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#208160 11/29/12 02:54 AM
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HalAl Offline OP
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After looking up the origin of "puppy" I learned that "pupa" and "puppet" are related to it. That led me to wonder what root word has spawned the most offspring?

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That led me to wonder what root word has spawned the most offspring?

Well, you probably mean which Proto-Indo-European root has the most reflexes in the Indo-European daughter languages. Tough question. I guess you could look at Pokorny's dictionary and try to count which entry is the longest. Kind of strange.

Oh, and welcome to the fun house!


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HalAl Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
[



Oh, and welcome to the fun house!


That's a bit belated, since I've been on here since 2004, but thanks all the same. :-) I mostly just look on and try to learn from the rest of you.

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That's a bit belated, since I've been on here since 2004
Ah, I see. I've just never seen one of your posts, but then I joined later than you.


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"Best bet would probably be to ask American Heritage--they have their etymologies keyed to a list of IE roots, so if they don't know offhand they can probably generate the answer."
-Jesse Sheidlower (U.S. editor OED)

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"Best bet would probably be to ask American Heritage--they have their etymologies keyed to a list of IE roots, so if they don't know offhand they can probably generate the answer."

That'd work if you wish to limit the offspring to English. (The A-H dictionary of roots has page reference to Pokorny's dictionary.)


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Originally Posted By: HalAl


That's a bit belated, since I've been on here since 2004, but thanks all the same. :-) I mostly just look on and try to learn from the rest of you.


Wow that is impressive; only 19 posts since 2004. I have been here since 2000, but have yapped on a lot more than you. You win the watcher/reader/learner stakes.

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tsuwm--wow, it must be nice to have friends in high places! [bow]


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