An Etymological Dictionary of Persian , English and Other Indo-European Languages Vol 2

Book excerpt: Tracing words to their origins opens a new window to human civilization and culture and helps us understand the roots of some of our present social trends and attitudes. For example, the etymology of words for family members clearly shows the division of responsibilities in the most basic unit of society - the family. Father was the "protector" of the family (Pa: protect), mother was the "feeder"(Ma: breast), brother was the load "carrier" (Bher: carry) and daughter was the "milker" (Dhugh: to milk). If one makes the effort to read beyond the shallow shell of sounds and symbols, one can recognize our human oneness portrayed in our words and their historical roots. The primary motivation for writing this dictionary is the hope that it would foster a greater appreciation for the commonality in the apparent variance among different languages and cultures, and ultimately nurture a greater understanding among those who speak apparently different languages. In tracing any Persian word to its origins, its cognates in other Indo-European languages must be considered. In this dictionary, English cognates are regularly referred to along with some other Indo-European equivalents. Altogether, over 1,600 roots and 17,400 derived words are presented in this dictionary. One of the most unique features of this dictionary is its graphical presentation of etymological data, similar to a family tree. The derivations of words are indicated with arrows rather than lengthy text. The arrows greatly simplify the process of tracing words to their roots.