-European Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 15-Jun-2010       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.