-
Proto-Indo-European Religion and
Mythology
Zhou Dan
Student Number:1321198450
Abstract
There are twenty-nine language Families
in the world according to Comparative
Linguistics. Indo-European language
family is one of the most influential and widely
distributed
language
families
including
ten
kinds
of
languages
and
more
than
fifty
written characters. It spreads to east
and west ends in the center o f north Europe in
the European continent
and
it also
distributes in
Indian sub-continent
and the
south
part of Africa continent .
Indo- European language is one of the
most widely distributed languages in the
world, with almost half the
world
’
s population taking
one of their language systems as
their
native
language.
The
study
of
Indo-
European
culture
and
archaeology
is
not
only a major subject in
linguistics, but also exerts a profound influence
on knowing
the ancient society of
Europe. The origins and history of Indo-European
language is
the
prime
problem
for
anthropologist,
archaeologists
and
linguists
as
well.
The
linguistics
is
dependent
on
anthropology,
archaeology
and
many
other
subjects
to
unravel the mystery of language. The
scientists endeavor to collaborate and cooperate
in
order
to
make
contributions
to
the
history
and
development
of
Indo-European
language.
Among the numerous
perspectives of Indo-European language system,
this paper
is
fairly
interested
in
exploring
the
history
and
life
of
Indo-European
people
and
language from the aspect of their
religion and mythology , which is the vital
evidence
that can mirror the true life
of the people.
Key
Words:
Indo-European
language,
religion
and
mythology,
Comparative
Linguistics,
origins
摘要
比较语言学将人类语言分为
29
个语系
,
印欧语系是其中影响最大、
分布最
广的语系之一。印欧语系包括
10
个语族
,
50
多种语言。印欧语系
以北欧为中心向
欧洲大陆东、西两端延伸
,
在南亚次大陆及非洲南端等地区也有分布。
< br>印欧语系是当代世界上分布最广的一个语系
,
近一半世界
人口以该语系中的
某一种语言为母语。研究印欧语系的文化和考古学
,
不仅是语言学中的一个重大
课题
,
而且
,
对于认识欧洲远古社会也具有
非常重要的意义。
人类学家和考古学家
认为语言研究是解决他们
间题的关键
,
语言学家又依靠人类学、考古学和其它科
学来揭示语言的奥秘科学家们通力合作
,
对印
欧语系的历史和发展作了大量的
考证。
针对于印欧语系的多方面研究，
这篇文章主要从宗教和神话的角度，
< br>对印欧
语系的历史和发展以及印欧人的生活进行了深刻的探究。
< br>旨在反映印欧人的真实
的生活情况以及他们的宗教信仰。
关键词：印欧语言，宗教和神话，比较语言学，起源
1
Introduction
It
is
commonly
accepted
that
language
and
culture
is
interwoven
and
highly
related to each
other. Language is the carrier of a certain
culture and the culture can be
reflected
through
language
use
in
concrete
situations.
The
comparative
linguistics
study allows us
to reconstruct a proto-culture alongside the
proto-language. Besides
comparing
linguistics
forms,
much
efforts
have
been
devoted
to
the
comparison
of
religion, myths,laws and all manner of
social institutions.
Proto-Indo-
European religion is not directly attested, but
reconstruction has been
attempted based
on the existence of similarities among the
deities, religious practices
and
mythologies of the Indo-European peoples. The
religion and mythology play an
significant role in their lives and we
can have a better understanding and perception of
Proto-Indo-European language and
cultures.
Below we will
review and illustrate what has been found and
proposed about PIE
culture
and
society
based
on
the
constructed
vocabulary
of
PIE
and
the
cognate
cultural
traditions
of
the
daughter
branches.
nothing
like
a
complete
picture
of
PIE
religious
beliefs
and
practices
is
possible.
In
what
follows,
we
can
only
give
a
sampling of the major divine features,
myths, and a few element of religious features.
While
even
this,
the
study
of
the
religion
and
mythology
is
highly
needed
and
can
give us a comprehensive
insights of PIE language and culture.