Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Ancient Language Maps

In a Google quest to understand a new security protocol I came across a scholarly group that studies Indo-European. The above, distribution of IE languages in 500 AD, is a part of a series ethno-linguistic maps of Indo-European. There is also an Indo-European Etymological Dictionary. And many books available with free PDFsL like this one, A Grammar of Modern Indo-European, which includes this description of the "widely accepted deities".
  • Djḗus Patḗr is believed to have been the original name of God of the Daylight Sky and the chief god of the Indo-European pantheon. He survives in Greek Zeus (genitive case Diòs), Latin Jupiter, Sanskrit Dyaus/Dyaus Pita, Baltic Dievas, Germanic Tiwaz (ON Tyr, OHG Ziu), Armenian Astwatz,and the Gaulish Dispater (c.f. also deus pater in the Vulgate, e. g. Jude 1:1).
  • Pltaw Mātḗr (Dhghōm) is believed to have been the name of an Earth Mother goddess, Skr. Prthivi. Another name of the Indo-European Mother-Earth would be Dhghōm Mātḗr, as in Albanian Dhe Motë, Avestan Zamyat, Slavic Mati Zemlja, Lithuanian Ţemyna, Latvian Zemes Mate, maybe Greek Dēmēter.
  • A Thunder God, possibly associated with the oak, and in some traditions syncretized with Djḗus. A name Pérqunos root per-q- or per-g- is suggested by Balto-Slavic *Perkúnos, Norse Fjörgyn, Albanian Perëndi and Vedic Parjanya. An onomatopoeic root tar is continued in Gaulish Taranis and Hittite Tarhunt. A word for ―thunder‖ itself was (s)tene-, continued in Germanic *Þunraz (thunder personified), and became Thor.
  • Áusōs is believed to have been the goddess of dawn, continued in Greek mythology as Eos, in Rome as Auror-a, in Vedic as Ushas, in Lithuanian mythology as Aušra or Auštaras, in Armenian as Astghik and possibly also in Germanic mythology as Eastre.

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