Indo-European Roots Index.

Indo-European Roots Index. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000

My research on Indo-European languages has lead to a lot of ideas about the way different cultures behave. The above list of indo-european roots and their meanings, derivations and descendents, helps trace the meaning of a word back to its primordial intent. You can imagine the first speakers developing familiar grunts and noises into a language. Just think of all the words and ideas derived from a simple noise like "tek-". There are hundreds of languages derived from the indo-european base: English, Russian, Sanscrit, Greek, Latin, Celtic, Avestan, Old Irish, etc. If you are unfamiliar with language groups, Ancient Scripts.com has some great break downs.

Etymology of words is a big interest of mine. Since we use words to organize our thoughts, the words we know, and use regularly dramatically influence the thoughts we are able to have. The German philosopher, Martin Heidegger, said that the limits of his language were the limits of his thinking. Trying to have a thought about something for which you have no words is like trying to imagine a color no one has ever seen. The first step to understanding your thoughts is understanding the words you use to convey them. In 1989 I started keeping the first of my notebooks. The notion was simply to set down my thoughts to the best of my language abilities so I would be able to review them later. What it has become is a critical feedback loop for observing the evolution of an idea. The words first used for a thought might dramatically change over the course of a year. Or the words I used to verbalize a thought might give some clue to why the thought seemed correct at the time and now falls short. More importantly writing an idea down clearly is the fastest way to get something clear in your own head as well. Letting your ideas be organized by a collage of images and sounds culled from the television relies purely on emotional reaction to the content for expression. A summarized account organizes that mess into a thought... right or wrong. From there intelligence can flower.

The biggest dilemma I have with discussions between people is that words have an established set of meanings which are often ignored by speakers. I think of words as tools for communication. If you're going to use a tool, you should probably be familiar with its operation manual. I'm always looking up words I think I know and always finding new definitions or more exact definitions that I was unaware of. Sometimes I may find that the word does not mean exactly what I had assumed it meant. Thus the importance of language in any interface of minds.