Persbericht Universiteit Leiden

We are proud to announce our latest course in the field of humanities: Introduction to Comparative Linguistics of Indo-European Languages by Dr Tijmen Pronk is doing very well. Available today! 

Every language belongs to a language family — a group of languages that are genetically related to each other. Indo-European is the language family to which English belongs, along with many sub-families such as Germanic languages and Romance languages. In this eight-week course from Leiden University, you’ll explore Indo-European languages, the ancient languages at the top of the family tree, and the linguistic tools needed to study them. 

The Indo-European language family is now known to consist of thirteen major branches and a number of now extinct languages of which only fragments have been preserved that may once have formed branches of their own. You’ll delve into the structure and origins of these branches. Not only will you learn about the oldest languages belonging to the Indo-European language family, but you’ll also learn about linguistic reconstruction, how you can tell whether two languages are related to each other and how language evolves. 

This course will guide you through the different groups of Indo-European languages by looking at some of the oldest texts from these languages, including Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, and learn about the importance of oral traditions in the history of these texts. As you progress through each of the branches of the language tree, comparing and contrasting each different language, you’ll begin to piece together the Proto-Indo-European language. 

This course is for you if you have an interest in history, archaeology, and languages. Join us today in Introduction to Comparative Linguistics of Indo-European Languages .