Hear an ancient language being spoken! (Proto-Indo-European)

[sandbender]

Interesting piece here at Archeology dot org where you can hear someone speaking in Proto-Indo-European, which may not have sounded exactly like this but enough work has gone into it to suggest that it must be close.

http://archaeology.org/exclusives/articles/1302-proto-indo-european-schleichers-fable

 

[crosslandkelly]

Good stuff, very interesting.

 

[presterjohn]

Very interesting. However it did remind me quite a lot of the bible reading sketch from Not the Nine O'clock News.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrdKe5sDVI4

 

[Macaroon]

I can hear all sorts of stuff in there; Scandinavia, Germany and the Northern Isles, Scotland and the WestCoast of Ireland; not the words but the music of it reminds me of some of these...............

Or do I only imagine that?........................................atb mac

 

[treadlightly]

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

 

[Goatboy]

Reminded me of the controversy surrounding whether the old nursery rhyme/picking song "eeny, meeny, miny, moe..." was of ancient counting origin or not. Good post thanks for popping it up.

 

[Corfe]

Great stuff - thanks for posting this.

 

[sandbender]

Reminded me of the controversy surrounding whether the old nursery rhyme/picking song "eeny, meeny, miny, moe..." was of ancient counting origin or not. Good post thanks for popping it up.

I didn't know that there was any controversy, I thought that it was generally understood to be taken the 'weighed, measured and found wanting' graffiti that someones god scrawled on a wall with his finger? You learn something new everyday.

When I first heard the clip I was reminded of a really impressive rendition of Beowulf in old english that I'd seen on the youtubes, however with further listening there is really quite a bit more in there.

 

[boatman]

Yan tan tethera etc was the ancient counting system used for counting sheep.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_tan_tethera

Note how the Wiltshire system seems closer to the Scottish than to Welsh. This is odd if Wiltshire shepherds really did pick it up from Welsh Drovers which I have always doubted as local shepherds would take great care to avoid droves of sheep passing through. A possibility that this is evidence of such counting systems being much older?

 

[rik_uk3]

When I've finished learning Klingon I'll give this one a bash

 

[THOaken]

Absolutely fascinating. I'll have to inform my linguist friend about this article.

 

[Tengu]

There is no language which changes so often as Proto Indo European, as a Philogist once said.

 

[boatman]

There is no language which changes so often as Proto Indo European, as a Philogist once said.

I love that Tengu, shall steal it if I may.

 

[Tengu]

Drat, I forgot who said it.

I found it in Shippeys `Road to middle Earth`