The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots

by Joseph T. Shipley

There are no direct records of the original Indo-European speech. By comparing the vocabularies of its various descendants, however, it is possible to reconstruct the basic Indo-European roots with considerable confidence. In The Origins of English Words, Shipley catalogues these proposed roots and follows the often devious, always fascinating, process by which some of their offshoots have grown.

Anecdotal, eclectic, and always enthusiastic, The Origins of English Words is a diverting expedition beyond linguistics into literature, history, folklore, anthropology, philosophy, and science.

Genres: Linguistics, Reference, Nonfiction, Language, Words, History

672 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1984

About the author

Joseph Twadell Shipley (August 19, 1893 – May 11, 1988) was an American drama critic, author, editor and associate professor of English at Yeshiva College in New York City.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

REVIEW OF THE KINDLE EDTION

Please do note that my one star ranking for Joseph T. Shipley's The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots is generally and mainly because this book is just totally and utterly user (reader) unfriendly as an e-book, with really absolutely no way to in any manner easily leaf through the over 650 pages of Indo-European root words (and which of course is in my humble opinion kind of a total necessity with any kind of dictionary). Combined with the fact that in many of the alphabetised sections, The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots also presents words that are all over the place so to speak, that have obviously been rendered into an e-book format totally haphazardly and with scant if any attention being paid with regard to formatting and how the end result should visually be appearing for easy reference and use, I really cannot under any circumstance even remotely recommend The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots as a digital, as a Kindle download, as the e-book format of The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots in my opinion leaves absolutely everything to be desired and is a total waste of money to consider purchasing.

Now the introductory material featured at the front of The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots before the A to Z section on Indo-European roots begins (and I assume this would also be the case in the non Kindle edition, in the traditional dead tree version of The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots) is interesting enough in and of itself (and yes, I do much appreciate the detailed bibliography presented, although I indeed have to rather wonder and majorly question why Joseph T. Shipley has not included even ONE German language study). However, I for one have definitely found parts of the former, I have found parts of the introduction a bit strange and academically disconcerting and this in particular since for one Joseph T. Shipley seems to consider Anglo-Saxon as the Germanic language, period and par excellence (and not as just another limb in the Western Germanic language group of Indo-European, like Dutch, Friesian and German) and that for two and really rather strangely, Shipley also seems to consider the mythological language history sections of the Old Testament (including the story of the Tower of Babel) as somehow being part of, or rather as still being part of legitimate and scientifically sound and acceptable linguistics and language study.

[Liz Wager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply the most entertaining dictionary you will ever come across. Packed with gems of quotations and learned etymology but with the lightest of touches and some quite ribald humour.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best English dictionary I've read. Period. I was surprised by quite a few entries -- words have interesting histories, don't they? If you are into linguistics or you wish to become a wordsmith of the first rank, this is a must.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joseph Shipley provides a great in-depth explanation in "The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots."

Another book by Joseph Shipley that I recommend is his "Dictionary of Early English Words" the 1955 edition.

[David Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Origins of English Words is an extraordinary guide for lovers of etymology. It's a combination dictionary and thesaurus that displays straightforwardly how many English words are connected with each other. There are many surprises. It is not a book to be read. For me, it works best by dipping into it at random and browsing through a few entries.

[Mark A.]

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[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating if you like learning about words and language.