The author reveals the amazing secrets of toponyms. The languages of the mankind grew out of an ancient community but now their kinship is barely visible. However, the preserved names that the ancestors gave to the features of the landscape make it easy to realize how the names Rome and Paris, Iowa and Missouri, London and the Thames, the Baikal, the Dardanelles and others appeared. Reading will help to see the world around you in a new way and awaken interest to the truth.

Aims to explain the origin and meaning of the names of peoples (e.g. Greeks, Germans), countries (e.g. Spain), continents (Europe, Africa), seas (Baltic), mountains (Alps, Pyrenees), rivers (Nile, Rhine, Danube), and cities (Rome, Babylon). These names are generally extremely old, and many can be traced back to migrants who had fled from their desertifying homeland in North Africa and who spoke non-Indo-European languages such as Etruscan. Pauwels has written a book for the general public, but historians, geographers, and linguists will also benefit from reading it (...). [He] is a scholar who knows how to tell an intriguing story. Too few of his colleagues possess that talent.

Online version of Common Errors in English Usage written by Paul Brians.

The main purpose of this etymological dictionary is to trace each Spanish word as far back as possible in order to acquaint the reader with the history of the evolution of the Spanish language; another of its aims is to help students learn vocabulary, e.g., the English word 'sky' does not help English speaking persons learn the Spanish work 'cielo' but the English word 'celestial' does. Etymology is the history of words, and, as words stand for things, it is also the history of things, and therefore of civilisation. The words analyzed in this dictionary cover every area of human endeavor, including science and technology; in addition to words, the book contains certain phrases, and many affixes. Although some Spanish words are not of Indo-European origin, most of them are. In view of the proportion of words with similar etymologies in certain languages, this Spanish etymological dictionary can also be used to find the origin of thousands of English, French, Italian and Portuguese words as well as that of many words from other languages. Many Indo-European roots are represented in Spanish words and therefore this dictionary forms a complete picture of Indo-European etymology. This etymological dictionary is of great value to all those working with, or interested in, the Spanish language. As a reference work it should be on the shelves of school, university and general public libraries as well as other appropriate reference libraries. It is of particular value to students and teachers of Spanish and to translators and conference interpreters.

Horace G. Danner’s A Thesaurus of English Word Roots is a compendium of the most-used word roots of the English language. As Timothy B. Noone notes in his foreword: “Dr. Danner’s book allows you not only to build up your passive English vocabulary, resulting in word recognition knowledge, but also gives you the rudiments for developing your active English vocabulary, making it possible to infer the meaning of words with which you are not yet acquainted. Your knowledge can now expand and will do so exponentially as your awareness of the roots in English words and your corresponding ability to decode unfamiliar words grows apace. This is the beginning of a fine mental linguistic library: so enjoy!” In A Thesaurus of English Word Roots, all word roots are listed alphabetically, along with the Greek or Latin words from which they derive, together with the roots’ original meanings. If the current meaning of an individual root differs from the original meaning, that is listed in a separate column. In the examples column, the words which contain the root are then listed, starting with their prefixes, for example, dysacousia, hyperacousia. These root-starting terms then are followed by terms where the root falls behind the word, e.g., acouesthesia and acoumeter. These words are followed by words where the root falls in the middle or the end, as in such terms as bradyacusia and odynacusis.. In this manner, A Thesaurus of English Word Roots places the word in as many word families as there are elements in the word. This work will interest linguists and philologists and anyone interested in the etymological aspects of English language.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.