Centum/Satem describes a linguistic division that occurred a very long time ago. It is essentially a sub-division between Indo-European languages.
Centum describes European languages of predominantly Latinate association. Cent is Latin for 100. Satem is 100 in the Avestan language, which was used in early Zoroastrian scripture in east Iran. Its closely linked with languages such as Sanskrit.
The Centum/Satem division of the Indo-European languages was invented by 19th century linguist and sanskrit expert Peter von Bradke.
Bibliography
The Unimpeachable Wikipedia
Centum/Satem gets a mention in the New York Times
This article was posted by Ronan McDonnell on
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at
10:57.
It is archived in Culture, History, Short Post and tagged ancient, Culture, History, language, latin, linguistics, past, peter von bradke, sanskrit.
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