Did people in antiquity comment on word similarities across languages?

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In summary, scholars in antiquity noticed and remarked on related/similar words in different languages. However, the relation between languages was not always recognised.
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Did scholars in antiquity notice and remark on related/similar words in different languages?

Just as one example, during and after the Greco-Persian wars there would have been many who became at least partly bilingual in Greek and Persian. They would have then come across Indo-European words in each others' languages. Another example would be early contacts between Persia and India, given that Avestan and Sanskrit share many similar sounding words. (I read somewhere that Zoroastrian texts were translated into Sanskrit during medieval times after some Zorastrian groups migrated to India).

As for European language groups (e.g. the Romance group), I assume that their interrelation would have been known continuously throughout their evolution, since there was no period of mutual isolation that would have erased the common origin from collective memory?
 
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It is very common for otherwise unrelated languages to "borrow" words from one another. What linguists are interested in is whether languages have the same grammar. Grammar persists through time. The idea is if languages have a similar grammar then they came from a common ancestor. In this way we can learn about what was going on in pre-history (before written records).

Hindi and English have a common ancestor. Hungarian is related to Finnish but not to German. And so forth.
 
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Swamp Thing said:
Did scholars in antiquity notice and remark on related/similar words in different languages?
Yes, but often only when the relation was pretty close. Indian grammarians did recognise similarities with Persian. However nobody came close to recognising bigger families like Indo-European.
 
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Hornbein said:
Grammar persists through time.
Not always. There are enormous differences between Old English, Middle English, and Modern English, to the point that Old English is unrecognizable to modern speakers. Even Middle English is just barely recognizable to us. For example, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (written between 1387 and 1400 - Middle English) the following would be nigh onto inscrutable.
Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorwe
I knowe ynogh, on even and a-morwe,'
Quod the Marchant, 'and so doon oother mo
That wedded been.
Some grammar structure that changed between Old English and Middle English included the elimination of many of the noun inflections corresponding to grammatical cases. Where there used to be dative, instrumental, genitive, and other cases in Old English, most were eliminated in Middle English. In Modern English, the only remnants of these grammar constructs are the genitive 's added to nouns to indicate possession, together with the various cases that still remain in our pronouns -- I/me/my/mine and so on.
 
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Hornbein said:
Grammar persists through time.
Like gender in English?
Like noun classes in Niger-Bantu-Congo languages?
Mark44 said:
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
"When in April, and it's muddy underfoot"
Or something like that.
 

1. What evidence do we have that people in antiquity were aware of word similarities across languages?

There are several pieces of evidence that suggest people in antiquity were aware of word similarities across languages. One of the most significant is the existence of loanwords, which are words borrowed from one language into another. This indicates that people were aware of and interacting with other languages. Additionally, there are examples of ancient texts that discuss language and linguistic connections between different cultures.

2. Did people in antiquity have a concept of language families?

While the concept of language families as we know it today did not exist in antiquity, there is evidence that people were aware of linguistic connections between different languages. For example, ancient scholars such as Herodotus and Plato noted similarities between Greek and other languages, and some ancient texts mention the idea of a common origin for different languages.

3. Were there any ancient scholars who specifically studied word similarities across languages?

Yes, there were ancient scholars who focused on studying word similarities across languages. One notable example is Isidore of Seville, a 7th century scholar who wrote extensively about language and compiled a list of Latin words with their Greek and Hebrew counterparts. Another example is the 9th century Arab scholar Al-Kindi, who wrote about the connections between Arabic and other languages.

4. How did people in antiquity explain word similarities across languages?

There were various explanations for word similarities across languages in antiquity. Some believed that all languages originated from a single language, while others believed in a more complex model of language diffusion and borrowing. Some also attributed similarities to divine or supernatural origins. However, it's important to note that these explanations were often based on limited knowledge and understanding of linguistics.

5. Did people in antiquity have a way to document and track word similarities across languages?

While there were no formal methods of documenting and tracking word similarities across languages in antiquity, there is evidence that people were aware of and recorded these connections. For example, ancient dictionaries and glossaries often included words from multiple languages, and there are also examples of ancient texts that compare and contrast words from different languages.

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