The words used for objects in different languages can tell us a great deal about conditions in ancient civilizations. For example, because so many disparate languages like Greek, Sanskrit, and Dutch all have similar words for “wheel”, it’s reasonable to assume that the Proto Indo European civilization, which was at the root of all those languages, had wheeled vehicles. But the reasoning goes the other way as well. Since parts of the body have always been with us, the words used for them in different languages allow us to trace the etymological changes of those languages. The video below explains the sound shifts that led from the word for head being “kaput” to “heafod” and eventually, “head”. The roots of words like “lung” and “brain” are also particularly interesting.

David Crotty

David Crotty

David Crotty is a Senior Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, a boutique management consulting firm focused on strategic issues related to professional and academic publishing and information services. Previously, David was the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He oversaw journal policy across OUP’s journals program, drove technological innovation, and served as an information officer. David acquired and managed a suite of research society-owned journals with OUP, and before that was the Executive Editor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, where he created and edited new science books and journals, along with serving as a journal Editor-in-Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc., as well as The AAP-PSP Executive Council. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.

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