Re: The First Language | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

Littlestone Nov 23, 2005 22:35:56

Replying to PeterH

Indeed, it's when you have -

...two, three, seven, and ten in English, Latin, Greek and Sanskrit - ie

English
Latin
Greek
Sanskrit

as in -

two
duo
dúo
dva

three
tres
treîs
tráyas

seven
septem
heptá
saptá

ten
decem
déka
dasa

The threes are alike in all the languages ie -

English
Latin
Greek
Sanskrit

three
tres
treîs
tráyas

but linguists are interested in discovering regular patterns, not isolated resemblances. So here, "t" in English often appears as "d" in the other languages,

English
Latin
Greek
Sanskrit

two
duo
dúo
dva

ten
decem
déka
dasa

and "h" in Greek appears as "s" in English, Latin, and Sanskrit.

English
Latin
Greek
Sanskrit

seven
septem
heptá
saptá..."

Then you have the mother of all words - 'ma' perhaps from the suckling sound of babe at breast?

StoneLifter Nov 24, 2005 05:20:41

Replying to Littlestone

Ma is the first thing a child says. This is after a few days and long before they try to talk.

Steve Gray Nov 24, 2005 11:11:09

Replying to Littlestone

I know there are significant pronunciation differences between ancient Greek, Byzantine Greek and modern Greek. In modern Greek "d" is pronounced like a voiced "th", similar you the "th" in "than". So the Greek "two" is pronounced "theeo"; "delta" is spoken as "thelta". "t" is pronounced like a short "d", so three is "dria" and "h" (which is written like an "X") is pronounced like the "ch" in "loch", so seven is "chepta", which does bear some similarity to "septa". Another difference is that the Greek letter "b" is pronounced as a "v", so "beta" is pronounced "veeta".