English edit

Etymology edit

Coined by Dano-French geographer Conrad Malte-Brun in 1810 (as langues indo-germaniques) and popularized in German (as indogermanisch/Indogermanisch),[1][2] especially following J. Klaproth's 1823 Asia polyglotta. At the time the term was coined, the Celtic languages were not yet considered Indo-European, and the Tocharian languages were not yet discovered; even after the inclusion of Celtic, Germanic remains the northwesternmost family (thanks to Icelandic).[1] By surface analysis, Indo- +‎ Germanic.

Proper noun edit

Indo-Germanic

  1. (dated, Indo-European studies) Indo-European (major language family)
  2. (dated, Indo-European studies) Proto-Indo-European (hypothetical language)
  3. (Indo-European studies) Pre-Germanic Proto-Indo-European.

Adjective edit

Indo-Germanic (not comparable)

  1. (dated, Indo-European studies) Indo-European

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 Winfred P. Lehmann, Historical Linguistics: An Introduction (2013, →ISBN), page 67: "Since the Germanic family is located farthest to the north and west, many scholars, especially in Germany, label the family Indo-Germanic by the designation proposed in 1810 by Conrad Malte-Brun."
  2. ^ The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European (2006, →ISBN)