INDOEUROPEI

INDOEUROPEANS. - These are the peoples of Latin, Greek, Germanic, Celtic, Baltic, Slavic, Indian, and Persian languages.

SUMMARY:

I. General Notes

II. Religion according to linguists

III. Conclusion.

I. General Notes

The name "Indo-Europeans" is of relatively recent date. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the sensational discovery was made that most European languages—namely, Latin, Greek, Germanic, Celtic, Baltic, and Slavic—are related to one another and also to Indian and Persian in Asia. The discoverer of this affinity was the renowned German scholar Franz Bopp, who in 1861 called "Indo-Europeans" the peoples to whom these languages belong. All of them derive from a common source, which existed in very remote times; this is called the primitive Indo-European language (Ursprache) or their fundamental language. There is no direct evidence of the original Indo-European language, nor has it been possible to determine with certainty the geographical region where the peoples who spoke it were settled. Indeed, Western and Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Iran, and India cannot be considered the homeland of the Indo-Europeans, since these territories were occupied by them only after their migration from a common place of origin. Linguistics, prehistory, and ethnology are more or less in agreement in affirming that the formation of the Indo-European linguistic type must have occurred in a vast territory extending roughly from the North Sea to the Caspian Sea. This primitive Indo-European language was not uniform but a complex of various elements mixed together, which began to exist toward the end of the Neolithic period. The Indo-European peoples themselves were formed from a mixture with layers of pre-European or non-Indo-European populations.

There are several sciences that allow us to know something about the culture of the primitive Indo-European people (Urvolk), and foremost among them is linguistics. Through the comparative study of words belonging to the individual Indo-European languages, it reconstructs a body of terms from the common fundamental language, thus providing an idea of this primitive people. For example, the Greek term ἀδόμαι "I feel a religious fear," derived from ἀαζόμαι, finds a counterpart in Old Indic, Italic, Germanic, and perhaps even Illyrian. It can therefore be reasonably assumed that the Indo-Europeans, before their migration, already had the idea of religious fear, since they had a word to express it (this is the so-called "linguistic paleontology," which is discussed in greater detail in the works of V. Pisani cited in the bibliography).

II. RELIGION ACCORDING TO LINGUISTIC DATA

In most Indo-European languages, words with the suffix *-tu-* are found, more or less present, whose formation clearly dates back to the pre-dissolution period, i.e., around the 3rd millennium B.C. The suffix *-tu-* can be considered a variant of the so-called sacred element *tu*, to which F. Specht devoted a study in *Die Sprache* (I [1949], pp. 43 ff.). In no Indo-European language are formations with *-tu-* as numerous as in Latin, so that with Latin material several groups of meanings can be distinguished.

1. Group I: Divine worship and justice

a) First and foremost, the preference for the suffix *-tu-* is evident in expressions relating to the reciprocal relationship between gods and men and to the cult of the dead: the word *cultus*, derived from *colere*, originally meant a ritual action, namely the taking possession of land, which was performed by a solemn circuit or plowing around a piece of land; *ritus* = religious ceremony, ordinarily sacred; *mactatus* and *sacrificatus* = sacrifice; *incensus* (here *-sus* instead of *-tus*, cf. Stolz-Leumann [see bibliography], p. 341) = incense; *amictus* = cloak; *cinctus* = sacred girdle; *castus* = sacred chastity; *precatus*, *oratus* = prayer, supplication; *gestus* = the gestures of prayer; *saltus*, *saltatus* = the dance of worship, etc.; even in the names of the gods, e.g., *Comis* from *Cond-tus (the mark " indicates a reconstructed and unattested form) = the god of the harvest.

The deity also speaks to man, namely through oracles and omens, portents, signs; here the suffix *-tu-* is noted in *monitus*, especially in the ablative in phrases such as *monitus Fortunae*, *monitus deorum*, etc.; *fatus* = prediction; *hinnitus* = neighing of horses; *defectus* = the darkening (of the stars); *terrae motus* = earthquake; *fulminis ictus* = lightning strike; *tonitrus* = thunder: this term, according to Brugmann (see bibliography, II, 1, pp. 385, 440), derives from a fusion of *tonitru, thunder with *tonetro-; *nutus* = the nodding of the head, the granting of a prayer.

b) The cult of the dead is reflected in *planctus* = lamentations for the dead; moreover, *pugilatus* = boxing at the funeral of a dead person, as well as *caestus* = the straps (of combat) used in boxing. Even *lusio*, *risus*, and *ludificatio* may have had a connection with the cult of the dead, as maintained by H. Fluck (see bibliography, p. 29 ff.) and F. Dölger (see bibliography, p. 80 ff.).

c) Since the language of the magistrate and of justice, especially in the earliest period, cannot be separated from liturgical language, as E. Norden (see bibliography, p. 12) holds, the suffix *-tu-* in *ambitus*, *arbitratus*, *census*, *exercitus*, *magistratus*, *scitus*, *senatus*, etc., is easily explained. To this group also belongs the term for the cry for help: *quiritatus*.

d) Just as in the cult of the dead, from the earliest times funerals were accompanied by wrestling at the tomb of the deceased, so too in the cult of the gods a festival could be added that also had a religious character, so that in this sphere as well words with the suffix *-tu-* are represented in large numbers: *conventus* = assembly of the festival, and *mercatus* = market, belong to the same group; *cursus* = the race, has a cultic background, and in the representation of dramatic action—*fabellarum actus*—particular importance was given to gesticulation—*gestus* and *vultus*—in which acclamations and applause—*plausus* and *assensus*—were not spared. The preparation for the festival, festive attire, hairstyles, etc., are expressed by the suffix *-tu-* in *paratus*, *apparatus*, *ornatus*, *comptus*, *praetextus*, etc.

e) Looking beyond Latin, it will be found that in Greek the formations with *-tu-* are not as numerous as in Latin; however—and this is not by chance—among these relatively few formations, a certain number refer, just as in Latin, to the juridical-cultic sphere: *ἀγιοτός* = rite in Callimachus (*Del.*, I, 1, 3) is a word of sacred language; the Locrian name of the month *Ἀράτους* presupposes a feminine abstract *ἀράτους* = cultivation of fields, and a neuter noun of the festival *Ἀράτους* = festival of the fields. Regarding *βάλλητός* = act of ritual purification, see S. Eitrem (see bibliography, p. 290). For the juridical sphere, compare, e.g., the compounds with the suffix *-tu-* (= *verbaver* = *tu-stem*) in Homer: *μάρτυρος* = witness and the proofs of the law of Gortyn: *ἀμφαντός* = adoption and *ὀπωσμός* = marriage. To the festive representations connected with the cult of the gods certainly belongs *ξηρατός* = the sword dance; parallel to the Latin *risus* is *γελαστός*, which occurs in Callimachus (*Hymns*, IV, 324).

From Old Indic as well, parallels to the sacred *-tu-* themes of Latin and other Indo-European languages can be adduced, such as *gāti*, which belongs mainly to the sacerdotal language of the *Rgveda* with the meaning of "path" of heaven, "path" of immortality, "path" opened for sacrifice and prayer, etc. There is also the ancient *rūt* = time of sacrifice; then *sotu* = to extinguish sleep, and *valatū* = wedding procession, bridal escort—a term of great historical-cultural significance.

In Germanic languages, the method used primarily by Gerckens helps to indirectly deduce the previous existence of the suffixes *-tu-* in words such as *antu* = divine grace, *slahu* = killing, therefore sacrifice, *hlaufu* = course, whose sacred meaning must be inferred from compounds like *brutlout* = nuptial bed (Old High German); Gothic *leibus* = cider in relation to the sacred character of feasts, in which the Indo-Europeans ate and drank, as demonstrated by Specht (*Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachforsch.*, 64 [1937], p. 15 ff.). In legal language, compare the *-tu-* theme *rehtu*, Old Norse; *rēttr* = law; Old Norse *vāttr* = witness from *vah-tus*, from the root *uek* = to speak; Gothic *hlifus* = thief, *kustus* = examination, proof, etc. The cult of the dead is represented by the Germanic *graftu* = burial.

In Celtic, compare Old Irish *recht* = law, an ancient *-tu-* theme, as well as Old Irish *mess* = judgment from *med-tu*; Old Irish *ēcht* presupposes an *anktu-* or *rktu-* or *enktu-* = murder (Pokorny [V. BIBLICA.], p. 45).

f) Thus, even in the time when the Indo-Europeans lived together, there was a suffix *-tu-*, which was used in the language of cult and law to distinguish it from the rest of the linguistic material. Among the Indo-Europeans, therefore, the idea of distinguishing the sacred from the profane had long existed, along with a belief in God. They addressed the divinity through prayer and sacrifice, in which certain ceremonies were observed. It is very interesting to note the close connection between law, state order, and religion, which in part was already affirmed in the time of the common language.

2. Group II: The vicissitudes of nature

a) The vicissitudes of nature, especially the birth, growth, and passing of all life: *satus* = sowing, generation; *subortus* = slow origin; *auctus* = growth; *eventus* = originally the good sprouting and growth of field fruits; *proventus* = growth; *profectus* = increase, progress; *conceptus* = conception; *partus* = childbirth; *fetus* = fetus; *fotus* = natural heat, brooding; *incubitus* = lying upon, brooding; *amplexus*, *circumplexus*, *accubitus* = marital embrace; *natus* = birth; *abortus* = abortion; the five senses: *aspectus*, *auditus*, *tactus*, *odoratus*, *gustatus*. Death: *obitus*, *exitus*, *excessus*. Inorganic nature: the rising and setting of stars: *ortus*, *occasus*; their cyclical movement: *motus*, *meatus*, *cursus*; their ecclesiastical, etc.

In Greek, compare especially *ἐπὶ* = sprout, *ἐπὶ* = generator.

Ancient Indian has the important *jīvātu* = life, Avestan *jīvātu* = Old Indian *jantū* = creature, lineage, progeny, Avestan *zantu* = Old Indian *sūtū* = pregnancy; Old Indian *dhātu* = constituent part, element; *edhati* = growth.

Germanic preserves Gothic *vahstus* = growth; Gothic *dauphus* = death, and Gothic *flōdus* = flow, flood. Celtic: Old Irish *sruith* = smoke, a neuter *-tu-* theme; *drucht* = dewdrop, from *drup-tu-*; *tēs* = heat, from *temptu-*; *cruth* = figure; *guth* = voice, from *gutus*, etc.

b) Indeed, there is no doubt that the suffix *-tu-* of this second group cannot be separated from that of the first group. These are mostly vicissitudes and conditions *καταναπασμόν*, i.e., without human intervention (cf. Cicero, *Orat.*, I, 28, 127: *ea quae nobis non possumus fingere*, faces, expressions, sounds). Man finds himself before a mysterious order, independent of his interference, and the cosmogonies of primitive peoples show, as can be seen by glancing at the indices of Fr. W. Schmidt’s monumental work *Der Ursprung der Gottesidee* under the headings *Schöpfung*, *Schöpfer*, etc., that prehistoric man does not appear here without the idea of a creator Being (cf. Peuckert, in HDA, *Nachträge*, p. 276). Nature itself, as such, was not the object of religious cult, but rather the supernatural power behind the natural process (A. Müller [V. BIBLICA.], p. 269). The linguistic reflection of this mentality is the Indo-European suffix *-tu-*, which is clearly characterized as an element concerning a supernatural being. Therefore, the following words of Seeliger can be endorsed with good conscience: *In Indo-European religion*, as far as we can deduce it, the Sky God, Djēus, stands in the foreground as the generator of gods and men and the creator of all life* (v. BIBLICA., p. 439). In the style of Greek hymns, the idea of creation is well manifested: God has created everything, all the gods, all men, everything that is on earth (cf. Keysner [V. BIBLICA.], p. 50 and especially p. 14 against V. Wilamowitz, who denies *this principle of method* to archaic times; other points on this can be found in C. C. Scharbau, *Die Idee der Schöpfung*, V. BIBLICA., p. 117, and in K. Prümm, *An Quellen griechischen Glaubens*, in *Biblia*, II (1930), p. 284).

3. Group III: Foods, drinks, and clothing

a) Food, drink, and clothing: *esus* = food; *victus* = sustenance, the noun of life; *fructus* = fruits; *pastus* = food, fodder, nourishment; *nutricatus* = nourishment; *potus* = drink; *haustus* = sip; *vestitus* = clothing; *indutus* = putting on clothes; *calceatus* = footwear. In Greek, cf. βρωτός = food; δαπτός = meal, banquet; ἐδηγός = eating, foods.

Aryan and Celtic are represented by Old Indian *pitu-*, Avestan *pittū-* = nourishment, food; Old Irish *th*, Old Welsh *it* = grain, from the old Celtic **(p)itus*.

b) The creator God is also the father God. Foods, drinks, and clothing are gifts of the Supreme Being. Compare the proverb of the Bhils in Koppers (v. BIBLICA., p. 126): *When something falls into the stomach, the memory of God comes*; and in the same work, Koppers records the prayer of a pagan Bhil to the “giver of grain,” in which it is finally said: *And do not remove us from grain and clothing*. The Greek hymn also knows the prayer for daily bread, as can be seen in K. Keysher (v. BIBLICA., p. 147). For W. Porzig (v. BIBLICA., p. 339), too, the sacred meaning of the suffix *-tu-* in *pitus* = nourishment is “clear beyond doubt.”

4. Group IV: Arts and crafts

a) Arts and crafts: *cantus* = gift of song; *actus* = movement of the actor; *gestus* = gestures; *venatus* = hunting; *captus* = capture, game, the gift of understanding, intelligence; cf. *intellectus*, *instinctus*, *memoratus*; *metus* = woven fabric; *textus* = weaving, interweaving; *ductus* = direction, guidance; *testus* = earthen vessel.

In Greek: ἀγορηγός = gift of speech, eloquence; φραστός = reflection, consideration; ἀφραστός = lack of judgment; κλαφιστός = playing the lyre, the art of playing the lyre; ὀρχηγός = dancing, the art of dance; ἀκοντιστός = throwing darts; ὀνταστός = the art of shooting arrows; ταυστός = the stretching of the bow, cf. ἀντός = conjunction (ἀντός = suitable); Latin *artus* = joint, limb; Armenian *ard* = form, z-ard = ornament (Pedersen, in *Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf.*, 39 [1906], p. 366).

In Old Indian, compare *tantu* = thread; *étu* = weft of weaving and moreover *vástu* = dwelling. In this group, too, these are gifts of God; God thereby demonstrates Himself as the God of aid in every situation of life.

b) In various passages of the aforementioned work, Fr. Schmidt reports the information that the Creator lived for a time on earth with men and taught them all the arts and crafts; he is considered the producer of the most important tools. Even the use of the spiritual instrument of language is mostly traced back by them to the Supreme Being or to some cultural hero commissioned by Him. Thus the Greeks also had their culture-bringers: Hephaestus taught men the arts and crafts; Athena introduced the construction of the chariot; Apollo is considered the inventor of the medical art, and Hermes taught the use of language (cf. K. Keysher, see bibliography, p. 161). In the Odyssey, VIII, 167 ff., it is clearly stated that this matter is a gift from God, which is not granted to all: «οὐ πάντως θεὸς... δώσουσι/ἐνδάσου... ἀγορηγῶν», and in the well-known passage of Cicero (Natur. Deor., II, 167): «nemo... vir magnus sine aliquo adflatu divino umquam fuit»; note the connection, moreover demonstrated elsewhere, of the suffix -tu- in *adflatus* with the adjective *divinus*. One may also refer here to a concordance with Porzig (see bibliography) who on p. 339 says of *utus* = inhabited and *artus* = joint, which are concepts «in which there is always the idea of superior protection and superior aid». For all these words, cf. also L. Bieler (see bibliography, I, p. 141) who notes that the knowledge of an *Eòs eùn* is given directly by God.

5. Group V: spirits and demons

a) Latin *portus* = house-door, harbor; *angiportus* = narrow passage, adjacent way; *hiatus* = chasm, fissure; *haestus* = stammering; *mussitus* = whispering; *nictus* = winking, peering; *raptus* = spasm, convulsion; *ructus* = belch, the returning to the throat; *seratus* = clearing the throat, hawking; *singultus* = sob, hiccup; *pruritus* = itch; *strangulatus* = convulsion, suffocation; *vomitus* = vomit (cf. Ries, E. H. Diels, see bibliography); *metus* = fear; *luctus* = mourning; *impulsus* = impulse, stimulus; etc.

In Greek: ἐλεγχός = compassion; ποδηγός = desire; ὀρτυνός = stimulus, impulse. Old Indian *hétu* = cause, stimulus.

b) Latin *portus* presupposes an Indo-European *prtus = ford and can be seen in E. Schröder (in Reallex. d. germ. Altertumskunde, I, p. 332), where in Germany one can prove up to the Middle Ages the idea of a certain sacredness of fords and harbors. See also R. von Schellhaa (see bibliography), who has collected rich material from which it results that the crossing of a river was considered an offense against the river god, who therefore had to be placated with a sacrifice. To anyone who might still doubt the sacred (numinous) character of *prtus = ford, Porzig (see bibliography, p. 339) recalls the ford of Jabbok and the crossing of Viśvamitra over the Vipās and Śutudri (Rgveda, III, 33). *Hiatus* = fissure, chasm is explained in the gloss with *vorago* = abyss; this however is a personification of swallowing, devouring, so that even in the fissure of *hiatus* a demonic being was envisaged. All that happens in man, therefore all the involuntary signs and indications in one’s own body, such as sneezing, yawning, snoring, etc., are considered as influences of a demon, whence is explained the presence of the suffix -tu- in Latin words like *haesitatus*, *vomitus*. Of importance seems to be the god Savitar, the god «excitator» or «stimulator», mentioned by H. Oldenberg (Rel. d. Veda, 2nd ed., Stuttgart 1917, p. 63), a god to whom one turns with prayer for enlightenment and inspiration. From this one can also shed light on Latin *impulsus*, *impetus-incitus*, *hortatus*, *iussus*, etc. On these personifications of an abstract idea see Altheim (Röm. Religionsgeschichte, II, Berlin 1932, p. 125).

6. Group VI: superstition

a) *Ululatus* = war-cry; *crepitus aeris* = infernal noise; *vinctus* = bond, tie; *nexus* = connection, interweaving; *tonsus* = cutting the hair, shearing; *nuptus* = veiling, marriage; *tritus* = to grind, threshing grain; *mulctus* = milking, the act of milking; *mictus* = *minctus* = urine; etc. Old Indian *vátu* = magic, magician.

b) The war-cry is attributed an influence on the enemy (cf. Caesar, Bell. Hisp., 31 and Bell. civ., III, 92). The infernal noise is well known: «Qualis in defectu lunae... cieri solet» (Livy, XXVI, 5). On «magical binding» (binding magic) see, besides J. Scheftelowitz (see bibliography, p. 17) and E. Norden (see bibliography, pp. 263, 292), also V. Lübtow, Zeitschr. d. Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Rom. Abt., 56 (1936), p. 248. For the other words cited see the bibliography in HDA in the relevant articles, and for *nuptus* A. Ernout-A. Meillet (see bibliography), p. 683 ff.

III. CONCLUSION

On the basis of the material presented here, it can be affirmed that the Indo-Europeans of prehistoric times were certainly not materialists. All six groups of words, which have been previously constituted, ultimately refer to the supernatural and the supersensible. Language also provides proof that among the Indo-Europeans, even in the earliest times of their primordial community, a sense of the distinction between the earthly and the celestial had developed and taken shape. The designation of God, Old Latin *deivós*, Old Norse *tívar*, Lithuanian *diēvas*, Old Indian *déva*, simply means «the celestial», and its counterpart *h₁éǵʰos* is «the earthly». Precisely this opposition of the earthly here and the celestial beyond remained, according to K. Brugmann (Indogerman. Forsch., 17 [1904-1905], p. 171), «a favorite and common idea among all Indo-Europeans from primordial Indo-European times onward». The word for «man» as «the earthly» is derived from the word for «earth» with the root *gʰem-, *gʰom-, *gʰm-, hence Latin *homo* and Gothic *guma*, Lithuanian *žmogùs*, and to this also belongs Old Irish *duine* = man, derived from primitive Celtic *donio = from an Indo-European *gʰdʰmo (= Greek χθόνιος). The Greeks and Armenians express the opposition between «man» and «God» with «mortal»: «immortal» (cf. Specht, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf., 66 [1939], p. 50 ff.), hence Greek *βροτός*, Armenian *mard*, and Greek *ἄμβροτος*, *ἄφθιτος*. The vision of reality among prehistoric Indo-Europeans did not comprise only what can be seen and touched, and it would have been, as M. Kingsley says in C. Dawson (see bibliography, p. 71), a great effort for them to think of pure matter alone.

The eventful history of the -tu- themes in Latin is still obscure. There is, however, a fixed starting point in that the origin of these formations must certainly be sought in the sacred-legal sphere, so that these words were in themselves fundamental elements of elevated language. The -tu- formations, despite their many profanations, have never completely renounced this origin, and if the Latin language, mainly because of its use as the liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church,