When, however, one studies
these languages closely, it is perceived that all possess a stock of
common words, or at least certain roots. The same roots occur in
Sanscrit, the ancient language of the Hindoos, and also in Zend, the
ancient tongue of the Persians. Thus,
Father--pere (French), pitar (Sanscrit), pater (Greek and Latin). It
is the same word pronounced in various ways. From this (and other such
examples) it has been concluded that all--Hindoos, Persians, Greeks,
Latins, Celts, Germans, Slavs--once spoke the same language, and
consequently were one people.
=The Aryan People.=--These peoples then called themselves Aryans and
lived to the north-west of India, either in the mountains of Pamir, or
in the steppes of Turkestan or Russia; from this centre they dispersed
in all directions. The majority of the people--Greeks, Latins,
Germans, Slavs--forgot their origin; but the sacred books of the
Hindoos and the Persians preserve the tradition. Effort has been
made[22] to reconstruct the life of our Aryan ancestors in their
mountain home before the dispersion. It was a race of shepherds; they
did not till the soil, but subsisted from their herds of cattle and
sheep, though they already had houses and even villages.
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