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One older meaning of the word 'quick' is 'living'.
We can see this in the phrase 'the quick and the dead', which is a translation of Latin 'vīvōs et mortuōs'.
However, 'quick' is not only a translation of vīvōs - the two words are in fact distantly related to each other.
We can see this in the phrase 'the quick and the dead', which is a translation of Latin 'vīvōs et mortuōs'.
However, 'quick' is not only a translation of vīvōs - the two words are in fact distantly related to each other.
*gʷ was a sound in PIE, present in *gʷeih₃- 'live'.
Through Grimm's law, *gʷ became /kw/ in Old English, hence English 'quick'.
In Latin, *gʷ simplified to just /w/, hence vīvus 'living'.
In Greek, *gʷ sometimes became /b/, as in bíos 'life' (from which we get 'biology').
Through Grimm's law, *gʷ became /kw/ in Old English, hence English 'quick'.
In Latin, *gʷ simplified to just /w/, hence vīvus 'living'.
In Greek, *gʷ sometimes became /b/, as in bíos 'life' (from which we get 'biology').
However, to reconstruct an ancestor sound, we need more examples of English /kw/ (or just /k/) corresponding to Latin /w/ and Greek /b/.
For example, we have English 'come', Latin veniō 'I come' and Greek baínō 'I go'.
These three can be derived from the PIE root *gʷem-.
For example, we have English 'come', Latin veniō 'I come' and Greek baínō 'I go'.
These three can be derived from the PIE root *gʷem-.
Moreover, cows give us evidence for the sound *gʷ!
While English has 'cow' and German Kuh, Greek has boûs (from which we get 'butter'). We can derive these from PIE *gʷeh₃u-.
However, bōs, the Latin word for 'cow', is a surprise - we'd expect it to begin with /w/.
While English has 'cow' and German Kuh, Greek has boûs (from which we get 'butter'). We can derive these from PIE *gʷeh₃u-.
However, bōs, the Latin word for 'cow', is a surprise - we'd expect it to begin with /w/.
An unexpected sound is important - it may mean we need to revise the theory.
However, we can explain Latin bōs as a borrowing from one of the Sabellian languages.
In these languages, the word for 'cow' did begin with /b/ - for example, we know that the word in Umbrian was bum.
However, we can explain Latin bōs as a borrowing from one of the Sabellian languages.
In these languages, the word for 'cow' did begin with /b/ - for example, we know that the word in Umbrian was bum.
