Indo-European
- adjective
- /ˌɪndoʊˈjʊərəpən/
:
indoeuropeo
- Words in Indo-European languages don't have anything approaching this exuberant deployment of prefixes and suffixes.
- Indo-European languages
Examples
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The ancient texts reveal insights into the Indo-European societies and their cultural practices.
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The Kurds are a largely Sunni Muslim, Indo-European-speaking people.
Academic text (2004) -
Sinhalese people later migrated to the island from the Ganges Valley, bringing their Indo-European language with them.
Academic text (2007) -
Salish makes subtle distinctions that would require much more verbiage if expressed in an Indo-European language.
Academic text (2007) -
Many modern languages, including English and Spanish, belong to the Indo-European family of languages.
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Linguists study the structure of Indo-European languages to trace their historical development.
Synonyms
A large family of languages spoken in Europe and parts of Asia, like English and Hindi
Surface Forms
Morphology
Indo-European = Indo- + European (semi-transparent) = Indo + European
The compound clearly contains 'European' and the combining form 'Indo-' (relating to India), but many learners may not know the combining form or the historical/geographical scope signalled by 'Indo-', so the precise meaning is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Indo-European comes from the parts Indo- (from 'India') and European (from 'Europe'), so it describes something related to the large family of languages that links India and Europe.
