Proto-Indo-European: The Root of Nearly All European Cultures & Languages

Proto-Indo-European: The Root of Nearly All European Cultures & Languages

Before 5000 BC, ancient European peoples covered much of the continent, speaking a variety of primitive languages. It is unknown the extent to which these pre-Proto-Indo-European languages were related or unrelated. Around 5000 BC, the theoretical language of Proto-Indo-European (P.I.E.) originated in the Ural Mountain region. P.I.E. language and culture proceeded to spread throughout Europe, becoming the basis for nearly all ancient European languages, such as Proto-Baltic-Slav, Finnic, Germanic, Celt, Italic, Greek, Illyrian and Thracian. Therefore, P.I.E. is also the root for the vast majority of modern European languages.

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Evidence shows that the spread of P.I.E. was more of a process of cultural diffusion, or convection, rather than military conquest or population displacement. The original speakers of P.I.E., based in the Ural Mountains did not spread their language and culture by achieving conquest after conquest, all the way to the western extremities of Europe (modern Spain, Portugal, France). Instead, their language and culture caught on with neighboring peoples to the west, and spread in this manner throughout nearly all of Europe.

How did P.I.E. culture spread so effectively? Evidence supports the hypothesis that P.I.E. peoples in modern Russia innovated the domestication of the horse. This provides a possible answer to the question regarding the dissemination of P.I.E. language and culture. The domestication of the horse would allow P.I.E. peoples to expand their trade routes, increasing their range of influence. This innovation may also be indicative of a more advanced culture and sophisticated language, which may have gradually won favor from tribe to tribe throughout Europe, from east to west.

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Comments (17)

quote:"Evidence shows that the spread of P.I.E. was more of a process of cultural diffusion, or convection, rather than military conquest or population displacement. The original speakers of P.I.E., based in the Ural Mountains did not spread their language and culture by achieving conquest after conquest, all the way to the western extremities of Europe (modern Spain, Portugal, France). Instead, their language and culture caught on with neighboring peoples to the west, and spread in this manner throughout nearly all of Europe."

Possibly the most absurd, incredible conjecture ever?

#1 - Mark - 09/09/2010 - 12:17

Well Mark, do you have an alternative theory?

#2 - Randy - 09/09/2010 - 22:46

Really Mark? sooo...... ummm, we're waiting!

#3 - plip - 09/12/2010 - 07:10

:)! Peace and love is you need.

#4 - MindfulXpanse - 09/13/2010 - 20:18

Yeah, Mark's right. That is absolutely absurb. I mean Indo-Europeans have been making war as long as they've been around. They all had Gods of War and warrior classes, and the Germanic warriors were raised to not fear death but rather seek glory by dying in combat. How about this - they had horses and better weapons and slaughtered and raped their way across the continent and the only way the Basque survived was by going into the highest rockiest terrain they could find. I mean, think about it - who just welcomes in foreigners from the east and out of appreciation for their percieved superiority and decides to adopt their ways and language and religion and art, etc. The truth is probably somewhere in between - there was a fair amount of trade and Indo-European languages were probably used as common languages of trade, but there was also war where Indo-Europeans were conquerors.

#5 - Whitey - 09/16/2010 - 15:45

MACEDONIANS ARE THE BASIC ORIGINAL AND CULTURAL EUROPEANS..AND THEY LIVE NOW IN THE STATE CALLED FIROM BECAUSE SOMEBODY IS AFRAID OF THE HISTORY AND WHAT IS ULTIMATE TRUTH.
CAN YOU ASK YOUR SELF ''WHAT IF THERE IS GOD?'' AND HOW MUCH YOU WILL HAW TO PAY FOR YOUR GOVERNMENT DECISIONS IN THE PAST...
READ MORE ABOUT MACEDONIAN CULTURE, OF WHO IS THE FIRS WOMAN WITH CHRISTIAN RELIGION, WHO WROTE THE CYRILLIC'S ALPHABET, AND MUCH MUCH MORE..

#6 - JOVAN - 09/18/2010 - 18:27

Another propaganda sponsored by the countries who want to alter the history. Maybe the publisher of such content should do broad research of the true history and mention about Alexander the Great and the country he created-Macedonia.

#7 - Nikola - 09/21/2010 - 00:32

I highly doubt any of you are anthropologists, so you probably don't have any idea what you are talking about. Maybe people weren't prone to war before civilization arose. It seems as the agricultural revolution, which happened AFTER the spread of the Proto-Indo-European language, created the idea of land ownership, and became the reason for civilization and war. Of course, I may not be correct. But that's just the thing. One shouldn't be so quick to dismiss a new idea, because it very well could have happened. It was thousands of years ago, a much different time than we live in now; even experts disagree on what truly happened. This is why we can't make ludicrous statements of "fact" about these time periods like Whitey did; no one is truly sure how things went back then.

BTW, Alexander the Great came AFTER the spread of the Proto-Indo-European language, and Macedonia was not created by him, nor was it a country; it was a region of ancient
Greece.

#8 - Julio - 10/16/2010 - 16:48

" - who just welcomes in foreigners from the east and out of appreciation for their percieved superiority and decides to adopt their ways and language and religion and art, etc."

Um....the Romans? (read up on the Roman adoption of Hellenic cultural traits)

#9 - George - 12/21/2010 - 04:13

first off-who cares? second off, its entirely possibile that a leader would attempt to unify an area with peaceful tactics. people weren't as stupid as we like to think 7,000 years ago and a european continent that speaks the same language and trades with itself is far more effective than one that squanders its resources and fights amongst itself. To think that all people throughout history can't percieve the benefits of peaceful relationships between countries because we can't seem to do so now is stupid.

#10 - JACK - 04/19/2011 - 09:35

A third method of spreading culture and one that tends to be far less aggressive is intermarriage. I believe that it is just as likely that a technological \"advanced\" culture would use marriage as one the techniques that would allow them to advance their interests with little effort on their part.

#11 - Scapergary - 04/24/2011 - 23:23

It is possible that PIE was spread through conquest, just not conquest by the founders of PIE. Keep in mind that Alexander spread Hellenistic language and culture although he spoke Macedonian. Which may lead one to believe that the founders of PIE may have been culturally superior (perceivably at least) to that of the surrounding peoples. I also agree with the assertion that horse domestication was most likely \"born\" in the region where most scholars believe PIE was developed as well... although I\'m of the belief that PIE was developed by peoples just East of the Urals. Another thing that bears mentioning is that IF the language is older than what is generally accepted (a distinct possibility) than it\'s possible that the spread of PIE coincides with the end of the last ice-age, which would mean that much of the land that it spread to would be sparsely populated. I feel the author here isn\'t off-base on the possibility that the founders of PIE could have been peaceful people.

#12 - the_sconnie - 05/06/2011 - 15:27

PIE may well have spread much the same way that English has come to be the main language of the world. This is due in part to the size and specialization of its vocabulary.

#13 - randy - 07/10/2011 - 19:24

Most likely the spread of the indo european language involved both trade AND war. A similar pattern occurred with the North American Indians who had extensive trade routes while routinely warring with each other.

#14 - fditto - 12/05/2011 - 14:39

PIE was basically Sanskrit or at the very least Proto Sanskrit. Most of the basic words in Latin , Greek and most European languages resemble their Sanskrit roots.Words for mother, father, brother, body parts, numbers and common activities are same as in Sanskrit.Unfortunately early Indo-Aryan explorers did not impart alphabets and grammar otherwise European languages would have been far more rich.

#15 - Dr. S. Sharma - 12/20/2011 - 12:01

the_sconnie has a valid point. Yet, wouldn\'t the domestication of the horse and the expansion of trade routes also give rise to possible trade disputes between tribes? This could in fact the origination of war, a dispute between two traders could lead to the Chieftain giving an order for aggression which would lead to a conqueror and conquered. Thus, the conquered would be accepted into the tribe and they would learn the language of their new masters. Just a thought.

#16 - meow - 12/23/2011 - 21:18

The spread of PIE due to the domestication of horse is based on a huge assumption - that the horse was domesticated in modern day Russia.

#17 - American PIE - 01/28/2012 - 18:18

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