There are many books about the Indo Europeans but, I believe, not another like this. It is based upon language and essentially only language. Written some twenty years ago it has not been replaced by later work and hopefully is still of some value. It contains all the basic information on the Indo Europeans needed by the general reader and is written in a popular rather than an “academic” style that does not require specialized knowledge. Basically it is founded on the simple idea that as time passes words change and, if two languages arise from a common tongue then they have fewer and fewer words in common as time passes.
The most important of our results is tying down the origin of the family of Indo European languages; it is some thousands of years earlier than has previously been thought. We have combined this with an assessment of where this “homeland” might be by using the old idea that the nature of this land was contained in the descriptive common names for plants, animals, and land features found in many Indo European languages. The combination of time and place leads to the identification of the origin to an archaeologically identified specific invasion of southern Russia from the south. Our identification is unique and important and can be linked with extensive studies of Indo European folk lore given elsewhere.
Finally, because of the large amount of European data available we have been able to make a unique analysis of when the many different European language groups spread into Europe and progressively separated from each other. This shows the relationship of all of the European languages to each other.
The most important of our results is tying down the origin of the family of Indo European languages; it is some thousands of years earlier than has previously been thought. We have combined this with an assessment of where this “homeland” might be by using the old idea that the nature of this land was contained in the descriptive common names for plants, animals, and land features found in many Indo European languages. The combination of time and place leads to the identification of the origin to an archaeologically identified specific invasion of southern Russia from the south. Our identification is unique and important and can be linked with extensive studies of Indo European folk lore given elsewhere.
Finally, because of the large amount of European data available we have been able to make a unique analysis of when the many different European language groups spread into Europe and progressively separated from each other. This shows the relationship of all of the European languages to each other.
