RSVP: Joseph Evinger (jdevinger@comcast.net)
When: Every 2nd Thursday of the month, 3:00-4:30 pm
Where: Zoom (click "Zoom" to join event)
Meeting ID: 848 0146 1083
Passcode: science
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Meeting ID: 848 0146 1083
Open to: All
Science and Ideas Group Presents -Language & History
Presenter: Roger Newman
How does the study of language help us understand our history? How does the study of history help us understand our language? These are the questions that we will address in this session of the Science and Ideas interest group.
Most European languages are part of a larger family called Indo-European. Linguists have been able to piece together “proto Indo-European or PIE), an approximation of the original language that gave rise to Romance, Germanic, Celtic, Slavic and other European languages, plus their relatives in Asia: Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Persian (Farsi) and many others. We will tell the story of how these linkages were discovered and how they inform us about many strands of the history and prehistory of the peoples who spoke them.
This talk will expand on themes discussed in Roger’s: Out of Africa III:
Early Human Migrations into Europe, which was presented for Science & Ideas last year. Additionally, he will talk about the history of the English language and the various influences which have contributed to our modern use of English.
Please join us for a discussion of how languages change and how these changes can give us clues to the early peoples and migrations that preceded us
Roger has been a member and volunteer in Ashby Village for over 12 years. He taught anthropology, history and environmental studies at local community colleges, most recently at Berkeley City College. The study of how languages work in human cultures has been a long-time interest.